Ohio State Trounces Maryland, 66-17, in Homecoming Victory

C.J. Stroud leads another offensive explosion, throwing for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Buckeyes roll past the Terrapins inside Ohio Stadium.

Author:
Adam Prescott
Oct 9, 2021 3:39 PM EDT

Ohio State found the end zone on its first EIGHT offensive drives Saturday afternoon, as the route was firmly on in an eventual 66-17 victory over Maryland as part of Homecoming.

The Buckeyes racked up nearly 600 yards of total offense and beat Maryland for the seventh-straight time since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten in 2014.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

* A key sack limited Maryland to a field goal on the game's opening possession, and Ohio State's offense then began full throttle...

* A 17-play (longest of the season), 88-yard drive was capped on a fourth down pass from C.J. Stroud to Garrett Wilson in the back-corner of the end zone. Wilson went over the 100-catch mark for his career on the drive.

* Ohio State's next three scoring drives all took five plays or less. TreVeyon Henderson punched in a short TD, a wide-open Chris Olave caught a 36-yard toss from Stroud, and Henderson corralled a 26-yard rope up the sideline before waltzing in. The latter was set up by a 67-yard kickoff return from Emeka Egbuka.

* Maryland did move the ball well in the opening half, posting three drives with double-digit plays and an 18:46 time of possession. Taulia Tagovailoa threw a short TD pass to get within 21-10, but also later lost his footing on a 4th-and-Goal as the Buckeyes held.

* Stroud and his unit (leading 28-10) then delivered the exclamation point(s) bridging halftime. They marched 82 yards in just 1:03 of game time before the break, capped on an eight-yard score from Master Teague III.

* Ohio State then cruised on a pair of seven-play drives in the third quarter, culminating with Wilson (26 yards up the right sideline) and Olave (30 yards over the middle) both grabbing their second touchdowns.

* The Buckeyes continued rolling all the way into the final minutes, where Craig Young intercepted a pass and returned it 70 yards to the house.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

* The opening 17-play drive was the longest for Ohio State since 2015, when it took the same number of plays vs. Hawaii. The next longest was a 19-play sequence against Wisconsin back in 2010.

* Stroud was an efficient 24 of 33 passing for 406 yards and five touchdowns on the day.

* Ohio State, which leads the nation in total offense, outgained the Terrapins 598-335. The Buckeyes have amassed 500 yards offensively in 23 of 31 games under Ryan Day.

* Olave (7-120) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (5-103) both enjoyed 100-yard receiving days.

* Olave now has 29 career touchdown receptions, good enough for third alone in program history. He now only trails David Boston (34) and Devin Smith (30).

* Henderson had 169 yards from scrimmage, rushing for 102 and catching four passes for another 67. He has scored at least one touchdown in all six games this season.

* Seven Ohio State scoring drives lasted under three minutes.

* Cody Simon, Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg all had seven tackles to lead the Buckeye defense.

* The game featured a combined 146 plays and 51 first downs between the schools.

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