By MITCH STACY AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS (AP) — No. 4 Ohio State looked to be in trouble at halftime.
UPDATE 10/09/23 4:34 a.m.: Ohio State moved up one spot to in the Associated Press Top 25 and is now No. 3 in both major college football polls.
The Buckeyes’ possessions in the first half Saturday included turning the ball over on downs, three punts and a field goal.
Though the game was tied at halftime, largely because of safety Josh Proctor’s Pick-6, Maryland and quarterback Taulia Taglovailoa had the momentum.
But the Buckeyes were a different team in the second half, scoring 27 straight points to pull away from Maryland 37-17.
Kyle McCord passed for a career-high 320 yards and two touchdowns for the Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) and Marvin Harrison Jr. had eight catches for 163 yards.
“Early on, I feel like a I missed some opportunities or just saw (things) a second late, so that’s on nobody else but myself,” McCord said. “If we could replicate what we did in the second half, and just do that in the first half, I think that’s a completely different game.”
The Buckeyes didn’t lead until Jaden Fielding kicked a field goal to put them up 20-17 late in the third quarter.
After a Maryland punt, McCord tossed a 44-yard TD pass to tight end Cade Stover. The Terps (5-1, 2-1) gave up the ball on downs on their next possession, and four plays later McCord found Harrison for a 17-yard touchdown to push the Ohio State lead to 34-17.
A late 41-yard field goal capped the scoring in a Buckeyes win that certainly didn’t look certain through three quarters.
“It was like one of those things — OK, what’s going on here?” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said of the sluggish start. “But that’s the game, and you got to respond. So I thought we did respond well in the second half. Good rhythm.”
Tagovailoa was 21 for 41 for 196 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score. But he was intercepted twice, the first a 24-yard Pick-6 by Proctor that gave the Buckeyes their only touchdown of the first half.
Chip Trayanum was the main running back for the Buckeyes with TreVeyon Henderson sidelined with an undisclosed injury. Trayanum was mostly bottled up by the Terps, carrying 20 times for 61 yards. His best run was a scurry around the right end for a 4-yard TD in the third quarter.
The Terps broke the 10-10 tie early in the second half when Tagovailoa weaved his way through traffic from 9 yards out for a touchdown.
The Buckeyes then went to work, with McCord connecting with Emeka Egbuka and Julian Fleming to set up Trayanum’s 4-yard touchdown run. It was all Buckeyes the rest of the way.
Ohio State travels to Purdue next Saturday (Noon/Peacock) before a showdown at home against No. 7 Penn State on Oct. 21 (Noon/FOX).
Players of the Week
Harrison and Proctor were named Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week.