No. 1 Ohio State handles business, defeats Maryland 73-14.

The Maryland Terrapins came to the Horseshoe on the wrong day, as No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes team angry about the suspension of Chase Young was able to take out all of its frustrations on an overmatched Terp squad, throttling the turtles 73-14. The offense and defense were both clicking on all cylinders right from the get-go, as any doubts of a potential let down without their star defensive player were immediately dashed away.

Justin Fields and J.K. Dobbins were their usual selves, as the duo looked unstoppable on Saturday afternoon. Fields threw for exactly 200 yards in the first half with three passing and one rushing touchdown. Dobbins ran for 90 yards on 13 carries with a pair of scores in the first two quarters as the Buckeyes led 42-0 at halftime.

The defensive line did not miss a beat without their leader, as multiple guys stepped up in Young’s place. Davon Hamilton had a huge day, coming up with two big sacks in the first half. The starting defense combined for five total sacks in two quarters, with Tuf Borland, Malik Harrison and Tyreke Smith each registering one apiece. Harrison had a fantastic first half overall, breaking up two passes including an athletic leaping swat.

The only gripe against the home team were flags, racking up over 141 yards in penalties on the day — albeit almost entirely with the second and third-team units on the field.

Ohio State out-gained Maryland on the day 705-139, as both the starting and backup units completely overpowered the Big Ten foe. Overall, the Buckeyes looked every part of their No. 1 ranking as Ryan Day and the boys moved to 9-0 on the season.

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Ohio State won the coin toss and elected to defer, and so we got our first look at the Chase Young-less Silver Bullets right out of the gate. The D-line looked just fine, as Davon Hamilton got to the quarterback on the second play from scrimmage for a sack.

Ultimately, the Terps would go three-and-out, as the Buckeyes would start with the ball past midfield on a short punt.

Luckily for OSU, No. 2 on the offensive side of the ball was still suited up, and after a few nice runs from star running back J.K. Dobbins, Justin Fields found Binjimen Victor wide open on a crossing route as it he walked it in for an easy TD — Bucks up 7-0 early.

Maryland seemed intent on getting the run game going as they looked to slow things down. After a nine-yard rush by Anthony McFarland Jr. on first down, back-to-back stuffs up the middle by Pete Werner and Tuf Borland forced yet another punt, as Ohio State took over near its own 30.

The Buckeyes were on the opposite end of the spectrum, looking to air it out early and often. After a 23-yard completion to Jeremy Ruckert and a 33-yard strike to K.J. Hill, OSU was once again threatening in the red zone. Even when things went wrong it went right in Columbus, as a drive that featured two false starts ended in a Fields keeper for a score on a broken play, with Ohio State extending its lead to 14-0.

In an act of pure disrespect looking to get the play on film, Ryan Day elected to kick a surprise onside kick, and a perfectly placed boot by Blake Haubeil floated directly into the arms of Chris Olave for an easy recovery.

The Buckeyes were absolutely firing on all cylinders, and after a 27-yard pass to Garrett Wilson, the Scarlet and Gray were once again deep in the red zone. One play later, Fields found Hill for a TD, and the Bucks now led 21-0.

The Silver Bullets continued to dominate, as the linebackers really came up big on the ensuing Maryland drive. After Malik Harrison made a spectacular leaping pass break up, Borland bull rushed his way up the middle to sack Josh Jackson on third down, as the Terps were once again forced to punt. At the conclusion of the first quarter, Maryland had totaled just one yard on offense.

The second quarter didn’t look much different from the first, as Master Teague broke off a big 30-yard rush to get the ball inside the Terrapins 17-yard line. After Fields was able to pick up a 3rd-and-10 with his legs, there was not a single defender within a mile of Olave in the corner of the end zone, as the sophomore receiver caught his ninth TD of the season to put the good guys up 28-0.

With nothing going right on offense for Maryland, they elected to make a change at quarterback as Tyrrell Pigrome entered the game for the team’s first drive of the second quarter. It worked out slightly better, as the Terps picked up a few first downs, but the drive ultimately ended in another punt. OSU returned to more of its air-raid offense, as Fields found open receiver after open receiver to march down the field. Dobbins capped the drive with a seven-yard walk-in score as the Buckeyes continued to pour it on, 35-0.

Ohio State’s defensive line continued to dominate despite not having their leader, as this time it was Tyreke Smith coming up with the sack. Javon Leake was able to pick up a big gain on the ground, but Hamilton sacked Pigrome for his second of the day to slow the Terrapins drive, forcing them into a 4th-and-9 situation. They would not convert, as the Buckeyes kept the shutout in tact.

Day had no intentions of taking his foot off the gas, as with 1:26 remaining in the half the offense looked to add to their already huge lead. After a few quick strikes to Olave and an unnecessary roughness on Maryland, the Bucks had the ball in the red zone yet again. A 20-yard TD run for Dobbins put a cap on an almost perfect first half, as Ohio State would take a 42-0 lead into the break.

The starters would unsurprisingly not return for the second half of play, as Ohio State would roll out Chris Chugunov at quarterback to start the opening drive of the third quarter. After a few big gains by the freshman receivers Wilson and Jameson Williams, Maryland would force its first turnover of the game on a sack fumble of Chugunov, taking over at their own 20-yard line.

It would be short-lived, as K’Vaughan Pope intercepted Pigrome’s very first pass of the drive to get the ball right back. Chugunov would make up for his earlier mistake, placing a perfect pass into the hands of Wilson in the corner of the end zone on a 14-yard TD as the OSU backups extended the lead, 49-0.

Pope would continue to make the most of his playing time, picking up a tackle for loss and pass breakup on Maryland’s next drive. After starting with a short field following a short punt, Ohio State would again add to the score, this time with a 23-yard field goal to make it 52-0 Buckeyes with a little over seven minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The shutout would be broken up thanks to three-straight 15-yard penalties on Ohio State. After Zach Harrison got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty celebrating a third-down sack, a face mask and a roughing the passer call gave Maryland the ball at the Buckeyes’ 26-yard line. Jackson, now back in the game, found a wide open Dontay Demus Jr. to finally get on the scoreboard, now trailing 52-7 with 3:00 left in the third quarter.

It would be a long time before either team was able to find the end zone, but when they did it was Ohio State — this time the freshman Marcus Crowley, a one-yard TD run to make it 59-7 Buckeyes with a little over 10 minutes to go. Following a long kick return by Leake and yet another 15-yard penalty on OSU, the Terrapins would quickly score their second TD to make it 59-14.

Demario McCall would get in on the touchdown party, scoring on a five-yard rush to put Ohio State up 66-14. After a sack-fumble on Maryland’s ensuing possession, McCall would find the end zone a second time on a 20-yard TD run as the Buckeyes would finish the game by a score of 73-14.

Ohio State will be in action again next weekend, traveling to Piscataway, NJ to take on a reeling Rutgers team. Kickoff time was set for 3:30 p.m. ET after the game.