Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Maryland Preview & Picks

The 4-1 Ohio State Buckeyes will host the 4-1 Maryland Terrapins in Columbus for a noon kickoff on Saturday afternoon on FOX. The Buckeyes are tied for the lead in the Big Ten East at 2-0 with wins against Minnesota and Rutgers. Maryland is 5th at 1-1 with a win against Illinois and a loss against Iowa.

Maryland is coming off a blowout loss against No. 3 Iowa at home 51-14. Ohio State got the win away at Rutgers and took care of them easily by a score of 52-13. Let’s take a look at the odds and the lines for this matchup.

Odds

The Buckeyes are 21 point favorites against the Terrapins with the odds of -105 to cover that spread. Maryland, at +21, has the odds of -115 with that spread. The over/under for total points scored in the game is set at 71 with odds of -110 to bet either the over or the under.

Keys to an Ohio State Victory

The Buckeyes struggled to figure it out at the start of the season, and they paid for it with a loss to Oregon that put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. They will need to be near-perfect to get the attention of the committee.

The defense has struggled this year and is definitely their weak link. They played better against Rutgers and got three takeaways in that game. They will need to stop Tua Tagovailoa’s brother, Taulia, who has looked solid at quarterback for the Terrapins.

CJ Stroud looked very comfortable in his role after taking a game to nurse an injury vs. Akron. He went 17/23 throwing for 330 yards and 5 touchdowns. TreVeyon Henderson added 71 yards on 8 attempts and 1 touchdown. Ohio State will look to stay balanced in this one especially if they can take control early.

Keys to a Maryland Upset Victory

The Terrapins did not look good against Iowa and it showed with a blowout loss. They had seven turnovers in that game. You read that right: SEVEN turnovers. No one will win a game with seven turnovers.

The passing game should have more success against this Buckeye defense. They have given up at least 200 yards in the air in all but one game, and that was against Akron. Taulia Tagovailoa will need to have a perfect game to keep Maryland in this game.

The defense is led by 1st-year Defensive Coordinator Brian Stewart. The Terrapin’s defense has been relatively solid this season ranking 8th in the country in sacks with 18. If the defense can get through the Ohio State offensive line, it should get CJ Stroud uncomfortable and give Maryland a better chance late in this game.

Expected Outcome

I expect this game to be close going into the second half, but this Ohio State team is too talented, especially on the offensive side. CJ Stroud and the offense will be too much of a handful for the Maryland defense to handle.