This is not the most exciting game on the Ohio State schedule by any stretch of the imagination with Rutgers just a week away, but people were not exactly all over this game last year and then we saw what happened.

RELATED: Ohio State versus Maryland Predictions - 2018

We're allowed to be off once in awhile around here.

This time around, the Buckeyes are even a bigger favorite, are playing at home and as of today are IN the field for the College Football Playoff.

A stumble here would be too much to explain away to the committee, so there is no margin for being lethargic coming off of an open weekend.

How do we see this game going down? We make our picks.

When you take non-conference games out of the equation (and a lopsided win over Howard that skews the numbers) and just look at Big Ten games, the Terps are down in the neighborhood of Michigan State, Northwestern and Rutgers in terms of scoring offense and total offense while they are dead last in total defense, are 13th in scoring defense and dead last in passing defense.

The Buckeyes should be able to do just about anything that they want to as long as the weather does not take a surprise November turn for the worst.

Maryland could trot out one of several quarterbacks for this game but the sad thing for the visiting team is that none of them will stand a chance against the Ohio State defense. About the best chance that Maryland has is if Ohio State burned the game film from last season and absolutely forgets who Anthony McFarland is and he shocks the world, again.

There is a reason why the Buckeyes are about a six touchdown favorite in this game. While it is a huge number, if the Buckeyes come out and play a B-plus game on Saturday, that number may still be too low.

This team has been passing tests with better marks than that. Bet the Buckeyes, no matter how bad the line is. Ohio State 59 Maryland 6

Maryland is not very good. Ohio State is very good, is the home team, and is coming off a bye, where they’ll be hungry to get back into action. Could the Buckeyes overlook the Terps in a Noon Snoozer a bit? Potentially but they haven’t done that with an opponent to date, and even if they do, it shouldn’t matter much.

I am going to predict a little bit of sloppiness in this one, but once the Buckeyes settle in, I think they will dominate, getting plenty of rest for the starters and plenty of reps for some of the younger guys. Ohio State 52, Maryland 10

There were 103 points scored in last year's matchup between Ohio State and Maryland. There will be significantly less points in this year's game, and it will be because Maryland won't be able to hold up its end of the bargain.

Ohio State has the top defense in the country, and it has a top-3 offense in the country. Maryland can't match the Buckeyes on either side of the ball, and to make things worse for the Terrapins, the Buckeyes have a performance to avenge from last year.

I believe Ohio State's offense will take a drive or two to dust off the cobwebs, but I expect the offensive avalanche to take out the Terrapins sooner rather than later. Maryland will be able to turn a few positive plays, but it will all be for not. Ohio State 59 Maryland 13.

I'm done messing around here. Every single week (with the exception of the Northwestern game, which you may recall I absolutely nailed my prediction) I both underestimate Ohio State's offense and overestimate the opposing offense's ability to put up points. At this point, I would rather overshoot than undershoot because at least I'll be surprised for the first time this season.

As for the actual prediction, it's very simple. I don't believe the first two weeks of the season where Maryland put up 142 points actually happened. It was a test, all part of the simulation to see if we were actually paying attention, and we just let it slip by as the Terrapins returned to form with a loss to Temple and then a 59-0 blowout against Penn State. In short, Maryland is very bad, and evidenced by literally every game this season, Ohio State is very good. The talent gap between these two programs is too wide to even consider this to be a serious game.

The only reason people are giving Maryland any points here is that they expect the Buckeyes to turn to their second and third stringers early. I'm of the mind that the starters, up 24-0 or 52-0, will stay in the game because there is an even more improbable, lopsided matchup coming next week. If there's a game you take the starters out of early, it's Rutgers before Ohio State prepares for Penn State. I doubt they would want to pull starters at halftime in two straight games before the toughest stretch of the season, so I think Justin Fields and company will stay in the game plenty long enough to terrorize Maryland. Ohio State 62, Maryland 0

Although Ohio State is rightly seen as playing cupcakes the next two weeks before the stretch run, there is a discernible difference between Maryland and Rutgers. According to SP+, the Terrapins are not even the worst team that the Buckeyes have played this season (Maryland is 63rd, about the equivalent of FAU and well ahead of Northwestern). So this game is not a total cake walk.

Nevertheless, these are two weeks for Ohio State to work on relative weaknesses and get healthy before Penn State and Michigan. One key for the Buckeyes is to get off to strong starts offensively. While Ryan Day and his staff had adjusted remarkably well to what opposing defenses are showing, Ohio State does not want to have to rely upon waiting until the second quarter to get started against better opponents. Ohio State 49 Maryland 8

The Mike Locksley era got off to a roaring start at the beginning of the season, but has hit a brick wall over the last month and Saturday will be more of the same. I was somewhat surprised they did not retain Matt Canada after the job he did last year (similar to the Browns with Gregg Williams), but Locksley and his snake oil wooed an AD who is beyond clueless. I see Justin Fields doing more in his spectacular campaign, and I am praying we can empty the bench after halftime again to get the starters rest and not risk injury in what is sure to be a laugher. Ohio State 42, Minnesota 21

How things can change in a year. Last year's defense had one of the most horrific performances of my lifetime at Maryland and it set the course for a massive changed on the defensive side of the ball. Booger McFarland had almost as many yards in that game as he does this entire season thus far, and that was versus a Maryland team with a huge amount of turmoil around it. This year, our defense has been suffocating and I expect it to get really ugly this year.

Offensively, we were able to match them scoing-wise, but this year's unit's ability to run the ball is exciting as the leaves change and the weather gets colder. Packing your running game and defense is a great move this time of year, and I believe it'll pay off in spades in the final two weeks. Ohio State 45 Maryland 13

I’m pretty damn good at predictions. This season I’ve been EXTREMELY accurate in giving you not only the winners of all our games, but the accurate scores. However last year I didn’t predict games that well. We all know what happened in West Lafayette. I messed that one up. I also didn’t have any clue that Maryland would put up 45 points on us in regulation along with an additional six points in overtime. Yes, Maryland took us to overtime. Here’s some news for you. Overtime won’t happen against Maryland this season.

The Terrapins might be the best NCAA football team in the months of August and early September. They saddened Tom Herman and Texas the last two seasons. This year they beat the hell out of some guy named Howard and then Syracuse before losing to everyone except Stupid Rutgers. This is a team that won’t come close to scoring anywhere near 51 points against us this season.

Our coaches spent the bye week determining whether or not we’ll play some guys who could become redshirts. I won’t spoil the drama, but a lot of guys who have been on the bench should see SUBSTANTIAL playing time this week and next. The goal here is to keep our guys healthy for our last two regular season games. The Slow Turtles or whatever they’re called will fall behind early and will never be a challenge. Expect Justin Fields to be on the sideline as early as the second quarter and, with any luck, some of you students who might have some eligibility left might even see some action by the middle of the fourth quarter. Ohio State 78, Maryland 7