COLUMBUS – As wins accumulate for Ohio State, their bandwagon gets smaller.
The Buckeyes (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) were the first unanimous No. 1 pick in the history of the Associated Press preseason poll with 61 votes. But after narrowly escaping Indiana 34-27 on Oct. 3, they lost seven votes, but remained atop the major college football polls heading into a Homecoming matchup with the struggling Maryland Terrapins Saturday (Noon/BTN).
Despite an offense that seems to run on square wheels at times and has problems keeping possession of the football, head coach Urban Meyer says, if his team eliminates mistakes, it will continue to be successful.
“Penalties and turnovers. That stops efficiency. I think we’re on the border of being very good,” he said.
Ohio State has turned the ball over 13 times this season and was flagged for eight penalties at Indiana, including one that wiped an early touchdown off the scoreboard. Their red zone efficiency is 108th in the nation.
They have also amassed more than 500 total yards in their last two games.
Meanwhile, Maryland’s (2-2, 0-1) second season in the Big Ten got off to a rough start when the Terrapins had 105 yards of total offense in a 28-0 loss to Michigan last week and head coach Randy Edsall received the dreaded “vote of confidence” from his bosses this week, amid rumors that he was about to be fired.
“Randy Edsall is our head football coach and he’ll be on the sidelines Saturday against Ohio State,” the school said Thursday in a statement.
The 57-year-old Edsall is 22-33 in five seasons at Maryland after going 74-70 in 12 seasons at Connecticut.
After the game at Ohio State, the Terrapins have a week off before playing Penn State at home October 24th.