COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Buckeyes have scored 116 points in their last two wins and feel as though they’re building some momentum heading into their Big Ten opener at Maryland on Sunday.
However, No. 18/20 Ohio State is dealing with some dramatic positives and negatives.
A positive is certainly the offense, which gained 710 yards while hanging 50 points on Cincinnati Saturday.
Head coach Urban Meyer and co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner were both pleased that increased depth allowed them to make substitutions and keep the offense in high gear, running 101 plays.
“We played exactly who we wanted to play, rotated them in, and they played really well,” Warinner said. “And so we feel like we’re headed in the right direction. Are we a finished product? No. Are we coming along pretty nicely? Yes.”
The negative? The pass defense.
The Buckeyes allowed the Bearcats to score on three touchdown passes of at least 60 yards.
Coach Urban Meyer says the Buckeyes have shown great effort on defense, but mistakes are still being made.
“We gave up 360 yards receiving. Four plays equated well over 250,” Meyer said in accepting at least some of the responsibility for coverages that were vulnerable to passes across the middle of the field. “I don’t call defenses. But I’m a game manager. That’s what my job is, and I should have had more input in that.”
Co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell is happy with his players’ development and also concedes there is plenty of room for improvement.
If there still any room left Saturday (Noon/ABC), expect Maryland to exploit it. The Terps haves scored a total of 184 points so far this season, third-highest total in the Big Ten.
Wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Deon Long both topped 100 yards receiving in Saturday’s win over Indiana.
With 616 all-purpose yards, Diggs has a career total of 3,424 and the second-highest per-game average (148.87) in the nation.