Maryland
This D is ELITE — Held Maryland Offense Significantly Below Season Averages
I went and looked at Maryland’s box scores from this year. They obviously haven’t played a murderer’s row so you would expect Ohio State to hold them to less than their season averages.
But the defense Held them WAY below their averages.
Maryland was averaging 5.1 YPC on rushes coming into the Horseshoe. Today they averaged just 3.0 yards per carry, or 60% of their average. That’s really impressive, especially against a team like Maryland with a unique RPO run game and a lot of attention being paid attention to the pass.
More impressively, Maryland was averaging 8.6 yards per pass. The defense held them to 4.8 yards per pass — or 56% of their average. That is an unbelievably impressive number against a veteran quarterback with a lot of weapons.
At the very least, I think this defense is elite and is going to keep this team in its ballgames, including in two weeks and in Ann Arbor.