Buckeyes Preview 10/6/17: Maryland Terrapins @ Ohio State

By Jason Disantis, @JasonInCLE


The J.T. Barrett led Buckeyes put together their most complete game of the season as they pounded Rutgers 56-0. This was the second year in a row the Silver Bullets pitched a shutout against the Scarlet Knights who have lost the last two years to the Buckeyes by a total of 114-0.

Barrett, who threw three touchdown passes, tallied 286 yards through the air making him Ohio State’s career passing yardage leader.

“I think it’s a tremendous honor,” Barrett said on his record. “I came to Ohio State, I always wanted to be a quarterback there, and win football games and be productive. This is a great honor and I’m just going to focus on winning football games.”

Northeast Ohio product Demario McCall led the Buckeyes in rushing, taking full advantage of his opportunity, with 103 yards and a touchdown on eleven carries. McCall also did some damage in the passing game with a 35 yard touchdown catch.

Mike Weber made the most of his carries piling up a career-highthree touchdowns while J.K. Dobbins only got six carries in a game that got out of hand quickly for Rutgers and allowed the Buckeyes to get others involved.

The tenth ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) enter this Saturday as another heavy favorite as the Maryland Terrapins (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) come to Columbus.

The Terrapins opened the 2017 campaign with a big upset on the road against #23 Texas and are coming off a 31-24 road win in their Big Ten opener against Minnesota.

Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer knows that this Terrapin team isn’t the same one the Buckeyes rolled over 62-3 last year.

“Playing a very good Maryland team that beat Texas,” Meyer said. “And came back with their third-string quarterback and really looked much improved against Minnesota. A very good team.”

That third-string quarterback is Max Bortenschlager, a sophomore who will now lead the Terrapins the rest of the year after season-ending knee injuries to Tyrrell Pigrome and KasimHill.

“I’m feeling good after the win, but that only lasts so long,” said Bortenschlager. “Just have to look forward to this week and just have to build off last week.”

Inadvertently, Buckeye quarterback Dwayne Haskins played a big part of Bortenschlager getting to Maryland. When Haskins, who was a local kid originally committed to Maryland, flipped to Ohio State a scholarship opened up. Bortenschlager, who was committed to Buffalo at the time, was convinced by Maryland offensive coordinator Walt Bell to come to the Terrapins. While Bortenschlager isn’t as flashy and Pigrome and Hill, he’s steady, plays within himself, and knows what his coaches need from the quarterback position.

In Maryland's win against Minnesota Bortenschlager attempted just two throws of 20 yards or more and ended with only 154 yards passing. But he also threw two touchdowns and did not throw an interception.

“I think he was confident and comfortable with the game plan,” Maryland coach DJ Durkin said. “That’s Max. He’s the same guy. He’s got a quiet confidence about him, and he went out and played that way.”

Helping take the pressure off of Bortenschlager is running back Ty Johnson whose 34 yard touchdown run put the Terrapins ahead of Minnesota with a 1:10 left last week. Johnson, who leads Maryland in rushing with 411 yards on the year, totaled 130 against the Gophers to go along with what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.



The Buckeyes defense will also have to lock down the Terrapins leading receiver D.J. Moore.

Moore had a big game against Minnesota with eight catches for 90 yards and a touchdown. Moore has 30 receptions on the year to go along with 403 yards and five touchdowns.

Durkin, a former assistant coach for Urban Meyer, knows the task is tall for the Terrapins. Maryland will have to try and stop the No. 5 total yardage and 11th ranked scoring offense in the nation. Add to that the problem of trying to rack up points against the No. 16 scoring defense and it could prove to be a long day for the Terrapins. But Durkin knows that the bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity.

“It’s going to be an unbelievable opportunity this weekend,” Durkin said. “This is a great football team that we’re playing, and I mean that -- great.”



What: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Maryland Terrapins
When: Saturday October 7, 2017 at 4:00 PM ET
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus Ohio
Watch: FOX
Spread: OSU -30.5
Over/Under: 60
Money Line: OSU -12500, Maryland +5000

Buckeyes Preview 9/22/17: Ohio State vs. UNLV Rebels

By Jason Disantis, @JasonInCLE


This Saturday the #10 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-1, 1-0 Big Ten) will welcome the Rebels of UNLV (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West) to the Shoe. The Buckeyes will be a heavy favorite this weekend as they continue to try and get their offense firing on all cylinders.

Last week Ohio State rolled to a 38-7 victory over Army. J.T. Barrett threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns while adding 32 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Freshman sensation J.K. Dobbins scored two touchdowns while running for 172 yards on only 13 carries.

Buckeye fans even got to see a little glimpse of the future (a future some want sooner than later) as redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins got some garbage time late in the fourth quarter. Haskins made the most of his time going 4/4 for 46 yards. Although he didn’t get much time the talent was obvious as Haskins showed off the arm that made him a top five pocket passer coming out of high school.

Although it was a comfortable win against Army, the Buckeye offense still didn’t look like a national championship offense. And with Army running the triple-option and only throwing eight passes, the Ohio State secondary didn’t get challenged. Buckeye fans can find solace in knowing that head coach Urban Meyer sees what the rest of us watching. When asked what areas of his team need to get better head coach Urban Meyer said, “Pass defense and continued growth on offense.”





Dating back to last season the Rebels have given up at least forty points in their last five games. Through two games this year UNLV is allowing 414 yards and 29.5 points a game.

Offensively the Rebels have relied on their ground game averaging 350 yards a game with junior Lexington Thomas leading the way with 341 yards and five touchdowns on the year.

Despite some gaudy offensive numbers this year the Rebels find themselves as forty-point underdogs on the road in Columbus. Head coach Tony Sanchez knows that they’re going to have to get creative to stay close to the Buckeyes saying, “We’re going to have to be aggressive, take some shots down the field, think outside the box a little bit to give ourselves an opportunity.”



What: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. University of Las Vegas Rebels
When: Saturday September 23, 2017 at 12:00 PM ET
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Watch: Big Ten Network
Spread: OSU -40
Over/Under: 65
Money Line: OSU -60000, UNLV +20000

Buckeyes Preview 9/8/17: Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Oklahoma Sooners

By Jason Disantis, @JasonInCLE

It took Ohio State a half of football to find their rhythm against Indiana and put the Hoosiers to bed in week one. After looking out-of-sync for the first thirty minutes the Buckeyes came out and lit the field on fire in the second half. Ohio State won’t have the luxury of a half to work out the kinks against the #5 ranked Oklahoma Sooners as they head to Columbus Saturday night.

This time last year Ohio State went in to Norman and put a beating on Oklahoma, 45-24.

Baker Mayfield was a Heisman hopeful and went on to throw two interceptions, including a pick-six. Mayfield hasn’t forgotten what happened.

“Everybody that was here for last year’s huge loss definitely remembers that. And we talked about it during camp,” said Mayfield. “We’ve never been here for a team to sing their fight song on our field. Quite frankly it’s just embarrassing. It’s embarrassing.”

Mayfield understands the magnitude of this top-five matchup, and thinks that these two teams could meet up again at the end of this season.

“If you want a sneak peek at who’s going to be playing for a national title… you want to tune in to the one,” Mayfield said.

Ohio State understands that Oklahoma is coming in looking for revenge.

“Our approach to this game is it’s the biggest game of the year,” said wide receiver Parris Campbell, whose 74-yard touchdown catch helped the Buckeye offense get on track. It’s a big-time opponent, a top-10 matchup. We have to prepare that way. These guys are probably going to come in here with a chip on their shoulder from last year’s game.”

Oklahoma will have their hands full with Campbell and the rest of the Ohio State offense. But despite the second half offensive explosion, new offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson knows there is a lot of work to be done.

“Early we sputtered,” Wilson said. “I thought several times we called some plays that got us behind chains, and we left some points on the board. Sever third-down and manageables, we didn’t manage.”

Behind true freshman J.K. Dobbins 181 yards on the ground and three touchdowns and 304 yards through the air from J.T. Barrett, the new look offense of Kevin Wilson showed just how lethal it could be. Add the Buckeyes leading rusher from last season, Mike Weber, back into the mix and Ohio State will be ready to give a repeat performance from last year and put themselves on the path to another shot at a national championship.



What: Ohio State Buckeyes vs Oklahoma Sooners
When: September 9, 2017, 7:30 PM ET
Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus Ohio
Watch: ABC
Spread: OSU -7
Money Line: OSU -300, OK +240
O/U: 65