Tim May: How Kyle McCord, Buckeyes offense rebounded from slow start against Maryland

COLUMBUS — It was a good thing Kyle McCord and the Ohio State offense weren’t leading the homecoming parade from the start vs. Maryland on Saturday in Ohio Stadium, because their syncopation was a little off.

Off enough, that is, to make the Buckeyes appear incapable of keeping up with the Terrapins who built a 10-0 lead. 

Once McCord gained his rhythm, the tune changed dramatically, Ohio State outscoring the Terrapins 37-7 from there in the 37-17 win . Granted, the first Ohio State touchdown was an interception return by safety Josh Proctor in the second quarter, but the rest of the points were offense produced.

 It was if as the game began, though, the Maryland defense was presenting some scheme changes that McCord took a while to decipher, thus putting him a beat behind on some of his launches.  

“No … and I think Kyle would say the same thing,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “He could have had a hard time early on getting into a rhythm. As a coach I’ve got to help him; try and figure out how I can help with that.”

McCord could tell Day and the offensive coaches sensed his off-beat struggle at the start. Even in the second quarter, receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. broke wide open deep on a post cut, but when McCord seemed to hesitate before firing, thus Harrison having to stop before pulling it in, changing what could have been a touchdown into a 58-yard gain.

Eventually the Buckeyes settled for a field goal from Jayden Fielding which tied the score at 10.

“I thought coach Day did a good job today giving me an opportunity to kind of get into that rhythm,” said McCord, in his first year as the starter. “Obviously early on I felt like I missed some opportunities, or saw just a second late. So that’s on nobody else but myself.”

One of the boxes Day wants checked for every game is a fast start. That wasn’t the case in four of the first five games. And even in the first game at Indiana when the Buckeyes drove to an opening touchdown, the offense bogged down for a while.

But of course, it is a 60-minute exercise, and against Maryland, McCord wound up going 19 of 29 passing, for 320 yards and two touchdowns. He had a respectable 188 QB rating.

Still, that start …

“That’s an area I have to continue to grow on and continue to find ways to start fast, because if we could replicate what we did in the second half,  we just do that in the first half, I think that’s a completely different game,” McCord said. “And a lot of that starts with me.”

Day said the quest for that fast offensive start will continue.

“Whatever it is, whether we’ve gotta have him go run a few laps before we play the first drive, or whatever it is, we’ll find a way to get him into a rhythm,” Day said, laughing but only half joking. “Because you can see the talent is there, the ability is there. But he cares a lot, and as coaches we’ll help him get there.”

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