Terps Football: 5 Thoughts Before Maryland/Kent State

Game Information

Opponent: Kent State Golden Flashes (1-2, 0-0 Mid-American Conference)
Location: Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium (51,802)
Date: Saturday, September 25, 2021
Time: 3:30 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: Big Ten Network, Maryland Sports Radio Network
Series Record: N/A

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Maryland returns home after their tight road win over Illinois last weekend to face Kent State in their final non-conference game of the season. This will be the first-ever matchup for these two schools, with the Golden Flashes coming off of a 30-7 loss to #5 Iowa last week. Their lone victory came against VMI after losing in their season opener to #7 Texas A&M. It’s been a brutal non-conference slate for fourth-year head coach Sean Lewis’ squad, and they’ll begin their conference schedule next week against Bowling Green.

This is Lewis’ first head coaching position after spending the previous six years as an assistant coach on Dino Babers’ staffs at Bowling Green, Eastern Illinois, and Syracuse. He’s familiar with the Big Ten Conference after playing his college football as a quarterback and tight end under legendary head coach Barry Alvarez at Wisconsin. In a shortened 2020 schedule, he led Kent State to a 3-1 record with wins over Akron, Bowling Green, and Eastern Michigan.

1. Another Game, Another Impressive Performance From Tagovailoa

Through the first three games of the season, Taulia Tagovailoa has completed 76% of his passes for 956 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions. Last weekend against Illinois, he completed 32 of his 43 pass attempts for 350 yards and a touchdown. More importantly however, he led the team on two scoring drives in the final five minutes in order to win the game. While the offense struggled to sustain drives due to a poor 20% conversion rate on third down, he never forced throws into coverage and always allowed his defense to get him the ball back.

2. The Defense Shines Again

This was the first game in which Maryland’s offense faced significant struggles, so it was defensive coordinator Brian Stewart’s unit’s turn to take center stage. They held Illinois to just over 3 yards per carry, and only allowed Brandon Peters to complete 38% of his pass attempts. If not for a handful of chunk plays, their performance would’ve been even more stifling. They recorded six sacks on Peters, including two each from Durell Nchami, Sam Okuayinonu, and Greg Rose. Nick Cross led the team in tackles with seven and pass deflections with three, and also recorded his second interception of the year.

3. Spreading the Ball Around

Six different Maryland players recorded multiple receptions in the game against Illinois, and four different players had multiple carries. Head coach Michael Locksley calls his offense based on touches and not specific plays, so this is the type of distribution that he likes to see. While we haven’t seen Tagovailoa run the ball on designed option plays very often this season, he’s typically had a lot of success when he’s done so. After a 35-yard carry last weekend on one such play, it’ll be interesting to see if Locksley and offensive coordinator Dan Enos dial up a few more for him moving forward.

4. Don’t Get Trapped

Maryland’s game this weekend is the textbook definition of a trap game. With #5 Iowa coming to town next weekend for a primetime showdown, it’d be easy to overlook Kent State. But if you do so, they have more than enough talent to make you pay for it. Their offense has struggled against the two Top 5 defenses they’ve faced so far, but quarterback Dustin Crum is regarded as an NFL prospect. He’s likely the best quarterback in the Mid-American Conference and has the talent and experience to lead his team to a win if the Terrapins’ defense decides not to show up. On paper this is a game that Maryland should win relatively easily, but it wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve seen them fall flat in a situation like this.

5. An Undefeated September is in Reach

The Terrapins haven’t started a season 4-0 since 2016, but that’s exactly what they have an opportunity to do this weekend. That type of start would set them up to be exactly where they want to be at the end of the year: in a bowl game. It would also set up a huge primetime matchup next weekend against what is currently the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten Conference, Iowa. But first, Maryland has to take care of business this week against a team that would be more than happy to crush their dreams of an undefeated month of September.