2022 Terps Football: The Focus This Week

Football is back! Man, that sounds nice. And it’s particularly nice this year to be a Maryland football fan because the Terps have a talented roster and a ton of promise.

Quarterback stability was once a thing of folk lore for Maryland, but Taulia Tagovailoa has made it a position of strength for the past few years. He returns for his junior season to lead the Terps into battle.

The first battle of a season-long war will be this Saturday against the Buffalo Bison of the Mid-American Conference. It was a rough 2021 season for the Bison, who finished 4-8 overall with a 2-6 record in the MAC. But Buffalo should be improved this year with some camaraderie returning to the team.

With an experienced defense and a solid running game being the expected strengths of Buffalo this season, there’s no doubt the Bison will look to slop the game up and try to win with a gritty performance. But the Terps should have the talent to out class the visitors if they show up with their heads on straight.

Without further adieu, let’s take a closer look at what players from each team will have the biggest impact and what the coaching strategy should be heading into Week 1.

Maryland Players to watch for…

The offensive line: I know this isn’t one player, but hear me out. This is a unit, and one that will need to play well together for the Terps to reach their goals this season. It’s arguably the most talented offensive line Maryland has had in almost a decade and it’s not just because of one guy. With all five starters returning from last season, the Terps should dominate the Bison in the trenches.

Dontay Demus Jr: Maryland’s receiving corps is loaded and the most experienced of the bunch is Demus, who is coming off of a horrific knee injury he suffered midway through last year. It will be interesting to see how he responds to that injury and if he came jump right back into form. These early season games will be a good ramp up period for the senior wideout.

Ruben Hyppolite II: The Terps have one of the best linebacking corps the school has seen in some time. Hyppolite is the only non-senior of the group, but he could also be considered the alpha given his talent and importance to the middle of the defense. He’s gradually gotten better over the course of his career, which started with plenty of hype. This season has all the making of a breakout for what could be one of the Big Ten’s best linebackers.

Buffalo Players to Watch for…

James Patterson: This could be the best player in the MAC, let alone the best linebacker. Patterson is arguably one of the best defensive players Maryland is going to see all season long. He’s a true ball hawk in Buffalo’s 4-2-5 alignment.

Matt Myers: The senior quarterback is a new starter for the Bison, but he’s not inexperienced. He has seen spots of playing time throughout his carrer and he knows the Buffalo scheme well. He is more of a running threat than his predecessor, but his ability to push the ball down field is suspect at the moment. He’ll have his first chance to really show what he has on Saturday.

Quian Williams: Myers’ top receiving target is Williams who led the Bison in receiving last season with 63 receptions. He’ll be accompanied on the other side by a fellow talented wideout in Jamari Gassett, but Williams is a former Eastern Michigan transfer who is the most dangerous big-play threat on the Bisons’ offense.

Coaching Expectations…

If you follow college football, you know Buffalo is a more respectable program that its 4-8 record last year suggest. You also know the MAC is a legit non-Power 5 conference. So it would be reasonable to think that Maryland might have a bigger test on its hands in Week 1 than it usually does. Buffalo is a big step up from Howard or Towson, and in many ways this is a tougher Week 1 game than many Power 5 teams play. So a “warmup” game where some rust is shake off and the Terps let the Bison hang around for a half or so might be forgivable, maybe even expected.

But if Maryland wants to be taken seriously amongst its Big Ten peers, especially in a year where the roster is as good as it gets in College Park, this needs to be a statement game. Head coach Mike Locksley is fully entrenched in College Park entering his fourth season at the helm. His team is healthy, fully his, and should be a byproduct of his coaching acumen. That means this needs to be a decisive win that sparks the season with some momentu,.

Maryland can certainly play this game conservatively and still win, but it would be nice to see the Terps come out aggressively, put its foot on the gas and never let up.

Let’s see Locksley & Co. let Taulia and his impressive receiving corps eat, and give then plethora of backs an array of touches once you wear down an inferior opponent. Don’t stop. Run the score up. Let the world know Maryland is turning or corner. Or don’t, and hope for a 6-6 record at best. What type of team do the Terps want to be this season?