Ohio State’s passing game has been humming, but the real swing piece against Maryland might be the ground attack.
Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith have been locked in over the last few games, and both are in the Heisman Trophy conversation after standout seasons. Still, if the Buckeyes want to make this offense even harder to deal with on Saturday, the rushing game has to pull its weight.
Bo Jackson has been Ohio State’s leading rusher this season with 66 carries for 353 yards and two touchdowns. Ja'kobi Jackson is next with 45 carries for 278 yards and six touchdowns, and that one-two punch could matter a lot more this week if Maryland loads up on Smith.
That’s the reality Ohio State is facing after Smith’s back-to-back games with 200-plus receiving yards. Defenses are going to keep extra eyes on him, maybe even extra bodies, and that should create space elsewhere if the Buckeyes can take advantage of it. The Jacksons have to be ready to make that pressure pay.
There’s already been a version of this test before. Against Iowa, Ohio State ran for just 160 yards while throwing for 324.
And while Smith has been sensational, the Buckeyes’ offense also fell apart earlier this season against No. 1 Texas.
That makes the run game more than a supporting piece here; it’s a chance for Ohio State to prove it can keep producing when the attention is tilted toward its top target.
Sayin and Smith should continue to sort out the passing game as the season goes along, but Sayin also understands that Smith won’t stay open forever and that other players will need to step in. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has the kind of roster that lets him work with that. He has one of the best receivers in college football, plus one of the best offensive lines in football, and that combination gives him options.
With so much defensive focus likely going Smith’s way, Arthur Smith can try to use that attention against Maryland and create opportunities in the run game. If the Buckeyes can own the line of scrimmage, the offense gets another layer.
And that matters, because the schedule is only getting tougher. After Maryland, Ohio State will face ranked opponents USC, Oregon and Indiana.
In Other News...
Former Ohio State Coach Brian Hartline Just Took A Brutal First Step Back
Brian Hartlines first months at South Florida had gone smoothly enough, with the former Ohio State offensive coordinator off to a 4-1 start before a stumble at UTSA snapped the momentum. The trip also came with a side note that got plenty of attention, after Hartline made comments about the noise inside the opponents stadium and then had those remarks revisited in a very public way once the game was over.
From Ohio States perspective, Hartlines next chapter is still part of the larger coaching tree story, but the Buckeyes have their own issues to sort out as the schedule rolls on. The offense has had trouble getting the rushing game where it needs to be, and while Hartline is now trying to settle in as a head coach, his rough first step back served as another reminder that the margins get small fast once conference and nonconference tests start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Elite Passing Game Is Hiding A Bigger Running Back Issue
Ohio States passing game has been humming along at a level few teams in the country can match, but the ground game is carrying a very different kind of conversation. The Buckeyes sit 81st in rushing yards per attempt, a ranking that stands out for a team with this much offensive firepower and one that has had to lean on a rotating backfield rather than finding a clear weekly answer.
The workload has bounced among Ja'Kobi Jackson, Bo Jackson and Isaiah West, with true freshman Legend Bey also part of the early mix. Beys limited role has drawn attention because of questions around why his touches have thinned out, and while there has been speculation about professionalism concerns, nothing has been officially confirmed. For a team built to pressure defenses in every way, the bigger issue may be less about who is getting the carries and more about whether Ohio State has settled on the right one. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Brings Coaching Drama And A Defense Ohio State Can Exploit
Maryland arrives with plenty of noise around the program, and not much of it has anything to do with what happens between the lines. The uncertainty around Mike Locksleys future has hung over the Terps for a while now, with the athletic director potentially waiting until after the bye week to make a call, and that backdrop only adds to the sense that Ohio State is catching Maryland at a tense moment. At the same time, the offensive side has slipped, with Malik Washingtons play trending down and the Terps searching for steadier footing.
There is still enough on the defensive front to make Maryland worth studying, especially along the line, where a few key pieces can flash and disrupt a game if the rest of the unit holds together. The problem, as Michael Howes pointed out, is that the tackling has not been dependable enough, and those misses have repeatedly undercut the defense. For Ohio State, that creates a familiar sort of opportunity, one that starts with pressure up front and can quickly turn into a longer afternoon for a defense already carrying too much uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]