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Ohio State football: Buckeyes hold off Maryland Terrapins 49-28

By The Sports Xchange
Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State used its array of quarterbacks to hold off the upset bid of Maryland as the top-ranked Buckeyes pulled away from an early third quarter tie with 28 consecutive points for a 49-28 victory.

Cardale Jones passed for two touchdowns, backup J.T. Barrett ran for three in red-zone situations and wide receiver and former quarterback Braxton Miller caught a touchdown pass.

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Jones' second touchdown, a 48-yard throw to Jalin Marshall midway through the third quarter, gave Ohio State (6-0, 2-0 in the Big Ten) a 28-21 lead and Barrett then scored from one yard to make it 35-21.

After running back Ezekiel Elliott ran for his second score, Barrett ran in from 16 yards to make it 49-21.

Jones completed 21-of-28 passes for a career-high 291 yards. Barrett rushed 12 times for 62 yards.

Maryland got the final score with 55 seconds left on a one-yard run by Wes Brown.

Quarterback Perry Hills of Maryland (2-4, 0-2), in his first start in four games, ran for touchdowns late in the first half and to open the third quarter to rally Maryland into a 21-21 tie.

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A 69-yard tying drive was aided by a roughing the passer call on Ohio State All-American defensive end Joey Bosa. Hills later scored from four yards with 11:16 left in the third.

Hills had 170 yards on 25 carries after entering the game with 119 yards. He also completed 10-of-27 passes for 133 yards and threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter.

Hills threw a 52-yard touchdown to D.J. Moore on the Terrapins' first possession for a 7-0 lead and right before halftime he ran 75 yards to set up his three-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 21-14.

In between, Ohio State quarterbacks were busy.

Barrett came off the bench to tie the score 7-7 with a three-yard rushing touchdown. After Elliott scored from two yards, Jones had successive completions of 33 and 19 yards to Miller, the second for a touchdown that put the Buckeyes ahead 21-7 with 6:41 left in the quarter.

After Ohio State missed a field goal, Maryland got the ball back at its 27 with 1:27 left in the half and was set back five yards on a false start. Two plays later, the Terrapins were in the end zone on Hills' three-yard run.

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NOTES: RB Ezekial Elliott had 106 yards in 21 carries to surpass 100 yards for the 11th straight game. He had 31 yards at the half. ... This was Maryland's first game in Ohio Stadium. The teams had never met until Maryland joined the Big Ten last season. Ohio State won 52-24 in College Park, Md., in 2014. The last time the Terrapins played in the state of Ohio was Nov. 8, 1975, when they defeated Cincinnati 21-19.

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