Terps: Recapping Kent State and Previewing Iowa

The Terps win over Kent State Saturday while not their best performance was enough and a three-touchdown win was almost a four touchdown win at the very end.

The offense started off sloppy with a Demus drop on 3rd and 3 in the 1st Series then in the 2nd Series Tagovalioa threw behind Jarrett on an RPO where he was open, it went off his hands and was intercepted as he twisted around to try and catch the ball which gave KSU good field position. After a nice KSU tunnel screen catch and run the defense held and forced a FG. Then on the third series the MD offense got it going highlighted by a nice swing pass to Fleet-Davis on the drive with good blocking by the WRs also evident that ultimately led to a TD pass to Demus. The 4th Series despite an ineligible player downfield negating a nice throw to Okonkwo and a big gain, the Terps offense still came away with a TD pass, this time to Jarrett. Fa’Amatu had a nice catch and run flashing some nice athleticism along with another long stretch run on the drive.

Yet another Terps TD on the 5th series, with a long pass to Demus that would later set up a Fleet-Davis TD run that capped the drive. The next two series left something to be desired for. The Terps punted on the 6th drive after Cobbs was wide open and dropped the ball and on the 7th series the offense was unable to convert close to the end zone and settled for a FG. Despite the drops by the WRs the offense still showed themselves well. 

Whether it was a matchup tactic, or they wanted to show it on tape to give Iowa something else to think about, I liked the way the Terps got TE Chigy Okonkwo into the mix in the passing game. He may very well be key against Iowa in further production in the passing game or occupying the defense’s attention and helping to take away defensive help or double coverage on the talented WRs that the Terps put out on the field. 

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

The defense was a different story, while they only gave up 16 points, the secondary had a very underwhelming day. Kent State does have a very good QB and an offense in the MAC that’s one of if not the best and for a small sample size last year had the best in the country. So, I don’t want to sell the Golden Flashes short but let’s hope we do not have a repeat performance of that at least on Friday night. But that performance is a scary proposition against the very deep and talented WR corp of Ohio State. Too many deep ball completions or penalties on deep balls helped Kent State push the ball down the field. The Terps defense’s credit they were forced to FGs, a Fumble or a Turnover on Downs. They limited the damage but against better teams’ fate will not be so kind.

At 24-9 Terps, one of if not the biggest play of the game for the defense was on Kent State’s first series of the second half. KSU converted a 4th and 1 on the drive on a QB sneak but later on a 4th and 3 Jakorian Bennett broke up a pass play that forced a turnover on downs. Then the Terps offense converted the good field position into a TD making it 30-9 (XPoint miss) and at that point had to majorly deflate the Golden Flashes. If Kent State scores a TD on that drive, it’s 24-16 and possibly a whole different game. MD forced another TOD later but at that point led 37-9. Again, despite the issues in the secondary the defense limited the damage in most cases. The Front 7 racked up 5 sacks and did a good job in stopping the run including the limiting of the running ability of their QB Crum. The loss of LB Branden Jennings who will not play in the Iowa game does not help. 

IOWA:

The Terps have a winnable opportunity against #5 Iowa. Friday night is usually reserved for High School Football but there is a lot of excitement about this program and what better way to showcase the program than in front of a national audience. With this being a Friday Night game, you can boost student attendance because you don’t have to compete with other activities during the weekend. This is THE EVENT on campus tonight. With that tonight is another litmus test game for Maryland and the toughest opponent they have faced so far this season. A win tonight for the Terps will make a lot more believers, build more confidence for the players and be another step forward for the program in achieving the success that Maryland Football has been able to attain at times over the years but never for a long period of time. In order to achieve victory, you must play to a certain standard that Mike Locksley preaches and then with the win’s comes a standard of excellence and expectation that Maryland wants to build and engrain in the program. A win tonight is a step forward but it’s one of many that have to be taken to get to where this program wants to get to. But you must start somewhere and stack quality wins. So far, the Terps have done as well as you can in starting off 4-0 this season. Now they turn the calendar page into October and head into all Big Ten Conference play from here on out. We talk about tonight being a litmus test of just how good this 4-0 team is. 

The good news is so far the Terps have passed the tests put in front of them, the first being the kickoff to the season hosting border rival, the West Virginia Mountaineers and they passed it in an exciting game in College Park. The next test was a Conference game on the road on a short week, also a Friday Night Contest taking on Illinois and despite quite a few twists and turns especially in the second half the Terps came away with another win. 

Then there was this past Saturday taking on a battle tested Kent State as the Terps sat 3-0 with #5 Iowa lurking, while Maryland did play to the level they are capable of, they still took care of business winning by three TDs, almost four at the very end and never really left a door open for the Golden Flashes to stay in the game or have a chance to win at the end. They took care of business, and they passed another test. You’re only as good as your last game so tonight will be another hurdle but also another chance to show the country that Maryland Football is for real and here to stay.

If I am OC Dan Enos, I spread Iowa out and look for the mismatch(s) in the passing game. Now that is assuming my Offensive Line can provide adequate protection. If they cannot, I run the ball, use my RPOs and get my TE’s very involved in the game plan. I call enough plays in the short and intermediate that if successful hopefully draws the defense up and or gets them out of their 2 deep look allowing some deep shots down the field. Iowa is replacing 3 defensive lineman this season; I would like to think the OLine can have some success either in the run or pass or both. Iowa returns all four secondary players and 2 of their linebackers so as Zack Kielsel wrote patience will be very key especially for QB Taulia Tagovailoa.  

The defense will need to stop the run first which is the bread and butter of Iowa. You want them having to play catch up and throwing the ball. Not that QB Spencer Petras is not capable but with the Terps pass rush and quality secondary (the Kent State game notwithstanding) they put themselves in a good spot to succeed in that scenario. 

For more thoughts on tonight’s game vs. Iowa, listen to the latest episode of Talking Terps with Zack Kiesel, Pat Donohue, and myself!

You can listen to the show here.