Previewing the 2021 Maryland Terrapins football team
After a tough-fought loss on Saturday night in Columbus, James Franklin will look to regroup his program following their third-straight loss and get back into the win column this upcoming weekend against the Maryland Terrapins. The Nittany Lions will be looking for revenge on a 35-19 loss to the Terrapins last season in Beaver Stadium as well as the program’s 14th straight win in College Park.
Maryland enters this week’s matchup with a 5-3 record but are losers of three of their last four games. They earned their lone win of October this past weekend against Indiana, a 38-35 win in College Park. Prior to that win, the Terrapins suffered three straight losses including 51-14 and 66-17 losses to Iowa and Ohio State. They also lost two weeks ago on the road in Minneapolis, a 34-16 loss to Minnesota.
Saturday’s matchup between the two 5-3 programs will serve as an important game for both programs and not just due to bowl eligibility being on the line. For Penn State, it is crucial to leave town on Saturday night with a win as they still have tough matchups against Michigan and Michigan State remaining on their schedule. The Nittany Lions surely have the potential to win out the remainder of the season but it will be intriguing to see how they bounce back from their loss to Ohio State this past weekend. Maryland, on the other hand, is looking for a second-straight win over Penn State, something that they have never done. A second-straight win for Mike Locksley and the Terrapins could help them immensely on the recruiting trail as well as in their beliefs going forward about where they sit in the Big Ten East picture. Getting to bowl eligibility, would of course also be a solid achievement for the Terrapins this season.
COACHING STAFF.....
Head coach - Mike Locksley: Locksley is in his third year as Maryland's full-time head coach and owns an 11-20 overall record with the program entering this season. After coaching the program for six games in 2015, Locksley took over full-time in 2019. Since taking over full-time in the 2018-19 offseason, the Terrapins are 10-15 and 5-14 in conference play. Overall Locksley is 13-46 as a head coach after a 2-26 record over two and half seasons with New Mexico from 2009 to 2011.
Offensive Coordinator - Dan Enos: Enos is in his first season as Maryland’s offensive coordinator, after spending the last few seasons bouncing around from Michigan to Alabama to Miami (FL) to Cincinnati and finally now Maryland. Enos replaced Scottie Montgomery who left the program to coach the running backs for the Indianapolis Colts. In his first season with Maryland, the Terrapins offense is a top-five scoring offense in the Big Ten, averaging 28.5 points per game to go along with 431.8 yards per game.
Defensive Coordinator - Brian Stewart: Stewart began his second stint as Marland’s defensive coordinator this season replacing former defensive coordinator Jon Hoke, who like Scottie Montgomery departed for the NFL, this time as the Atlanta Falcons secondary coach. The early results for Stewart have not been kind as the Terrapins are allowing 30.3 points per game and have surrendered 30+ points in four of their eight games so far this season.
Special Teams Coordinator - Ron Zook: We won’t often discuss the special teams coordinator but it’s worth mentioning that the former Florida and Illinois head coach is on Locksley’s staff at Maryland as well. Notably, Locksley coached under Zook's from 2003 to 2008 at Florida and Illinois.
MARYLAND WHEN ON OFFENSE.....
Despite the change at offensive coordinator, Maryland’s offense remains mostly unchanged from the last few seasons as it’s still mostly based on Mike Locksley’s spread-based systems used in the past including at Alabama. In terms of play-calling, Maryland has a rather balanced attack, averaging 36.9 passing attempts to 33.4 rushing attempts per game this season.
Success-wise, Maryland is having much more success through the air than on the ground. Through eight games, the Terrapins have the 15th ranked passing attack nationally, averaging 309.2 yards per game. Their rushing attack, on the other hand, has actually been pretty solid but on paper has appeared to struggle, managing just 3.7 yards per attempt this season and just 122.5 yards per game. We'll get to more on that shortly.
Like a lot of offenses, Maryland’s success on offense will ultimately come down to the play at the quarterback position, specifically that of Taulia Tagovailoa. Early this season, Tagovailoa was off to a hot start passing for 1,340-yards and 10 touchdowns with just one interception over the Terrapins' first four games of the season. Heading into Maryland's Friday night showdown with Iowa on October 1st, Tagovailoa was receiving some national attention including former Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin going as far as calling the former Alabama signal-caller the best quarterback in the Big Ten.
Unfortunately for himself, Tagovailoa had his worst game of the season that evening against the Hawkeyes, throwing five interceptions in a blowout 51-14 loss. Since then, he has bounced back solidly, passing for 887-yards and five touchdowns over their last three games including 419-yards and two touchdowns this past weekend against Indiana. On the season, Tagovailoa has completed 198-of-282 passing attempts this season for 2,384-yards and 17-touchdowns to his eight interceptions. While inconsistent at times, there's no denying his overall talent and potential.
At the skill positions, it’s important to start off by noting that Maryland will be without senior wide receiver Dontay Demus who prior to his season-ending injury against Iowa was having a terrific season. Despite not playing since October 1st, Demus still leads the Terrapins in receiving yards with 507. Outside of Demus, Maryland still has at their disposal a quality group of wide receivers with 10 Terrapins recording 10 or more receptions and seven recording at least one touchdown reception this season. Leading that group is Rakim Jarrett. Jarett, who had nearly 150-yards against the Nittany Lions last season, has 31 receptions for 463-yards and five touchdowns. Another notable target is senior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo.
Overall, Maryland’s passing attack is strong and will have success against most defenses. But going up against what has been one of the nation's top secondaries will be an enthralling matchup to watch this upcoming weekend. The Nittany Lions last season were torched routinely through the air by Tagovailoa and will surely remember that heading into Saturday.
In terms of Maryland’s rushing attack, it’s truly hard to gauge where the Terrapins stand. Their primary ball carrier this season has been senior running back Tayon Fleet-Davis who has 79 carries for 399-yards and six touchdowns this season. Senior Challen Faamatau has been the primary backup with 45 receptions for 197-yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore running backs Isaiah Jacobs and Peny Boone have both received their fair share of carries as well and are averaging 4.1 and 4.3 yards per carry respectively.
As mentioned above, on the stat sheet, Maryland's rush offense doesn't look all too fierce but when you go a little deeper than the superficial stats, you can start to see that Maryland can be a bit dangerous at times on the ground. Where the Terrapins rushing attack has been hurt numbers-wise this season is with Tagaivola being sacked 15 times for 127-yards. On the season, he officially has 41 carries for six yards but outside of the 15 sacks, he has 26 carries for 133-yards, an average of 5.11 yards per carry. Primary running back Tayon Fleet-Davis is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, Challen Faamatau 4.4 yards per carry. So all things considered, on designed runs, the Terrapins can move the ball quite well. So don’t be deceived by the Terrapins' 3.7 rushing yards per attempt this season. They have a solid rushing attack overall and can make some things happen on the ground if given the opportunity.
MARYLAND WHEN ON DEFENSE.....
Defensively, the Terrapins have had their issues against both the pass and run this season but a majority of the damage coming on the ground. On the ground, the Terrapins have allowed 145 or more yards in six of their eight games this season, making it another matchup to watch in this one. Over the last three weeks, the Terrapins have allowed 696-yards and nine touchdowns and it’s obviously a defense that can easily be run on. Will it be what Penn State’s rushing attack needed to get going?
When it comes to their pass defense, Maryland has mostly struggled but good performances against poor passing teams in Illinois, Minnesota, and Howard makes their pass defense look a bit better statistically. Overall, the Terrapins own the country’s 85th ranked pass defense, allowing 241-yards per game. However, in five of their eight games, they’ve allowed 275+ yards and have allowed 300+ in two of them, against Kent State and Ohio State.
Penn State’s passing attack has of course been their strength the entire season and looked especially solid against Ohio State this past weekend as Sean Clifford posted 361-yards in their 33-24 loss. If Clifford looks as healthy as he did against the Buckeyes, the Nittany Lions should have a great deal of success through the air especially with the various matchups that they could throw out there thanks to their depth at wide receiver and tight end.
In terms of individual players to watch out for on this Maryland defense, The two names that stand out above the rest are safety Nick Cross and defensive back Jordan Mosley. Cross, a formerly high-valued Penn State target, leads Maryland with 46 tackles this season including one tackle for a loss and one sack. He also has two interceptions, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble. The former high four-star prospect has lived up to his billing as a safety who can make a game-changing play at any time and is by far Maryland's best player on the defensive side of the ball. Mosley has had a quality season himself, totaling 44 tackles and three pass deflections this season.
Other names worth noting are defensive tackles Sam Okuayinonu and Mosiah Nasili-Kite. Both players sit at the top of the Terrapins tackles for a loss and sack counts among healthy players. Earlier this season, the Terrapins lost linebacker Durell Nchami for the season. In four games, Nchami racked up an impressive 16 tackles for a loss and three sacks. Finally, Sean Clifford will have to be aware of senior cornerback Jakorian Bennett who is tied for the team lead in interceptions with two while also leading with six pass deflections.
All in all, this is a talented but beatable Maryland defense that has been getting exposed the last few weeks by quite a different wide range of offenses. Based on what we saw this past weekend in Columbus and for a majority of the season, it’s hard to think the Nittany Lions will struggle to move the ball or find the back of the endzone against the Terps.
OVERALL.....
Overall, Maryland enters this week against Penn State as a solid team but one that still has too many holes and questions to compete against the upper echelon teams on their schedule. That being said, Penn State has always been an opponent that Maryland looks forward to playing every season. While it often hasn’t resulted in victories, it also means that Penn State can’t take the Terrapins easily in any way or look past them at a potential top-10 Michigan team at home next week. Ultimately, Penn State’s defense has been stellar for most of the season and there’s no reason to expect different this upcoming weekend, which means it will come down to Sean Clifford and the offense. As said above, if Sean Clifford continues to look healthy, the Nittany Lions should be able to move the ball efficiently up and down the field against the Maryland defense. The biggest question I feel regarding this game will be the Nittany Lions’ emotional and mental state entering the game. Will they be able to get up and be ready for this one after a tough loss in Columbus? It’s almost a certainty that Maryland will be ready to throw everything they have at the Nittany Lions, making those first few drives on both sides of the ball important in terms of weathering the storm. As long as they get through those first few drives without any major issues, there's no reason the Nittany Lions shouldn't win this one on Saturday.
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