Terps Football: 5 Thoughts Before Maryland/Minnesota

Game Information

Opponent: Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-1, 0-1 Big Ten Conference)
Location: Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium (51,802)
Date: Friday, October 30, 2020
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: ESPN, Maryland Sports Radio Network
Series Record: 3-2 Maryland

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After a dismal outing by the Terrapins in their first game of the 2020 season, they’ll return home to College Park for a Friday night tilt with Minnesota. Northwestern was the better team in all facets of last week’s contest, trouncing Maryland by a score of 43-3. While this was never expected to be an all-around successful year for head coach Michael Locksley’s squad, that game showed that the team may have further to go than initially thought before they can be competitive in the Big Ten Conference.

The Golden Gophers were also beaten fairly handily in their season-opener, albeit to a much better Michigan team. P.J. Fleck is in his fourth season as the head coach in Minneapolis, and is looking to build on an extremely impressive 2019 campaign that saw his team finish with an 11-2 record and as the #10 team in the country.

1. What’s Up With Taulia?

As was the expectation all along, Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa was starting behind center for Maryland when they took the field last weekend. But despite rave reviews about his talent throughout summer and fall camp, his season-opening performance left a lot to be desired. He completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for just 94 yards, and threw 3 interceptions. Two of those turnovers came on balls he tried to force into double coverage, highlighting the poor decision-making that plagued his night.

Obviously falling so far behind so early in the game is never easy, particularly for a quarterback making his first collegiate start. He’ll need to work through his early-season jitters fairly quickly though, as the team’s next three games will be extremely difficult contests.

2. How Bad is This Defense?

Perhaps more concerning than Tagovailoa’s performance last weekend was the one by the defense. Northwestern racked up 537 total yards with ease, and averaged over 6 yards per play. As was the case last season Maryland’s run defense was abysmal, allowing the Wildcats to rush for 325 yards and average over 6 yards per carry while scoring 4 times on the ground. The Terrapins had hoped that the extra beef they added along the defensive line from the junior college ranks would’ve helped stuff the run a little better, but that simply wasn’t the case at all last weekend. If Northwestern was able to run so easily on defensive coordinator Jon Hoke’s unit, it’s scary to think what the blue blood programs of the conference might do.

3. Must Establish the Run

For the past few years, Maryland’s strength offensively has always been its deep stable of talented running backs. Despite a myriad of issues at quarterback and along the offensive line, players like Ty Johnson, Javon Leake, and Anthony McFarland, Jr. have been able to turn their collegiate careers in College Park into ones at the next level. While this year’s team doesn’t have any obvious stars in the backfield, establishing the run has to be a priority for offensive coordinator Scottie Montgomery.

After falling behind so early against Northwestern last weekend, Maryland’s running backs didn’t get many carries. However, both Jake Funk and Peny Boone were able to average over 5 yards per carry. Getting the running backs involved early in games will help take some of the pressure off of Tagovailoa and get the team’s offensive line into a rhythm.

4. Looking at Some Positives

After a blowout loss it’s easy to talk about the negative performances, but there were some positives in last weekend’s game. Linebackers Chance Campbell led the team with 14 tackles, including 10 of the solo variety and 1.5 for loss. He’s taken a leadership role from his MIKE position, and will be relied on heavily this season. Quarterback Lance LeGendre received some quality playing time towards the end of the game, and completed all 4 of his pass attempts for 41 yards. Freshmen Peny Boone and Nick DeGennaro stepped up towards the end of the game as well, getting their feet wet in their first collegiate action.

5. What Constitutes Success?

Maryland enters this game as massive underdogs, a story that will repeat itself over the next few weeks. But while they aren’t expected to win this game, that doesn’t mean they can’t have some success. More positive showings from the offense, particularly Tagovailoa, would give Montgomery’s unit something to build on for the rest of the season. Staying ahead of the chains and completing a higher percentage of their third down plays would create the opportunity for sustained drives. Defensively, creating better pressure on the opposing quarterback and getting off of the field on third downs (especially third and 5+ yards to go) would give Hoke’s unit some confidence moving forward.