Terps Game Preview: Penn State

Opponent: Penn State Nittany Lions (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten Conference)
Location: Beaver Stadium (106,572)
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2016
Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: Big Ten Network, Maryland Sports Radio Network
Series Record: 36-2-1 Penn State

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Opponent Preview

The Nittany Lions will host the Terrapins in University Park, Pennsylvania for the second time as Big Ten Conference opponents. After the last two games have been decided by just one point (with Maryland winning in 2014 and Penn State winning in 2015), both teams are ready for another close battle. Penn State comes into the game with a 3-2 record, with wins over Kent State, Temple, and Minnesota, and losses to Pittsburgh and Michigan. Their game against the Golden Gophers last week required overtime, as the Nittany Lions pulled out a 29-26 victory at home.

Former Maryland assistant coach James Franklin is in his third year at the helm at Penn State, and has compiled a 17-14 record so far. He has led the team to 7-win seasons in each of the last two years, but the fanbase is anxious for greater improvement. Unfortunately for them, this season is not shaping up to be much more successful than the last two. After a rocky season offensively last year, Franklin fired offensive coordinator John Donovan. He was also forced to replace defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, who left to take the same job at Tennessee.

Offensive Preview

After firing Donovan towards the end of last season, Franklin hired Joe Moorhead to be his new offensive coordinator for the 2016 season. His most recent position was as the head coach at Fordham, a position that he held for the past four years. His team reached the FCS Playoffs in each of the last three years, but never advanced past the second round. He has installed a multiple offensive scheme, with the Nittany Lions operating without a huddle for the majority of their snaps. They will look to attack opposing defenses with short passes before attempting to take the top off with deep throws. They will also attempt to feature their running back in a number of different ways. Penn State is averaging 29 points per game so far this season. They are also averaging 257 passing yards and 108 rushing yards per game. They are converting just 25% of their third-down attempts. These numbers tell a lot of the story for Penn State’s offense so far this season. The majority of their offensive output relies on explosive plays, and when they don’t get those, they don’t fare too well.

Players to Watch

Quarterback: Trace McSorley (Redshirt Sophomore)

Christian Hackenberg is gone, which means that McSorley is in. After redshirting in 2014, he saw sporadic playing time last season. So far this season, he has been the model of inconsistency for the Nittany Lions. After performing very well against Pittsburgh and Temple, he followed those games up with relatively poor performances against Michigan and Minnesota. For the year, he is completing just around 59% of his passes, which isn’t efficient enough for an offense that relies so heavily on short, easy completions. In Penn State’s last game against Minnesota, he completed just 46% of his passes. However, McSorley is a threat to run the ball. While his net yards rushing so far this season are fairly poor due to sacks, he ran the ball 8 times for 73 yards last week against the Golden Gophers. Moorhead will use him on the zone-read, especially in the red zone.

Running Back: Saquon Barkley (Sophomore)

After a stellar freshman campaign last season, Barkley has lacked the same explosiveness so far in 2016. He has performed adequately, but not quite up to the elite level with which he played in 2015. He is averaging about 4.4 yards per carry this season, and has run for 7 touchdowns (4 of which came in one game against Pittsburgh). He has also added 143 yards and a touchdown on receptions. Penn State’s offensive line has had its share of struggles so far this season (and for the past few years), and one of those has been an inability to open up lanes for Barkley to run through.

Pass-Catchers: Chris Godwin (Junior), DaeSean Hamilton (Redshirt Junior), DeAndre Thompkins (Redshirt Sophomore), Mike Gesicki (Junior)

The strength of Penn State’s offense is their passing game. All four starting pass-catchers have racked up over 100 yards receiving so far this season. Godwin leads the pack with 325 yards and 2 touchdowns. Gesicki, the Nittany Lions’ tight end, is the team’s second-leading receiver, with 251 yards and a touchdown. Thompkins has racked up 237 yards so far, including a team-best 16.9 yards per reception. Hamilton has 169 yards and a touchdown. All four of these players are excellent playmakers when they have the ball in their hands, but McSorley and the Nittany Lions’ offensive line have struggled at times to get them the ball.

Defensive Preview

As mentioned above, Franklin was forced to replace Shoop at defensive coordinator after he left for Knoxville, Tennessee. To do so, he promoted former linebackers coach Brent Pry, who is the co-defensive coordinator with Tim Banks, who had spent the previous four seasons as Illinois’ co-defensive coordinator. The Nittany Lions continue to run a base 4-3 defensive scheme under Pry and Banks.

What to Watch For

Run Defense: Penn State’s run defense hasn’t been very good so far this season. Opponents are averaging 217 yards per game on the ground against them. The only game in which the Nittany Lions held their opponent under 150 rushing yards was in their game against Temple. Michigan and Pittsburgh each ran for over 320 yards on them, and Minnesota ran for 228 in their game last week.

Pass Rush: The Nittany Lions’ pass rush has been very inconsistent this season. After recording a whopping 7 sacks against Kent State to begin the year, they were unable to record one against Pittsburgh. They came back to record 3 sacks against Temple, before failing to get any against Michigan. They sacked Mitch Leidner twice in their game against Minnesota last week, so they may be due for another bad week.

Pass Defense: Defending the pass is the strength of this defensive unit for Penn State. They have already recorded 5 interceptions on the year. They held Pittsburgh to under 100 yards through the air, and held Kent State and Michigan under 200. They have not allowed more than 290 yards passing so far this season.

Maryland Preview

The Terrapins are riding high after crushing Purdue by a score of 50-7 last week. It was a very impressive win for the team in their first Big Ten Conference game of the year. Penn State will pose their biggest challenge so far this season, but Maryland is actually favored by a few points on the road in Happy Valley. With the Nittany Lions’ run defense looking fairly bad this season, offensive coordinator Walt Bell will be looking to follow up on his team’s impressive 400-yard rushing performance against the Boilermakers last week. Running back Ty Johnson had a breakout game, rushing 7 times for a whopping 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, an effort that earned him Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors. Quarterback Perry Hills was not required to do much against Purdue last week, but may need to be more of a threat with his arm against a tougher Penn State defense.

Maryland’s defense stepped up their efforts against the run last week, holding Purdue to just 10 yards on the ground. After a shaky start to the year in that respect, they’ll need to follow that up with another impressive performance against Barkley. This is a game in which Maryland’s cornerbacks will most likely play most of the game in man, and will need to make plays on the ball when McSorley takes his deep shots. They’ll need every advantage in the box to stop Barkley, which means playing both safeties closer to the line of scrimmage and relying on the cornerbacks to lock down the outside.

Zack’s Keys to the Game

• Run the Ball – As former Ohio State head football coach Woody Hayes once said, “There are three things that can happen when you throw a pass, and two of them are bad.” Mistakes are maximized on the road, making it crucial to have a good running game.
• Make Plays on the Ball – McSorley is going to take his deep shots. Maryland’s cornerbacks have to be ready so that, when he does, they can make plays on the ball and create some turnovers.
• Play Smart – On the road in a hostile environment, your mistakes are going to be more harmful than if you were playing at home. Maryland needs to minimize these mistakes, and play a smart, clean game on both sides of the ball. Take care of the ball, and don’t commit dumb penalties.
• Protect Perry – Penn State’s pass rush has been lethal at times, and Maryland’s offensive line has given up their fair share of sacks over the past few weeks. On third-downs, Hills must be able to have time to scan the field and convert, which starts with the protection up front.