Ohio State Buckeyes Score 27 Unanswered Second Half Points in a Tale of Two Halves – Defeat Maryland 37-17

The Ohio State Buckeyes hosted the University of Maryland Terrapins at the Horseshoe on Saturday afternoon.

Although coming into the game the Buckeyes were heavily favored, for most of the game, the contest was very close.  

However, the Buckeyes pulled away from the Terrapins in the fourth quarter to obtain a 37-17 victory.

After the game, Buckeyes Head Coach Ryan Day provided his thoughts on his team’s performance.

“I thought we did respond well in the second half,” said Day. “The number one goal is to be 1-0 on Saturday, so check that box. We want to play well in the second half, so check that box. We want to start fast and today we did not get that done.”

As Day alluded to, certainly, Ohio State did not have a great start to the game. In fact, the Ohio State offense only managed to score one field goal in the first half.

In the first quarter, Maryland scored first as Taulia Tagovailoa, the brother of Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kaden Prather as Maryland took a 7-0 lead with 12:41 left in the first quarter.

Maryland took a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter on Jack Howe’s 21-yard field goal with 12:56 left in the half. 

Although Ohio State’s offense did not score a touchdown in the first half, the defense got the  Buckeyes on the scoreboard when Josh Proctor had a 24-yard pick six to make the score 10-7 with 9:41 left in the first half.

Ohio State then added a field goal with less than two minutes to go in the first half to make the score 10-10 heading into halftime.

After halftime, we had a classic tale of two halves.

Maryland scored early in the second half on a Tagovailoa 9-yard touchdown run to make the score 17-10.

And that was the last time Maryland would score in the game as the Buckeyes would amazingly score 27 unanswered points.

The Buckeyes scored their first points of the second half on a 4-yard touchdown run by Chip Trayanum.

TRAYANUM FOR THE TD 🌰@OhioStateFB ties it back up #sponsoredby @wendys pic.twitter.com/5cPaNhIeYX

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 7, 2023

 

The Buckeyes took a 20-17 lead on a Jayden Fielding field goal late in the third quarter.

Ohio State then scored 17 fourth quarter points. First, Kyle Stover caught a 44-yard touchdown pass.

TOUCHDOWN BUCKEYES@OhioStateFB makes it a 10-point game 💪🌰 pic.twitter.com/q6u0sDLgDe

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 7, 2023

 

This was followed by a touchdown pass from Kyle McCord to Marvin Harrison Jr.

MARVELOUS MARVIN 🔥

McCord finds Marvin Harrison Jr. for another @OhioStateFB TD 🌰ff pic.twitter.com/auVtOMkClm

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 7, 2023

 

The Buckeyes completed the scoring with a 41-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding with 2:10 left in the game.

For the game, Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord was 19/29 for 320 yards and two touchdowns.

Marvin Harrison Jr. led the Buckeyes receivers with 8 catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.

Ohio State, now 5-0, will next face Purdue at noon on Saturday, October 14th.