You’re Nuts: What was the most important thing we learned from the Maryland game?

Every time the Buckeyes take the field, it is an opportunity for us as fans — and, I guess, more importantly for the coaches — to learn something new about the team. Well, now that the first half of the season is in the books, OSU is heading into an insanely challenging back half in which they will need every lesson that they have learned to be expertly executed starting on Saturday in Bloomington through the regular-season finale in The Horseshoe.

Coming off of Ohio State’s 45-16 win over Maryland, Gene and Matt each came to a conclusion about the team thus far that they think will help frame how they see the rest of the season.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides on one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts. Read the arguments and then head to the comments at the bottom of the page and jump into the debate.

Question: What was the most important thing we learned from the Maryland game?

Gene’s take: Ohio State is flawed, but so is everyone else

The 2026 Ohio State Buckeyes are a good football team, but they are not without their issues.

On offense, Jeremiah Smith has covered up a lot of holes. The star wide receiver is the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, and he is good enough on his own to carry the unit through tough stretches, but there are a lot of question marks around him.

The play of the offensive line has been suspect, and that inconsistency has been made even more glaring with injuries to both Phillip Daniels and Austin Siereveld. The run game, while slowly improving as the year has gone on, lacks explosiveness and isn’t quite at the level we expect from an Ohio State rushing attack. Julian Sayin has missed some wide-open receivers because he locks on to his first option too often.

The Buckeyes’ offense has played well overall despite these shortcomings. Ohio State ranks eighth nationally in total offense and seventh in scoring offense.

Then there’s the defense, which has steadily improved week over week but is a far cry from Matt Patricia’s unit in 2025. That was to be expected with the losses of key guys like Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Caleb Downs, but it still needs to continue to get better nonetheless.

The Buckeyes’ pass rush has been lacking, ranking 101st in FBS with only 1.5 sacks per game. The linebacker play has been hit or miss, and it seems like James Laurinaitis is having trouble figuring out who his best guys are. The back end of the secondary has been solid, but the corners have gotten burnt quite a few times in man coverage.

Again, none of this has proven all that costly so far. Ohio State ranks fifth in team defense, allowing only 246.8 yards per game, and is eighth in scoring defense, allowing just over 13 points per game. The Buckeyes have allowed only eight touchdowns on defense through six games, which is tied for fourth-best in the country.

The special teams are bad, but to belabor that point is just beating a dead horse.

All that to say: Ohio State has its flaws this season, but so too does every other team in college football this year.

Outside of maybe Georgia, who has played one decent opponent in Alabama, and Notre Dame, who has played zero teams with a pulse, there hasn’t been a single program that looks completely dominant in 2026.

Look at what has happened around the country in just the last few weeks…

Ole Miss was ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll and gave up 50 points in a loss to Florida, which has since lost two straight games to Missouri and South Carolina. Oregon was a trendy national title pick, but is now 3-2 on the season with losses to Oklahoma State and UCLA. Penn State was ranked as high as No. 13, but has dropped three straight games.

The carnage continued this past weekend. No. 1 Texas lost to a 2-2 Oklahoma team in Red River. LSU dropped to 4-2 on the year with an overtime loss to Kentucky. Indiana narrowly escaped Nebraska with a three-point victory after trailing in the fourth quarter.

Ohio State has an incredibly tough schedule ahead of it, with trips to Indiana and USC as well as a home game against Oregon over the next four weeks. The Buckeyes have looked beatable this year, but so too have all of these marquee opponents they will find themselves up against.

We will learn soon enough if this Ohio State team has what it takes to compete for a national title this season, but don’t count the Buckeyes out yet just because they haven’t looked super elite — nobody has!

Matt’s take: The defense isn’t just getting better; it’s becoming surprisingly dependable

In the first few weeks of the college football season, I think it was fair to wonder whether Ohio State’s defense was going to be a significant liability in the pursuit of a national championship. After losing seven players to the NFL Draft and replacing nine starters, there were always going to be growing pains, but the second-half collapse against Texas and some concerning moments against Illinois made it pretty tough to be wholly confident in what Matt Patricia’s unit was going to look like when the games really started to matter.

However, after what we’ve seen over the past two Saturdays, I think there is legitimate reason to believe that the defense isn’t just improving, but that it’s becoming a surprisingly dependable part of this team.

Against Iowa and Maryland, the Buckeyes allowed a combined 384 yards of total offense. Saturday, they held the Terrapins to just 146 yards, including an embarrassingly paltry 64 through the air. Maryland quarterback Malik Washington entered the game averaging more than 200 passing yards per outing, while receiver Chris Durr Jr. had been one of the most productive pass catchers in the country. Against Ohio State, Washington completed just 12 of 25 passes, and Durr managed only four receptions for 15 yards.

Now, I’m not going to pretend that Iowa and Maryland represent the same offensive challenges that Indiana, USC, Oregon, and even the embarrassingly bad passing attack of The Team Up North will present over the next six weeks — and, yes, the rain certainly didn’t help Maryland’s passing attack on Saturday — but there’s a difference between holding a mediocre offense in check and completely taking away virtually everything it wants to do. For the second consecutive week, Ohio State thankfully looked much closer to the latter.

From where I sit, I think there are two primary reasons for the marked improvement, and they are closely related.

First, the personnel is beginning to settle into place. Early in the season, Patricia was trying to build a cohesive defense with an almost entirely new cast of characters, many of whom had never played meaningful snaps together. As transfers have gotten accustomed to their new teammates, players have returned from injuries, and younger contributors have earned increased opportunities, the defense has started to develop the familiarity and consistency that simply can’t be manufactured in practice.

Players like Jon Walker, Jaylen McClain, Earl Little Jr., Eddrick Houston, and Devin Sanchez (despite penalty concerns) are becoming increasingly comfortable with their responsibilities, and that growing confidence is showing up in how quickly they react, communicate, and get to the football. Even with Jay Timmons unavailable against Maryland, the secondary looked remarkably comfortable.

Secondly, I think Patricia is figuring out exactly what he has. It’s one thing to roll into Columbus and have arguably the most dominant defense in program history when you walk in and find the cupboard already stocked with an insane amount of NFL-ready talent; it’s another to have to rebuild a unit with transfers, rising backups, and inexperienced youngsters. Six games into the season, he has a much better understanding of who can handle what responsibilities, what combinations work together, and where he can afford to be aggressive (and where he can’t).

Of course, there are still concerns. The penalties that helped Maryland sustain its lone touchdown drive were unacceptable, and the lack of a sack on Saturday suggests the pass rush still has work to do. Those issues aren’t going to magically disappear just because the Buckeyes thoroughly handled two overmatched offenses.

But considering where this defense was a month ago, I find its progress genuinely encouraging. I don’t need it to be the dominant unit it was last year (although that would be nice), I just need it to be good enough that Ohio State can count on it to give the offense enough of an opportunity to do what it does best. And increasingly, it looks like that’s exactly what Silver Bullets are becoming.