The Ohio State Buckeyes moved to 5-1 with a 45-16 win over the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday. It wasn’t a perfect performance. Ohio State had several miscues, including turnovers, and left plenty of room to play better. Still, the Buckeyes scored in every quarter and held Maryland to 146 total yards while racking up 449 yards of offense.

Coming out of this one, a lot of the chatter is going to center on the injury front. Ohio State has a big Week 7 game against the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, and who the Buckeyes get back will matter.

Ohio State was missing several starters against Maryland

Ohio State didn’t learn until hours before kickoff that offensive lineman Austin Siereveld would miss the game against Maryland. Siereveld is dealing with a non-football injury. Ryan Day isn’t going to share what happened, and that’s understandable. He’s a player worth monitoring to see whether he can suit up against Indiana.

Siereveld wasn’t the only one out. Ohio State was also without linebacker Christian Alliegro, cornerback Jay Timmons, wide receivers Brandon Inniss and Devin McCuin, offensive lineman Phillip Daniels, and defensive end Khary Wilder against the Terrapins.

With Indiana up next, you’d like to see Ohio State get all of those players back, especially with the majority of them being starters. It was all but confirmed after the game that probably won’t be the case.

“I don’t think we’ll get all of those guys back that were on the list, but for sure we’re going to get you know a good portion of them back for next week,” Day said. “So that’ll be good. And then obviously got to have a good week of practice and stay healthy.”

Offensive line depth is getting tested for Ohio State

Ohio State has been able to get by without Daniels. The Buckeyes moved Siereveld to right tackle and inserted Gabe VanSickle into the lineup to cover for that absence.

Without Siereveld against Maryland, Ohio State had to shuffle things again. VanSickle moved to right tackle, and Jake Cook got the start at right guard. That worked against a Maryland team that couldn’t get much going, but going deeper into the depth chart could end up burning Ohio State against a better opponent like Indiana.

The offensive line will be a major factor in Bloomington. Getting even one of Siereveld or Daniels back would go a long way toward settling things up front.

The wide receiver room felt the absences

The missing wideouts showed up in the box score, too. Without McCuin and Inniss, Ohio State didn’t have a wide receiver outside of Jeremiah Smith catch more than one pass against the Terrapins.

Part of that comes down to game flow. Ohio State leaned on the run more than usual and attempted just 21 passes. Even so, not having Inniss and McCuin available was notable. Smith can carry a passing game for stretches, but the Buckeyes need secondary options to keep defenses honest, and Indiana will be a much tougher test than Maryland.

On the flip side, Ohio State put up 45 points and nearly 450 yards without a handful of regulars. That says a lot about the talent on this roster. The question is whether the Buckeyes can do the same thing on the road against one of the better teams on their schedule.

The injury front is going to be a topic of discussion all week ahead of the trip to Indiana. Ohio State expects a good portion of the injury list back, but which names return will shape how this Week 7 matchup plays out.