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It was one meaningless play in the fourth quarter Saturday at Byrd Stadium, but it told the story of Ohio State’s 52-24 victory over the Terrapins football team.
Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett, who claimed the starting job after Braxton Miller underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in August, had already left the contest with a 28-point lead. So preseason third-string signal-caller Cardale Jones took over the offense for the final eight minutes of regulation.
Two plays into his first drive, Jones faced a third-and-8 from the Terps’ 25-yard line. The sophomore took a shotgun snap, dropped back four steps and pump-faked before recognizing a hole up the middle. He tucked the ball under his arm and took off running, picking up the first down with ease.
The first defender who approached Jones was safety Anthony Nixon, who squared his shoulders and dipped his body in an attempt to tackle the quarterback low. But Jones saw it coming. He leapt and hurdled Nixon without making contact, leaving the junior defensive back grasping at air.
The run went for 17 yards and a first down. But it meant so much more — a reserve player for the No. 20 Buckeyes who had a combined seven rushing and passing attempts all season beating a starting defender for the Terps with pure athleticism. And it was the type of play that characterized a humbling loss for coach Randy Edsall’s team.
“What we found out today is that Ohio State is a very good football team,” Edsall said. “That’s the standard that we’re going to have to reach here at Maryland.”
Saturday’s game marked the largest football crowd in College Park since 2011 and the first sellout since 2008, offering Edsall a tailor-made opportunity for his first win over a ranked opponent as Terps coach, one that could cement his program as a legitimate contender in the Big Ten. But his team was outmatched in all three phases of the game from the very first snap.
On the opening series, Barrett led the Buckeyes 75 yards on eight plays — seven runs — in just more than three minutes for the game’s first touchdown. Then on the team’s second possession, the redshirt freshman showcased another facet of his arsenal, completing four passes, including a 9-yard touchdown to Jalin Marshall as part of an eight-play, 73-yard scoring drive.
Barrett finished with 267 yards and four touchdowns in the air and 71 yards and a score on the ground. In total, the Buckeyes compiled 533 yards of offense, including 269 rushing yards.
“They did a good job from the jump establishing the run,” cornerback Jeremiah Johnson said. “You get the run established, and it opens up a lot of other things. Obviously, those first two drives, they were able to establish the run and caught us off guard.”
The standard Edsall spoke of was also exemplified in the Buckeyes’ defensive play.
Ohio State’s unit allowed just 66 rushing yards and stifled Terps dual-threat quarterback C.J. Brown, who started Saturday despite suffering a sprained left wrist in last week’s victory over Indiana. For the first time in his six-year career, Brown failed to break 70 total yards in a game he started, and the signal-caller was replaced at halftime after he threw a costly interception late in the first half.
Pinned deep in his own territory with just more than a minute remaining in the first half, Brown threw an pick that resulted in a Buckeyes touchdown on the ensuing play, turning what could have been a 14-point halftime deficit into 21 points.
In the final two quarters, backup Caleb Rowe also struggled against the Buckeyes’ defense, going 13 of 22 passing for 173 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Whether it was Brown or Rowe under center, the Buckeyes’ superiority was evident. While it only surrendered three sacks, the Terps offensive line was manhandled on many snaps, providing both quarterbacks with limited time in the pocket. Not to mention, nearly every offensive sequence ended with a punishing Buckeyes hit.
Even when wide receiver Jacquille Veii exploited a coverage breakdown from the Ohio State secondary early in the fourth quarter, defensive back Cam Burrows chased him down, despite 10 yards of initial separation, to prevent a touchdown.
“It was tough,” running back Brandon Ross said of the Buckeyes’ athleticism. “It was good to see that we know as a team there’s another level we can hit seeing as how they’re already up there, and they’re one of the top teams.”
Saturday’s blowout drops Edsall to 0-9 against ranked opponents during his tenure in College Park. But this defeat — at home, in the first Big Ten game on this campus — stung a little bit more for the fourth-year coach and his players.
Not so much because of the final score, but the way in which the Buckeyes dominated the Terps for 60 minutes using starters and reserves alike.
“This is the standard-bearer,” Edsall said. “If we want to win the eastern division of the Big Ten, we’re going to have to go through these other places for us to be able to see what stands in front of us. We’ve been working before, but we’re going to continue to keep working even more to get to that point and be able to achieve that standard that we set for ourselves.”
