This is Ohio State's final road game of the season with Michigan coming up the following week and everything beyond that considered a neutral site contest. Will Ohio State be able to block out the CFP rankings, McMurphy, Michigan and the dull roar of the critics complaining about the play of the team to stay focused on the task at hand?

Ohio State certainly has the talent edge over the Terps... hell, Ohio State has not been shy when it comes to raiding the state of Maryland and taking its best talent including quarterback Dwayne Haskins.

The Terps needs this game almost as badly as Ohio State does, and in some ways more. Maryland is playing with an interim coach, is not currently bowl eligible and really could use a signature win to send a message to recruits that it is okay to stay home and help create something big in College Park (Md.).

There is a lot to process going into this game and we are making our picks in advance of the big game as the Buckeyes look to pick up their 10th win on the season and keep the pressure on TTUN in the race for the Big Ten East.

This game definitely could be a trap game just in the nature of it being against a 5-5 team, on the road, the week before 'The Game', a game that has everything on the line. Lose this game against Maryland and the game with Michigan really only becomes a chance to play the role of spoiler. Win this game and the Big Ten East title is still on the line.

Maryland is third in the league in rushing offense, a full 90 yards per game and nine touchdowns ahead of Ohio State's pace in terms of running the ball. Advantage Maryland. But when it comes to the pass, Ohio State is first in the league, by a wide margin while Maryland is dead last and the difference in numbers is staggering. Ohio State is averaging 355 yards per game in the air while Maryland is in the low 130s. Ohio State has 34 passing touchdowns and Maryland has 11. At least the Terps are ahead in the interception numbers, five for the Terps and six for the Buckeyes. Ohio State has more completions than Maryland has attempts. Advantage Ohio State.

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Urban Meyer has talked about the Terps being a top-20 defense but that is more of a struggle to find those numbers. Maryland is not bad against the pass, allowing just 182 yards per game but even with that, the Terps have allowed 15 passing touchdowns, three more than the Buckeyes have allowed.

I just don't see Maryland having the horses to keep this game all that close. Anthony McFarland is coming off of a 200-yard rushing game against Indiana but just a week before he had an eight carry for 17 yards game against Michigan State.

The Terps will hit a couple of big plays but the Ohio State defense is getting better and I expect them to build upon a strong effort last week. Maryland's Kasim Hill is out for this game with another torn ACL and that means it will be on Tyrrell Pigrome to take snaps and try and lead the Maryland offense. Honestly it does not matter if Maryland is on its first, second or fourth quarterback as it will not matter in regards to mounting much in the way of offense. This is not the same team that beat Texas in week one and while the Terps still could get into a bowl game, they just won't be able to slow down the Buckeyes. Ohio State 41 Maryland 13

Ohio State travels to face a solid Maryland team (Maryland is 55th in S&P+; Minnesota is 53; Nebraska is 56) sandwiched between playing Michigan State and archrival Michigan. Although this could be a letdown spot, it also could be the place where the Buckeyes hit the gas pedal after a solid win over Michigan State. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins gets to return to his home state to face the Terrapins. Like Nebraska, Maryland uses an odd front with two 4i defensive tackles. So, look for a similar game plan -- more pistol with split zone and lead ISO to hit the frontside bubble, combined with outside zone to the boundary. I look for Haskins to be sharper than he has been the past few weeks, working boundary curl routes against Maryland's single high coverages to new X receiver Terry McLaurin, before looking to hit shots downfield. And I expect that the Buckeyes will again feature a package with Tate Martell in the red zone.

ANALYSIS: Fitting the Pieces

The Maryland offense received a significant setback with quarterback Kasim Hill out with an ACL tear. Terrapin head coach Matt Canada will test the discipline of the Ohio State back seven with an assortment of jet sweeps and motion. Look for the Buckeyes to try to build upon the momentum of their performance last week with a similar game plan -- tighter defensive line splits to control the line of scrimmage, and more cover 4 on early downs to get boundary safety Brendon White involved in the run game. In the end, I expect a good performance from Ohio State -- because you don't want to go limping into the Michigan Game. Ohio State 39 Maryland 15

Ohio State is coming off a win that has a lot of people believing they could be trending in the right direction. A simplified defense played very well a week ago but was also facing an offense with that is struggling mightily. Now they'll get a team without its starting quarterback but that will also put the Buckeye defenders in more positions to have to make plays in space.

The Ohio State offense on the other hand was still just a bit off on Saturday but part of that has to be credited to an outstanding Michigan State defense. The Buckeyes were able to get the running game going in the second half and doing so against the nation's top ranked run defense has to be good for building confidence.

I think we see the offense pick things up a bit this week and while I don't think the defense will regress to what we saw during the month of October, I do think Maryland, even down its quarterback, will present some different challenges and have more success moving the football than Michigan State. Ohio State 38 Maryland 17

Who was that defense and what have they done with the real Buckeyes? The performance by Ohio State defensively against Michigan State was incredible, though I'll stop short of assuming a return of the silver bullets. Nonetheless, with a bit of momentum, a little bit of unification this week thanks to Brett McMurphy's latest and the season-ending injury to Maryland QB Kasim Hill, I anticipate another strong showing by Ohio State this weekend.

UNSCRIPTED OHIO: Get caught up

Tyrrell Pigrome is no slouch for the Terps, as he filled in admirably last year when Hill was injured. But Ohio State can use every little bit possible in a final tune-up before Michigan looms next week. Since opening as a 17-point favorite, the line for this game had crept down to as little as 13.5 points in some places, which was shocking to me. I'm going to be bold... Ohio State will cover the original 17 and then it's game on for Michigan. Ohio State 38 Maryland 17

This is the last chance for Ohio State to tune up before the big one next week.

Offensive balance has been coach Urban Meyer's goal since he arrived here, and the offense will live or die by that. Therefore, expect to see an attempt to establish that balance Saturday. The once maligned running game has seen great performances from both sophomore J.K. Dobbins and redshirt junior Mike Weber in back-to-back weeks, but the shift in focus resulted in a slacking of production from redshirt sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Ohio State needs to see both sides of the offense working before that game against Michigan.

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Then again, Maryland is no slouch. 5-5 is a nice improvement from where that program has been, and the Terrapins have a top 30 defense with two 500-yard rushers. Ohio State's key on defense is to prevent the big play. Maryland's offense thrives on them.

Overall, too much of a talent disparity and too much (hopeful) continued improvement from the Buckeyes to keep this one close into the second half. Ohio State 45 Maryland 17

After a solid performance from the defense and the special teams last week on the road against Michigan State, the Buckeyes will once again travel, but this time to College Park to face the 5-5 Maryland Terrapins. This team is towards the bottom of the Big Ten East standings, but that doesn't mean the Terrapins will just roll over as they are team with a lot of different players that can turn a big play for their team.

The Buckeye defense will get a massive break this weekend when they face the Terrapins without their starting quarterback in Kasim Hill, who had his season come to an end due to injury. So, with Hill on the sidelines, the offense will turn over to Tyrrell Pigrome, who hasn't seen much game time going 17-for-31 with 195 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.

Most of the offense will come on the ground mainly with a trio of Anthony McFarland, Ty Johnson and Tayon Fleet-Davis. The challenge for the Buckeyes will be limiting that patented Terrapin big play, something that they have had problems defending all year, but have taken strides to improve in recent weeks.

PLUS: More Martell?

On the other side of the ball, Dwayne Haskins comes into his eleventh start with a more than likely chance to break all-time single season passing records for yards and touchdowns in front of friends and family. Haskins needs more than 50 yards to break the single season yards passing record of 3,330 held by Joe Germaine and three touchdowns to pass J.T. Barrett's single season touchdown record of 35.

So people believe that the Buckeyes could be looking past the Terrapins and to the game of the season against No. 4 Michigan the next weekend, but this Buckeye team knows that the opportunity of a Big Ten Championship and a possible College Football Playoff berth won't be possible if they don't take care of business this against the Terrapins, and I think they do just that and by a healthy margin. Ohio State 49 Maryland 10

The two-game playoff for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes starts this weekend versus a Maryland team that will be missing their biggest playmaker on offense. As ugly as last week was, our defense taking a step forward and playing better ball doesn’t bode well for the Terps.

Offensively, the Dwayne Haskins Homecoming will be a huge deal for the Bucks. Haskins mentioned last week he was back in his “bag”, which doesn’t mean his Nike travel backpack the team gives you. He wants to play in the League next year, so his last 3-5 games will determine his options and his standing for next year. Look for Mike Weber to get roaring again, especially if the weather is rough. Bucks big this weekend. Ohio State 42 Maryland 14

Two teams who have had difficult ordeals off the field square off this week before the massive Michigan game. This could end up as Urban Meyer’s finest hour if he can get these guys going and make some noise in the playoffs, and I fully expect it to happen.

While schematics matter, the guys played noticeable harder last week after cratering versus Purdue and being average versus Nebraska. The lack of leadership is noticeable, but Urban giving Tate Martell 1st team reps lit a fire under Haskins that we haven’t seen all year. Time to let it all hang out and make a statement for the playoffs. Ohio State 31 Maryland 17

The bear has been poked. Yes, you’ve read that right. I am not a happy coach. This week, McJournalist decided to write another story about me and my team. He wrote it to try to damage me. Yet the exact opposite has happened. He has galvanized my team. We are back to that Ohio against the world scenario, but this time it’s under my watch. I am in control. I am the coach. That will be our rallying cry as we get through the next three weeks. Yes. You read that right. We will be playing football in three weeks, in Indianapolis. This week we get to deal with a below average Maryland team that’s had their share of problems. Now we understand their starting quarterback is out. Poor, poor Maryland. My defense will again win the day. Offensively, we will be running the ball like we should in the month of November. That Haskins kid will return home. He will break another school record or two before we put in Martell Package to finish things up. This is the first of three straight games against a fired up, pissed off, Us against Them team. Sorry Terrapin Turtle things. Nothing personal. Ohio State 66 Maryland 0