QB Taulia Tagovailoa snapped the ball and immediately rolled out left to make the throw. Sprinting across the endzone was TE CJ Dippre, who hauled in the catch for a touchdown. The Shell erupted with cheers and applause as Maryland finally managed to take the lead.
The Ohio State Buckeyes ranked No.2 in the country, came to College Park ready for an easy in-conference matchup against Maryland. Ranked second in the Big Ten East only behind Michigan, the 10-0 Buckeyes were favored to win by nearly twenty points heading into the game.
“We weren’t playing their ranking, we weren’t playing the name on the front of their jersey,” head coach Mike Locksley said in his post-game presser. “We basically said we’re playing their best eleven against our best eleven.”
Ohio State started with the ball on offense. On the first snap of the drive, QB C.J. Stroud connected a 29-yard pass to WR Marvin Harrison Jr. to put the Buckeyes in Maryland territory. Just five plays later, Stroud connected a pass to RB TreVeyon Henderson, who rushed for 27 yards into Maryland’s endzone, putting the Buckeyes up 7-0 only a minute and a half into the quarter.
QB Taulia Tagovailoa started Maryland’s first drive with a 25-yard pass to Dippre, who rushed down the sideline into Ohio State territory, hurdling a Buckeye before going out of bounds. Several plays later, a face mask penalty on Ohio State landed Maryland in the red zone. Unable to find the endzone, the drive ended with a field goal from Chad Ryland to put three points on the board for Maryland.
Fortunately for Maryland, Tagovailoa had great success finding his wide receivers in the first quarter. The Terps landed on Ohio State’s 10-yard line in five plays on their second drive. Still struggling to manage a touchdown, the drive ended with yet another kick from Ryland to leave Maryland down by just a single point.
Mistakes on Ohio State’s end of the ball kept Maryland alive in the first quarter. The Buckeyes were only successful on one of three third-down conversions and only managed to possess the ball for four and a half minutes, giving Maryland enough time on the field to stay on pace. A whopping five penalties from Ohio State in the first quarter also forced the Buckeyes to lose 35 yards.
Ohio State’s first drive of the second quarter ended with a 33-yard field goal from Noah Ruggles to put the Buckeyes up by four once again. With just ten minutes remaining in the first half, Maryland trailed only 6-10.
Maryland immediately responded on its next drive with a 34-yard completion to WR Dontay Demus Jr. for a first down in Ohio State territory. A couple of plays later, a pass interference call on the Buckeyes gave Maryland a first down on Ohio State’s 13-yard line. Tagovailoa rushed up the middle of the field to put the Terps on the 1-yard line, and the drive finished with a short pass to CJ Dippre to put Maryland ahead by three.
“It was really nice to be able to move the ball and stuff like that, but I mean, when it comes down to it, we still came short. So, you know, we still got to clean up in some areas,” Dippre said.
A part of Maryland’s success in the first half came from Tagovailoa, who completed 16 out of 18 pass attempts (89%) for a total of 180 yards. At the half, the reception leaders for Maryland were Dontay Demus Jr. (58 yards), CJ Dippre (38 yards), and Roman Hemby (30 yards).
Maryland’s first drive of the second half ended with a punt that was blocked by Ohio State. The ball was recovered by CB Denzel Burke at Maryland’s 14-yard line, giving the Buckeyes an easy opportunity to score. Two plays later, RB Dallan Hayden rushed for eight yards into the endzone, giving Ohio State back the lead, 17-13.
“Those things are huge, huge momentum plays,” Coach Locksley said. “We didn’t get ourselves in the right protection there. To give them seven points like that, that hurt.”
Ohio State’s next possession started with a 37-yard pass to WR Emeka Egbuka, putting the Buckeyes on Maryland’s 14-yard line. Maryland held Ohio State from scoring a touchdown, forcing a 47-yard field goal from Ruggles to end the drive.
Maryland seemingly fell off in the third quarter, allowing Ohio State to take over. The Terps were held to roughly five minutes of possession time in the third quarter, allowing the Buckeyes to rack up 17 unanswered points.
Before the conclusion of the third quarter, RB Dallan Hayden earned his second touchdown of the game with a 3-yard rush into the endzone. Ohio State was now ahead by two scores with a full quarter left to play.
Maryland finally managed to turn the momentum around at the start of the fourth quarter with a 36-yard pass to WR Tai Felton put the Terps just inside Ohio State territory. The drive ended with a 5-yard rush from Tagovailoa for a touchdown. Choosing to go for two, Tagovailoa connected a short pass to Jacob Copeland in the endzone. Maryland trailed 21-27 with 14 minutes left to play.
Ohio State was not ready to back down either. A strong punt return gave Stroud only half the field to work with, and the drive ended with a 13-yard rush from Dallan Hayden to give him his third touchdown of the game.
Ruggles stepped up for the extra point attempt, but the kick was blocked by Deonte Banks. Jakorian Bennett scooped up the ball and ran for 80 yards to give Maryland two more points. Maryland trailed by only ten points with twelve and a half minutes to go.
“I wish that was a touchdown,” Bennett said. “But you know, we just can’t take any plays off, and coach really did emphasize that. We emphasized going hard and trying to make a difference in the game.”
On Maryland’s next drive, Tagovailoa launched a 49-yard pass to WR Rakim Jarrett, who landed with the ball on Ohio State’s 9-yard line. After three straight carries from Hemby, the possession ended with a pass to WR Jeshaun Jones for a touchdown. Ryland made the extra point attempt, narrowing the Buckeyes’ lead by three.
Ohio State managed to drain out the clock with several third-down conversions on their last drive, ending with a field goal from Ruggles to bring the score to 36-30.
Maryland had under a minute to pull off a touchdown, but a sack on Tagovailoa led to a fumble that was recovered by LB Steele Chambers for Ohio State’s final touchdown. Tagovailoa went down with an injury with only nine seconds left on the clock but managed to leave the field on his own power.
“We’re hopeful [the injury] wasn’t anything that happened structurally. I’m hoping that it’s more of a bone bruise,” Coach Locksley said. “[His leg] didn’t get hit in a certain way, it was more of just a direct hit with the ground.”
The final score was 43-30, Ohio State.
