No. 2 Ohio State visits Maryland on Saturday for its last game before next week's showdown with Michigan.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
The Buckeyes have waited a year to face Michigan again after losing to the Wolverines last season. Maryland is the last team standing in Ohio State's way before that showdown. The Terrapins were 6-2 before disappointing performances at Wisconsin and Penn State the past two weeks. Penn State shut out the Taulia Tagovailoa-led Maryland offense 30-0. Bouncing back against the Buckeyes is a tough ask.
KEY MATCHUP
Maryland QB Tagovailoa vs. the Ohio State defense. The Buckeyes have averaged 59 points in their seven meetings with Maryland, and there's little reason to expect this year to be much different. Tagovailoa, who is closing in on the Terps' career passing mark, will likely need a stellar performance to keep this close.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Ohio State: LB Tommy Eichenberg is a semifinalist for the Butkus and Bednarik awards. The Buckeyes are obviously great offensively, but this is a game that could test the defense — and it will be worth watching how Ohio State responds with Michigan looming.
Maryland: S Beau Brade has had a good season in pass coverage, and he'll have his hands full with Ohio State's fabulous receiving corps.
FACTS & FIGURES
The teams are playing in College Park for the first time since 2018 when Ohio State escaped with a 52-51 overtime win. That's the only one of the last five meetings in which the Buckeyes were held under 62 points. ... Maryland hasn't won seven games in the regular season since 2014. ... Buckeyes QB C.J. Stroud has 34 touchdown passes, becoming the first QB in Big Ten history with back-to-back 30 TD seasons. … Tagovailoa is at 7,023 yards passing for his career, 278 behind Scott Milanovich's school record.
