Osu Game Today is less about suspense and more about separation. Maryland heads to No. 5 Ohio State on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, and the 34.5-point spread tells you exactly how the market sees this matchup: one team is trying to stabilize a season, while the other is operating with national title expectations.
That does not automatically make the game meaningless. In fact, it can make the evaluation clearer. Maryland arrives after a three-game skid in which the Terps conceded 137 points and committed seven turnovers over their last three games. When a defense is supposed to be the part of a team that travels well and steadies the rest of the roster, those numbers suggest the opposite. The expected leap has not arrived, even with a lengthy list of injuries in 2025.
Why Ohio State Looks So Difficult
Ohio State has been built to stress teams in ways that are hard to survive for four quarters. The Buckeyes returned several standout performers and remain in the title-contender tier for a reason. Ryan Day already led Ohio State to a 2024 College Football Playoff championship, and the program’s recent history gives it a much higher floor than most opponents Maryland will face. Last season, Ohio State cruised through the regular season without a loss before falling to eventual national champion Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game and then to No. 10-seed Miami in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Even with those setbacks, the Buckeyes still won the 2024 championship under Day, and this year their only loss came in a 24-23 collapse against No. 1 Texas.
That profile matters because Ohio State does not need to dominate every snap to win comfortably. It only needs enough efficiency to punish mistakes, and Maryland has been giving those away. If the Terps are loose with the ball again, Ohio State has the kind of offense that can turn short fields and broken possessions into a long afternoon.
Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin Change the Ceiling
The two players spotlighted here, Jeremiah Smith and Julian Sayin, help explain why Ohio State can look overwhelming even before the second half arrives. Smith came into the season with the reputation of a difference-maker after posting 3,175 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns as the No. 1 ranked class of 2024 prospect. Sayin has also been efficient, completing 77% of his passes for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions across 19 career starts. He is averaging 306 passing yards per game this season, which is a reminder that the Buckeyes can attack at multiple levels without needing the game to break in any one specific way.
Smith has already produced 44 catches for 823 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, while Maryland is trying to find answers on a defense that has not taken the expected step forward. That combination is why this matchup feels less like a coin flip and more like a stress test. The issue is not whether Ohio State can move the ball. It is whether Maryland can make the Buckeyes earn every yard long enough to keep the game manageable.
What Maryland Needs Just to Compete
Maryland does have one path to making this respectable: cleaner possessions, fewer giveaways and enough discipline to avoid handing Ohio State extra chances. That is easier said than done against a top-five team in Columbus, especially when the Terps have allowed 137 points over the last three games. If the defense cannot create resistance and the offense cannot protect the ball, the spread starts to feel less like a number and more like a reality check.
So Osu Game Today is not really a story about whether Ohio State is good. It is. The bigger question is whether Maryland can show anything that looks like progress against a program that has championship expectations and the roster to match them. Sometimes a matchup tells you who is better. This one is designed to tell you how wide the gap has become.
