Maryland (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 10 Ohio State (4-1, 2-0), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (Fox) Line: Ohio State by 30 ½. Series record: Ohio State leads 3-0. WHAT’S AT STAKE Ohio State continues to plow through overmatched teams
Maryland (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 10 Ohio State (4-1, 2-0), Saturday, 4 p.m. ET (Fox)
Line: Ohio State by 30 ½.
Series record: Ohio State leads 3-0.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Ohio State continues to plow through overmatched teams on the way to an Oct. 28 showdown with No. 4 Penn State. This could be another one of those games. Maryland is coming off a 31-24 win over Minnesota last week led by third-string QB Max Bortenschlager, who played well after the two guys in front of him went down with ACL injuries.
KEY MATCHUP
Maryland WR D.J. Moore against Ohio State defensive backs. Moore is the Terps’ go-to guy. He’s already got 30 catches for 403 yards and five TDs through the first four games. Ohio State’s young defensive backs have been scrambling to improve after three of the four starters in the secondary left early for the NFL after last season. They have shown they are vulnerable and susceptible to penalties. S Erick Smith won’t play for the second straight week for unspecified reasons.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ohio State: RB Mike Weber is back at full speed after being slowed by a hamstring injury since training camp. He scored three touchdowns against Rutgers. Freshman J.K. Dobbins has overshadowed Weber so far, but Meyer said a scheme is being developed that will put both backs on the field at one time.
Maryland: RB Ty Johnson rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown against Minnesota and could be on his way to another 1,000-yard season. He’s averaging nearly 9 yards per carry.
FACTS & FIGURES
This will be the 200th game as a head coach for Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, who has the highest winning percentage among active coaches (.849) … The Buckeyes rank second nationally in tackles-for-loss with 46 … Ohio State DT Dre’Mont Jones will miss a second game after cutting himself in the locker room and getting stitches. LB Chris Worley, who’s been out with a foot injury, is probable … Maryland coach D.J. Durkin was a graduate assistant on Meyer’s first staff at Bowling Green in 2001-02 and then worked under Meyer later at Florida….Moore leads the Big Ten in receiving touchdowns (five), receiving yards (403), receiving yards per game (100.8) and receptions per game (7.5).
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