The Terps for Three and Big Ten Thoughts

The headline would indicate this piece is about the Maryland Men’s or Women’s Basketball team which it is not. However, we still have a few months before hoops season kicks off which I am very much looking forward to after what Kevin Willard accomplished in his first season. Maryland Head Football Coach Mike Locksley has a few more years in College Park than Willard and is entering his 5th season in the program. While Locksley didn’t make a splash in his first season like Willard (it’s an apple to oranges comparison anyway), the program has been trending upward ever since. The last two seasons at 7-6 and 8-5 have yielded two bowl appearances and wins. While Maryland lacks that signature win in the Big Ten during Locksley’s tenure, they played with Penn State into the 4th quarter in 2021 (after beating them in a Covid shortened year in State College in ’20 which has seemingly put an asterisk on the game) and then last year took both top teams in the Conference and East Division in Michigan and Ohio State down to the wire.  

The question for 2023 is can the Terps have the same kind of success as they had in ’21 and ’22 for a third straight season? First if they can accomplish that feat then I think the people on the fringes will take Maryland seriously. Don’t get me wrong, there are already recruits and others that have seen the change in College Park but there are still those that need to see it on a consistent basis. Three winning seasons in a row would be a nice statement by the Terps. It would also be the first time they accomplished that in modern day since the first three years of Ralph Friedgen’s tenure in the ’01, ’02 and ‘03 seasons. Before that you must go back to the early 80s with Bobby Ross when they had three straight winning seasons.  

I do think the Terps can make it 3 in row given the layout of the schedule over the first 5 weeks of the season. If they could beat both Michigan State and Indiana that would be huge. There are question marks on the offensive and defensive lines that have made me cautious about this season and that is why I am not willing to go higher than 7 wins for a projection. 8 wins though is not unrealistic and they have a chance to do it because again given the start to the schedule they are afforded the chance to build chemistry and confidence before things get tough. The trenches will most certainly be tested by Michigan State, Ohio State, and Illinois in three of their first four Conference games. Is it realistic to expect them to beat Ohio State or Michigan? I think their best chance to do it was last year and I tend to think those two teams will not get caught by surprise by Maryland this season.  

But the Terps have a big thing going for them this season, an accomplished and experienced QB in Taulia Tagovailoa. The skill positions are well stocked again for Tagovailoa. The defense has talented LBs and DBs. Locksley did a good job in the transfer portal and about maxed out with incoming high school recruits given NIL. New OC Josh Gattis knows this offense from his time with Locksley at Alabama. He was there for Michigan’s first Big Ten Championship. Even though they got away from speed in space that season, Gattis did have a fair amount of success in his first year in ‘19 as OC when Michigan went Spread. He adjusted well to coaching Harbaugh’s Power Run Game and West Coast passing game. The Covid year was tough on a lot of teams and hurt him. Last year was rough at Miami for him but by the sounds of it the lack of offense was not all his fault. I never thought he was a good match for Cristobal anyway. Assistant HC/TE’s Coach Kevin Sumlin brings a ton of experience with him as a former HC and with his offensive background. Zach Spavital also brings some big-time experience to the defense/secondary. The coaching staff is a solid one. Don’t underestimate that element to help in big games and tight games. They again though will need to work on cutting down on penalties and mistakes. They made strides last year at times in those areas.   

Maryland does have a ceiling in this Conference, and it will only get that much tougher with USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon entering the Conference next season. The point is if this program can win 6-8 games each year on a consistent basis that would be a heck of an accomplishment given NIL, tougher academic standards, lack of consistent winning football history and a Conference that is getting even better. I also think we must remember where this program has been, and it has come leaps and bounds in the last ten years. I will sign up for a 7-win season on a regular basis.  

Thoughts on other teams in the Big Ten: 

Michigan – HC Jim Harbaugh has probably his best team so far in his tenure in Ann Arbor…however with coaching suspensions (Harbaugh for 3 and OC Sherrone Moore for 1 and 3 different acting Head Coaches for the first three games) and the goal of throwing the ball more thus being more balanced on offense, it raises two questions. Can the team operate smoothly from the sidelines on gameday, and will the Wolverines lose too much of the identity that won them two straight Big Ten Championships? 

Ohio State – Breaking in a new QB to take over for CJ Stroud with big shoes to fill and replacing some big spots on the O-Line at Tackle and C…can the defense over come their propensity for giving up big plays to good offenses? The Buckeyes have to be feeling some pressure after the last year’s Bowl loss and two straight losses in ‘The Game’.  

Penn State – The Nittany Lions have a very good team coming back on both sides of the ball…can new QB Drew Allar take the offense to the next level as a more explosive and consistent passer than Sean Clifford. Will the WR Corp step up to be enough of a threat to take pressure off the run game? Can the Nittany Lions get over the hump against Michigan and or Ohio State? 

Michigan State – Year 2 was a disaster for HC Mel Tucker after taking the Big Ten by storm in his first year. He lost some big players to the portal in the offseason including his starting QB. Tucker needs a bounce back year and quick with the big contract he was given after Year 1. The Spartans probably will bounce back but to what extent will be the question. 

Indiana – The Hoosiers have fallen off the map the last few years after establishing themselves as respectable in the East Division. Tom Allen is likely at least on the warm seat this season. 

Rutgers – We all knew it would likely take longer the second time around for Greg Schiano to rebuild the Scarlett Knights program. With a new OC (Kirk Ciarrocca formerly of Penn State & Minnesota) the hope is he can get that side of the ball on track which has been a real issue. QB Gavin Wimsatt needs to have a big year. The defense also needs to pick it up but has not been helped by the offenses the last few years either.  

Wisconsin – Luke Fickell seems like a good hire for the program, and he sure earned it at Cincy but how will new OC Phil Longo mesh his Air Raid passing offense with a power run game?  

Illinois – Can the Illini follow up last season with another solid campaign with some key graduations at RB and the secondary to the NFL? Brett Bielema is a good coach so the answer is he will at least have them very competitive however the goals are higher than that. 

Northwestern – Things are a mess in Evanston with the allegations of a toxic culture including hazing under now former HC Pat Fitzgerald who was let go in July. The whole situation still seems hard to believe for all those years with Fitzgerald. I still have my doubts on at least some of that.  

Nebraska – If Matt Rhule can’t fix this program than no one can. Rhule has a great resume of building very good programs in college, but it usually takes until Year 3 before you see the results in the win column. Expect a very physical team, especially on offense. A 3-3-5 defense has been installed to try and give them an edge in the Conference.  

Iowa – The Hawkeyes had one of the worst offenses in the country last year and it’s been trending downward the last few seasons. Kirk Ferentz’ son is the OC and is back again this season but with a contract that essentially sends him packing if they don’t perform better. Can Michigan transfer QB Cade McNamara make the difference or does the scheme/creativity need to be better? 

Minnesota – The Golden Gophers have gone 9-4 in each of their last two seasons and yet still have not won the Big Ten West Division. Minnesota will attempt to be more balanced on offense by throwing the ball more and more effectively. They lost a big time back in Mo Ibrahim and will need a back or backs to pick up the slack in the running game. Can they break through and win the West before the Divisions go away. They bring back about half their team from last season so it will have its challenges.