The winner will claim the Big Ten East title and go on to the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis on Dec. 3, though both had to survive closer-than-expected games Saturday with No. 3 Michigan nipping Illinois 19-17 earlier in the day.
Trailing 13-10 at halftime, Ohio State started the second half strong in all three phases at Maryland.
The defense forced a punt that was blocked by safety Lathan Ransom, who also got to a punt the week before.
This time Xavier Johnson recovered at the Maryland 14, and two plays later Dallan Hayden found the end zone on an 8-yard run to give Ohio State a 17-13 lead.
After Ohio State settled for a Noah Ruggles field goal on its next possession, Hayden made sure the Buckeyes would not have to do that again on the next drive. He found a crease and scored from three yards out to push Ohio State’s lead to 27-13 with just 16 seconds left in the third quarter, but Maryland was far from finished.
The Terps came out firing after that as Tagovailoa hit Tai Felton for 36 yards and found Jacob Copeland for 12 before the Terps got 15 yards on a pass interference penalty on Cam Martinez.
Two plays later, the quarterback took it in himself from five yards out then hit Copeland for the two-point conversion.
Ohio State answered quickly with a 53-yard touchdown drive capped by Hayden’s 13-yard touchdown run, but the Terrapins blocked the extra-point try and returned it for two points to make the score 33-23 with 12:36 left.
Maryland then drew within three points when Tagovailoa scrambled around before finding Jeshaun Jones for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
Ohio State had a chance to run the clock out but was unable to and had to settle for another Ruggles field goal.
His 45-yarder stretched Ohio State’s lead to 36-30 with 42 seconds left, then the Buckeyes tacked on the final touchdown when Zach Harrison stripped Tagovailoa at the Maryland 1-yard line, linebacker Steele Chambers caught the ball in mid-air and took it into the end zone for a touchdown.
Maryland took an early punch and controlled most of the first half, taking a 13-10 lead into the locker room as a result.
Ohio State got the scoring started with a 31-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to TreVeyon Henderson, who was wide open on a throw-back screen then darted through the defense for pay dirt.
Maryland came back with a nine-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Chad Ryland. That followed a third-down sack by Jack Sawyer, though the drive was extended by a 15-yard facemark penalty on J.T. Tuimolau.
After forcing a three-and-out, Maryland got the ball back and drove to the Ohio State 3 but had to settle for a 21-yard field goal to cut the deficit to one.
The Buckeyes got that back on a 33-yard field goal by Ruggles early in the second quarter, but Maryland answered with a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped by Tagovailoa’s 1-yard pass to C.J. Dippre.
Tagovailoa was tremendous in the first half, completing 16 of 18 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown.
Ohio State struggled with discipline and execution in the first 30 minutes, getting called for seven penalties.
Stroud completed 9 of 18 passes for 131 yards while the running game was largely ineffective for a third straight road game.
Henderson returned from injury but had a hard time finding room to run in the first half. He went to the locker room with 19 yards on 11 carries and did not play in the second half.
SATURDAY’S GAME
Michigan at Ohio State, Noon, Fox, 1410
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