Top-ranked Ohio State’s “other” Heisman contender made sure the absence of OSU’s main stiff-armed contender wasn’t felt. At all.
With standout defensive end Chase Young sidelined for the first of at least two games (probably) because of an NCAA issue, Justin Fields, as he has all season long, more than picked up the slack on the offensive side of the ball as the sophomore quarterback passed for three touchdowns and ran for another as OSU romped over, around and through overmatched Maryland 73-14 in The Horseshoe. The Buckeyes headed into the halftime locker room with a 42-0 lead and, with backups as far as the eye could see, cruised the remainder of the contest.
Fields now has 37 touchdowns responsible for on the season. He came into Week 11 tied for first nationally with LSU’s Joe Burrow (30 passing, three rushing) in that category.
In just two quarters of work -- backup Chris Chugunov opened the second half as the starter under center -- Fields completed 16-of-25 passes for 200 yards, the three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Also playing just the first half, J.K. Dobbins led all players through the first two quarters with 90 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Master Teague, though, finished with a game-high 111 yards as OSU’s offense as a whole put up a whopping 705 total.
Defensively, the Silver Bullets continued to do what they’ve done all season long, albeit without the best player on that side of the ball in the country. Since allowing 21 points to Florida Atlantic in the season opener, OSU has given up a combined 56 points in eight games. The Terrapins also managed just 138 yards of offense. Total. For the entire game.
With Maryland taken care of, unbeaten Ohio State will turn most of its attention to next Saturday’s in-season conference scrimmage against Rutgers in Piscataway. At least some of the attention, though, will be on Young’s situation and whether he’ll be available for the Week 13 clash with No. 4 (for now) Penn State and, the following weekend, rival and 14th-ranked Michigan.