| Well, Ohio State made me look pretty stupid last week, by thinking that Rutgers would give them a game. I commented on this in the Game Week thread, but among the Big Ten fatty middle belt of #6-#12, Maryland might be the one that scares me the most. We saw how bad they can be, and their mode, is well below Wisconsin, but I do think Tagovailoa gives the Terps the highest ceiling of that group. So while Wisconsin may lose 10 of 10 to Ohio State, but in unembarassing fashion; Maryland is the one school from that group that might win 1 of 10, even if the other 9 are blowouts. The loss of leading receiver Dontay Demus Jr. is an absolute hit. Maryland has enough weapons to I believe weather this hit over the long term, but against a Buckeye attack that once again seems to be hitting on all cylinders, is not the week to try and figure it out. They do need to make a more conscious effort to get Tayon Fleet-Davis involved. Granted, when you find yourself down four scores in the first half, it's hard to try and establish the running game, but to get your running back, who is third in the Big Ten in ypc, just 3 carries, is not a winning formula. Plus, while Tagovailoa has done a great job spreading the ball around to three different receivers, he also has a very talented pair of tight ends in Chigoziem Okonkwo and Corey Dyches, who have been underutilized thus far. The problem is that a very young Ohio State offensive backfield seems to finally be sorting itself out. C.J. Stroud returned after his precautionary shoulder rest, and just went out and completed 75% of his passes en route to winning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. And he may not have even been the best freshman in the Buckeye backfield. TreVeyon Henderson continues to stake his claim to being the lead ball carrier for Ohio State. He was held out of the second half though, again, as a precaution. Another benefit that is usually understated for Ohio State. When you are good enough to just rest starting quarterbacks for whole games, or starting running backs for whole halves against conference opponents. |