Weekly Preview: Richmond

Opponent: Richmond Spiders (0-0, 0-0 Colonial Athletic Association)
Location: Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium (54,000)
Date: Saturday, September 5, 2015
Time: 12:00 PM ET
TV/Radio Broadcasts: ESPNU, Maryland Sports Radio Network
Series Record: 12-5-1 (Maryland leads)

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Opponent Preview

The Richmond Spiders are members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), which is a conference in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Last season, they finished with a 9-5 record, including a 5-3 conference record and a #16 ranking in the FCS. However, they have lost 23 seniors coming into this season, including 13 starters. While one might expect this to be a down year for the Spiders, the experts don’t seem to think so. Coming into this season-opening game against Maryland, they will be ranked #18 in the FCS.

Danny Rocco is entering his 4th season as Richmond’s head coach, and will be breaking in a new offensive coordinator in 2015. Charlie Fisher spent last season as the team’s wide receivers coach and assistant head coach, but will call the plays and work with Richmond’s quarterbacks this year. After running a spread offense for the past few seasons, the Spiders will be making the transition to a pro-style scheme under Fisher. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Lauletta will be the team’s starting quarterback, and will be making his first collegiate start against Maryland. The Terrapins actually recruited him out of high school, but ultimately backed off. The other player to watch for when Richmond has the ball is senior wide receiver Reggie Diggs, who is likely the best NFL prospect in the CAA.

Bob Trott is entering his 5th season as Richmond’s defensive coordinator, and will have to replace a lot of production on his side of the ball this season. Six of the team’s top eight tacklers are gone, as are most of its sack leaders from a year ago. Trott runs a base 4-3 defense which can also morph into a 4-2-5 scheme at times. Since Maryland runs such a multiple scheme, expect to see a lot of both schemes from the Spiders. Redshirt junior linebacker Omar Howard is the leader of the defense, and will line up on the strong-side for the Spiders.

Maryland Preview

The Maryland Terrapins enter the 2015 season with a lot of questions still to be answered about their team. They finished the 2014 season with a record of 7-6 (4-4 Big Ten Conference) and a 45-21 loss to Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl. Randy Edsall is entering his 5th season with the Terrapins, and was just given a three-year contract extension taking him through the 2019 season. While the team has reached two straight bowl games and has put together some very good recruiting classes, fans are hoping for more out of the Terrapins in the coming years.

Mike Locksley is entering his 4th season as Maryland’s offensive coordinator. He will be tasked with breaking in a new quarterback, a re-shuffled offensive line, and a new receiving corps this season. Redshirt junior Perry Hills won the three-man quarterback race over Caleb Rowe and Daxx Garman in the off-season. Hills was the team’s starter as a true freshman in 2012, leading the team to a 4-2 (2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) record before suffering a season-ending ACL tear against North Carolina State. He redshirted his 2013 season, and saw very minimal action in 2014. Unlike C.J. Brown over the past two years, Hills will not have the advantage of throwing to wide receivers like Stefon Diggs and Deon Long. However, the Terrapins boast a large crop of talented young receivers who should be just fine in 2015.

Maryland’s offensive line struggled mightily in 2014, failing to have much success at all against most of the bigger defensive lines of the Big Ten. This season sees a much bigger and stronger defensive line take the field in College Park, led by offensive line coach Greg Studrawa. Each member of the offensive line has bulked up and gotten stronger, which should help them have better success against the hulking defensive linemen of the Big Ten. Maryland needs a running game to have success offensively, and this line will have to open holes for its running backs this season. Brandon Ross is a talented and experienced running back, but he can’t make something happen while getting hit in the backfield. If the line can open holes for Ross and the team’s other running backs, Hills’ job becomes much easier under center.

Keith Dudzinski is entering his 5th season with the Terrapins, but his 1st as the team’s defensive coordinator. After the team let Brian Stewart go during the off-season, they promoted Dudzinski and tasked him with installing a new 4-3 defensive system. It looks to have been a successful move, as the defense has appeared to be very solid in both spring and summer camp. Maryland will primarily run a 4-3 Under scheme, which is actually very similar to a 3-4 scheme. The main difference is that, instead of having your weak-side linebacker stand up, he becomes a pass-rushing defensive end with his hand in the ground. This is the scheme that the Seattle Seahawks run in the NFL, and is the most popular 4-3 scheme in football today.

Yannick Ngakoue will be the featured pass-rusher for the Terrapins this season, and he has looked absolutely dominant during the off-season. His speed and quickness off the edge are very impressive. The best and most experienced unit for Dudzinski’s unit this season will be the defensive backfield. Three of the four starting defensive backs are seniors, and the lone junior is one of the best defensive players in the conference. William Likely has had monstrous freshman and sophomore seasons, and his junior year is shaping up to be another huge one. While standing just 5-foot-7, he plays like a 6-foot-1 cornerback. Also serving as the team’s primary returner, he is probably the most important player on the team. Sean Davis has moved down from safety to cornerback to join Likely, and will use his size and quickness to disrupt opposing wide receivers. Both Likely and Davis have a good chance to be drafted into the NFL after this season.

Senior kicker Brad Craddock returns to lead what will likely be another strong season for Maryland’s special teams unit. He will be looking to repeat as the country’s Lou Groza Award winner. The team will be introducing a new punter after Nathan Renfro transferred back home to Tennessee after last season. Nicolas Pritchard won the three-man punter battle over Lee Shrader and Nicholas Rubinowicz.

Zack’s Keys to the Game

• Put them away early – Richmond is a team that Maryland must put away early. They need to be winning by enough points to play some of the second and third-stringers in the third and fourth quarters.
• Run the ball – If you can’t run against Richmond, you can’t run against anyone. This new offensive line needs to assert their dominance and open holes for their running backs.
• Dominate defensively – This new 4-3 defense was built to stop the run. Richmond will be running a pro-style offense which aims to run the ball and throw play-action passes. The interior of the Terrapins’ defensive line needs to show how strong they’ll be against the stronger teams of the Big Ten.
• Find a quarterback – Perry Hills is the starter, but it’s very likely that Caleb Rowe and Daxx Garman see time as well. If Hills struggles, that may open the door for one of the other quarterbacks. In a perfect world, Hills comes out strong and is the clear-cut option for the next few weeks.