Ohio State: 5 things I’d like to see from Buckeyes vs. Maryland

Ohio State’s last road game this season is a Big Ten East Division clash at Maryland. The Terrapins host the Buckeyes (noon ET Saturday, ABC) coming off of a tough loss to Indiana.

OSU will be heavily favored but the Buckeyes cannot afford to look past this game because a loss and a Michigan win will render the Nov. 24 season finale against the archrival Wolverines moot in terms of the division race.

Here are 5 things I’d like to see from the Buckeyes against the Terrapins:

More consistent pass rush

Dre’Mont Jones, Maryland native Chase Young and friends did not record a sack against Michigan State. Sacks are not everything but the Buckeyes have been in a slump for weeks, collecting only eight total in the last five games. How slow has OSU been in collecting sacks? Nick Bosa only played three games and is still third on the team in sacks with four (Jones leads with 6.5, Young has 4.5).

Return big

Drue Chrisman had a terrific week punting against Michigan State, pinning the Spartans inside their own 6-yard line on five straight drives in the second half, leading to two OSU scores. But now OSU needs more from its return game. The longest kick return for the Buckeyes this season was 38 yards; their longest punt return is 26 yards. Also, a kick block would be nice because Terrapins kicker Joseph Petrino has only missed one kick all season; he’s 34-for-35 on PATs and 10-for-10 on field goals.

All together on offense

Whether it has been line struggles, an inconsistent running game or Dwayne Haskins slipping a bit from his early-season peak, the Ohio State offense has not quite put it all together in recent weeks. The total numbers for the season still look really good but the visual evidence on the field indicates a unit not completely in sync.

Haskins back on track

This ties in heavily with the previous entry. Nobody is expecting Haskins to break single-game records every week (besides, the one time he did the Buckeyes got blown out at Purdue) but the sophomore has faced more pressure in recent weeks and, partly because of that, he has not been quite as sharp. Haskins is still the engine that makes this offense go and he has had a spectacular season so there is every reason to believe he will find his form even in a game where the Buckeyes face the second-ranked pass defense in the B1G.

Stay disciplined

Terrapins running back Anthony McFarland is eighth in the conference with 724 rushing yards on just 104 attempts. But at 7 yards a carry he doesn’t even have the highest average on his team — that distinction belongs to Ty Johnson, who is second among qualifiers in the B1G at 7.7 yards a carry. Johnson (calf) is questionable; he sat out one game with his injury then left last week’s game against Indiana. Even if Johnson sits out, OSU’s defense will have to maintain gaps and be disciplined in tackling to prevent big plays.

Jim Tomlin

Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.