Maryland Terrapins: Buckeyes Give Terps Big Ten Initiation
Oct 4, 2014; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins running back Andrew Isaacs (44) scores a touchdown during the third quarter against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Byrd Stadium. Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Maryland Terrapins 52-24. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
In their Big Ten home opener, the Maryland Terrapins were officially initiated into the conference by an Ohio State Buckeye team that has now put up two 50+ point games in three consecutive weeks, with a high of 66 against Kent State.
In a sold out Byrd Stadium crowd, there was a sea of red with both teams well represented in this game.
Ohio State started the game with the ball, and didn’t take long to put points on the board, going 8 plays and 75 yards on the opening drive. They ended that drive with a one-yard touchdown run by Ohio State Running Back Rod Smith. The first drive took three minutes off the clock.
The Buckeyes followed that up with another red-zone touchdown; this time a pass from Freshman Quarterback J.T. Barrett to Freshman H-Back Jalin Marshall for 9 yards. Again, Maryland gave up another eight play, 70+ yard drive. With 6:33 to go in the first quarter the Terps fell behind 14-0.
The Terps showed signs of life in the second quarter, when they drove the ball down the field for five plays, 26 yards and a field goal, starting from their 35 yard line after a kickoff went out of bound. They didn’t score again until they got in the red zone and were able to punch it in off of a Wes Brown 2 yard run, making the score 24-10 late in the second quarter.
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Unfortunately, for the Terps, that 13-play, 75-yard drive was their only one over 10 plays in the game.
To end the half, Ohio State scored on a one-yard pass from Barrett to Junior Tight End Nick Vannett to make the half-time score 31-10.
The Buckeyes continued to do what they did all day… score. J.T. Barrett was once again in on the action with a 30-yard pass to Senior Wide Receiver Devin Smith to start the third quarter. That was Barrett’s last of four total passing touchdowns which made the score 38-10 Buckeyes.
He was able to score a rushing touchdown to start the fourth quarter to make the score 45-17. Terps Running Back Brandon Ross had scored on a two-yard run previously.
The game ended on a sour note for the Terps, with a touchdown on a 19-yard interception return making the final score 52-24, Ohio State with the victory.
Looking ahead, blowout or no blowout, the Terps needed this loss to show them that the Big Ten is indeed not easy and no win comes easy. Moving forward, they’ll hopefully grow from this. Some likable stats for them in the loss: they had 310 total yards, penalties weren’t a factor (2 for 23 yards) and they were perfect in the red zone with three attempts all being converted.