Opponent: West Virginia Mountaineers (2-0, 0-0 Big 12 Conference)
Location: Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000)
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2015
Time: 3:00 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: Fox Sports 1, Maryland Sports Radio Network
Series Record: 27-22-2 West Virginia
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Game Thoughts
After a three-game home stint to start the 2015 season, the Maryland Terrapins will be hitting the road for the first time since their Foster Farms Bowl loss to Stanford at the end of 2014. Last season, the road was very kind to them, as they went 5-1 during the regular season away from College Park. Historically, the Terrapins are 9-14-1 when they play the Mountaineers in Morgantown, West Virginia. Head coach Randy Edsall is 1-3 against West Virginia during his time in College Park, but all 3 losses have been by 10 points or fewer (with last season’s loss coming by just 3 points on a last-second field goal by the Mountaineers).
This game means a lot for Maryland, especially after losing to Bowling Green at home two weeks ago. Beating West Virginia would be a huge boost to the team, and a 3-1 record heading into conference play is about what many fans expected this season. Losing in Morgantown would put the Terrapins’ record at 2-2 heading into a tough 3-game stretch which sees them play Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State. So what do they need to do to come away with a victory?
Last season, fans watched as West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett went 31-for-59 passing for over 500 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Mountaineers’ offense ran 108 plays, while also possessing the ball for about 10 minutes more than the Terrapins. However, Maryland’s defense was able to force 4 turnovers to keep the Terrapins in the game until the very end. This season’s West Virginia team is a bit different from the one that Maryland saw in 2014.
The Mountaineers are 2-0 this season, but the Terrapins will be their first real test of the season. They opened the year with a 44-0 victory over Georgia Southern, and followed that up by beating Liberty by a score of 41-17. Head coach Dana Holgorsen’s squad has yet to turn the ball over, and boasts a Top 25 defensive unit. Unlike last season’s team, this year’s squad is based on defense and a solid running game. That doesn’t sound much like a team known for running an offensive scheme based on the Air Raid, does it?
The Terrapins will need to contain quarterback Skyler Howard and jam West Virginia’s wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. The Mountaineers want to put Howard in the shotgun and complete short, quick passes to get the ball out of his hands and into the hands of their playmakers on the perimeter. This makes it very difficult to bring pressure, so Maryland’s defensive line should focus on swatting down passes at the line of scrimmage and containing Howard so that he can’t escape the pocket on longer-developing routes. Defensive coordinator Keith Dudzinski’s unit should also focus on red-zone defense. Last season, the Terrapins held the Mountaineers to just 2 scores on 5 red-zone scoring chances. This is how you stop teams like West Virginia whose offenses struggle when the field gets shorter.
Offensively, Maryland needs to be able to run the ball to take pressure off of quarterback Caleb Rowe and to keep West Virginia’s offense off the field. While the Terrapins ran for over 340 yards against Richmond to begin the season, they have run for under 160 yards during their last two games against Bowling Green and South Florida. Being able to run the ball will be very tough against West Virginia’s defense, but in order for the play-action passes that offensive coordinator Mike Locksley likes to run to work, the running game must be a legitimate threat.
The Future of the Quarterback Position
During both spring and summer camp before this season, the Terrapins featured a three-man race for the starting quarterback position. Perry Hills came away the winner of that race, but was benched after just two games in favor of Rowe. Oklahoma State transfer Daxx Garman is the only member of the competition to have not seen any game action yet this season; he is currently serving as Rowe’s backup. So what does the future hold for the quarterback position at the University of Maryland?
Garman will be gone after this season, so he does not factor in to this conversation. Rowe and Hills however, each hold another year of eligibility after this season. Gage Shaffer will have 4 years of eligibility left, assuming he continues to redshirt this season. These three men will be joined by 4-star quarterback recruit Dwayne Haskins, who is widely considered to be one of the best quarterbacks in the 2016 class. So will Haskins start immediately, or will one of the other more experienced quarterbacks see action while he redshirts his freshman season?
I was asked this question a lot before the 2015 season began, and I believed that Haskins would redshirt and Rowe would start in his final season with the team. However, after watching the way that the quarterback competition has shaken out this season, my opinion has changed. I still think that Rowe or Hills will start the season, but that Haskins will also see playing time during the team’s first few games against Howard, Florida International, and Central Florida. When the team begins their Big Ten schedule at home on October 1, 2016, I believe Haskins will be Maryland’s starting quarterback. Since, I assume, he will be entering school in August, his knowledge of the playbook will be limited by the first game of the season.
By easing him into game action for the first month, Locksley will be able to build his confidence and better ready him for conference action. By the time he takes the field against the Boilermakers, he will be more than ready to take on the playbook in its entirety and will have two months of practice under his belt and one month of game action. Even in these days of highly-touted freshman recruits, it is still very rare to see a true freshman starting at quarterback for any team. While I think Haskins will start for the Terrapins in his true freshman year, I don’t think it will happen right off the bat.
Terps Analyst
Zack is a financial analyst for a defense contractor in Washington, DC. The Owings Mills native focuses most of his efforts on Maryland Football recruiting and individual coach and player pieces; but also covers Terps Basketball. He has established relationships with Big Ten beat reporters across the conference, which he utilizes in his game previews. Now a Sr. Terps Analyst for BSL, Zack can be reached at: zack.kiesel@baltimoresportsandlife.com.