A look at Middle Tennessee State

Fresh off of being humbled, and pushed to OT by James Madison; Maryland will spend all of this week thinking of their 24-14 loss at Middle Tennessee State last year.

While I am sure that the Terps looked past MTS last year, the reality is that they had a lot of trouble handling the schemes MTS presented.

Like most Sun Belt teams, MTS utilizes a Spread Offense. That offense put up over 400 yards, as 10 different Blue Raider receivers caught passes.

This year, their offense has been tweaked with the arrival of Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin; who was the Offensive Coordinator at Auburn in 2008.

Franklin has added the wrinkle of a no-huddle attack to the spread-offense.

In Week 1, MTS was smacked around a bit by Clemson, as they lost 37-14. Clemson’s CJ Spiller returned the opening kick for a TD, and MTS never recovered.

Still, MTS was able to complete passes to 10 receivers on the Clemson defense. Additionally, MTS got the experience of going to a hostile environment, and playing in-front of 70,000 fans. Having already experienced that, will help them as they enter College Park this weekend.

Combine that with having beat the Terps last-year, and knowing MD has struggled mightily the last two-weeks, do not expect MTS to be intimidated at-all when they take the field.

Last night, MTS beat Memphis, as their Junior QB Dwight Dasher 320 combined yards, including 89 on the ground. The MTS Media guide describes Dasher as having a strong-arm, and adequate speed. Through the first two games, Dasher has accounted for 585 of the teams 735 yards. Against Clemson, Dasher was forced into 3 picks.

The interesting thing I see from last-night, is that MTS had 11 tackles for loss. While that could speak to Memphis being inept; it could also speak to MTS being an attack-first type of D.

Overall, MTS only has 14 Seniors on the 2009 roster, but has 17 starters back, including 14 having 10 or more career starts.

The Offensive-line was a liability for the team in 2008, but they returned 12 players, added 3, and lost none in 2009. Against Clemson, they allowed 3 sacks.

Clearly they are going to get the ball to a multitude of differing players, but look for WR’s Desmond Gee, and Patrick Honeycutt as possible primary options. Gee has made the transition from RB to WR. They are going to rotate in a number of bodies, and defending them will be even harder with Carroll’s injury.

Their RB Phillip Tanner, was held in check by MD last year, as he gained only 61 yards on 22 carries.

The Defensive Line appears relatively mediocre to me. The MLB Danny Carmichael has been given the title of the leader of the defense.

The Secondary returns 3 players who combined for 29 starts in 2008.

Sophomore Kicker Alan Gendreau was 10 for 14 in FG’s last-year.

Maryland is going to go into this game with their confidence hurting, and also dealing with a number of injuries.

MTS is going to go into this game with nothing to lose. They are not expected to win, but have the confidence of beating this Terp team just last-year. They can go out on the field and just play.

MD will take the field, with the pressure on their shoulders to play better than they did against JMU, and beat another inferior opponent in MTS.

MD will have no excuse for over-looking MTS this year, and should be prepared to play.

MTS is going to put some points on the board, we will see what MD does on offense. Last year, Scott had 123 yards in just 11 carries. Turner was horrible though, completing just 13 of 28 passes for 207 yards, and 3 picks.

This is an absolute must-win game for MD, and a game they should be expected to win.

What I am most interested in watching, is if Defensive Coordinator can get a pass-rush going against a spread offense, before Dasher is able to find open receivers.

Expect MD to be pushed, but find a way to win, moving to 2-1 in preparation for Rutgers the following week.

37-24 Terps.