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There is not much in the way of history between the Buckeyes and Terrapins on the football field with just four previous games taking place once Maryland was added to the Big Ten conference slate. The Terps have never been any closer than 21 points to the Buckeyes in any of these games as the Maryland program has been working to try and get up to speed with its fellow Big Ten mates.

It has not been a smooth transition for the Terps as they were an athletic department that was on the decline in terms of having to cut sports and cut funding as the revenue was not matching the expenditures. So, the invitation was a bit of a godsend for the program as a whole but it was not without its lumps as Maryland found itself in the middle of a recruiting hotbed geographically but disadvantaged in regards to many Big Ten schools, Ohio State included, coming into their backyard and taking their kids.

This is without even getting into the whole Jordan McNair tragedy, something that sent shockwaves through the college football world, cost several people their jobs and really has not found any sort of resolution as Maryland continues to push through this 2018 season.

At least for 60 minutes on Saturday, things will focus just on the game of football as the Buckeyes and Terps meet on the field in a game that means a lot to both teams. Ohio State has to win this game if it wants to stay in the mix for the Big Ten East title and have a shot to go to Indianapolis to defend its B1G crown and have a shot at the College Football Playoff. Maryland is searching for a 6th win and bowl eligibility.

We are looking to get past all of the noise around the game and look at the game itself as we go to the Tale of the Tape and put this game into perspective as we are more than halfway through the final month of the regular season and every game means just a little bit more.

Ohio State's secondary took a major step forward last week against Michigan State, granted the Spartan passing game was not much of a passing game. But with that being said, Ohio State's secondary had a lot to do with that as neither Michigan State quarterback had any success throwing the ball. That all coincided with the secondary almost being completely healthy. Yes, Isaiah Pryor is still banged up and not playing but the insertion of Brendon White into the safety spot opposite of Jordan Fuller has been a major success by all accounts. The Buckeyes then were able to get Shaun Wade into a more natural position at this point of his career and that paid off with a good game out of the young Floridian as well. Then at the cornerback position, the Buckeyes were as healthy as they have been there since the first month of the season with having Jeffrey Okudah, Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield. Maryland's passing game is significantly worse in a statistical standpoint than Michigan State's, to the tune of more than 100 yards per game worse. In fact, Maryland has completed 67 passes in Big Ten play, that is over the course of seven games, that is an average of 9.6 completions per game.

Quarterback Kasim Hill left last week's game against Indiana with a lower-body injury and people are fearing the worst with the quarterback who saw his 2017 season end with an ACL injury. On Tuesday it was confirmed that it was an ACL tear and the year is done for Hill. That means that Tyrrell Pigrome is the next man up and Pigrome has played in nine of the 10 games this season but has only attempted 31 passes and completed 17 of them with a touchdown and an interception. How thing has the passing game been for Maryland this season? Only ONE receiver has more than 20 catches, and that is 21 with former Ohio State commit Taivon Jacobs and his grabs for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Jeshaun Jones leads the way with four touchdowns but only has 18 grabs, beyond that only D.J. Turner is in double-digits with 13 catches and that was in six games and Turner has not played in the last five games. Maryland is going to have to attempt to pass a little bit to open up the run. Sure, Ohio State has had its issues against the run but the truth being told, with little to no threat of a passing game here, at least on paper, the Buckeyes should be able to put its corners on an island and just load up against the run and see where things fall from there.