Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will embarrass Maryland

5. The Buckeyes will continue running the ball

It wasn’t a great day by any means getting the rushing game going against the Spartans last week but there was still some things to be encouraged by. The Buckeyes managed just a paltry 2.7 yards per carry on the ground. However, it was against college football’s best rushing defense.

The most encouraging thing about the Buckeyes’ offense last weekend was that they didn’t give up on the run game. Rushing offense has been one of the Buckeyes’ biggest and most lingering problems all season. For them to keep handing it to the backs the way they did shows that they have confidence in their system.

Given, the Buckeyes had the fortune of being in the lead for the entirety of the game but that still says a lot about game management skill.

The Buckeyes could have easily gotten frustrated and started throwing it all over the place because they weren’t breaking off any big runs. They realized that playing it safe with the field positioning game was the right move.

This benefited Dwayne Haskins quite a bit as he’s been asked to do a lot recently. Haskins threw the ball 73 times in their only loss to Purdue. Sometimes it’s best to keep the safety on and play with your secondary attack before the first is necessary. The Buckeyes ended up not needing Haskins in the end as Mike Weber ended up helping seal the game in the fourth quarter with a rushing touchdown.

The Terrapins are ranked 61st in the nation against the run. Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber have switched off having solid production lines in the last two games.

They should be very active once again as they face a weaker Maryland rushing defense. Expect the Bucks to keep going back to the run game in order to seal the victory.