What Does Maryland Football Need To Accomplish In ’20, To Make This A Successful Year?

Prior to the pandemic, most viewed the expectations for Mike Locksley’s second season as Maryland’s head coach as being that of progress and continued culture building. But with the Terps just receiving word last week that they’ll even have a 2020 season to play, has the abbreviated offseason and new eight-game schedule moved the bar for what would be considered a successful year two for Locksley?

Locksley himself is certainly setting the stage for tempered expectations, referring to the upcoming season as “Year 0.5” Sept. 23 in his first media availability since Big Ten football returned to action. He frequently referred to last season as “Year 0” because of the uphill battle of a situation he inherited, and now he feels as though only a half a year of progress has been made since a large portion of his team is comprised of new players to College Park that have not had a full offseason to transition and adapt due to COVID-19.

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However, Locksley was quick to follow that up by saying he does believe the Terps have used the time they have had together wisely and teaching the playbook has been made possible through Zoom calls.

With everything about the 2020 college football season seemingly changing because of the pandemic, let’s take a closer look at whant Maryland football needs to accomplish this fall in order to consider 2020 a successful season.

Find a Quarterback

With Tyrrell Pigrome and Max Bortenschlager transferring and Josh Jackson opting opt, Maryland is down to a two-man race when it comes to the quarterback competition. Early reports are that Alabama transfer Taulia Tagovailoa is the frontrunner over redshirt freshman Lance Legendre, but Locksley isn’t tipping his hand in interviews yet.

On Wednesday, Locksley said he will use data and stats from practices leading up to the first game to decide who will begin the season as Maryland’s starting quarterback. He said he wants to see which quarterback moves the ball up the field better and he is excited about the talent he has between Legendre and Tagovailoa.

Locksley also pointed out how, in a season like this, it will be important to have both quarterbacks prepared to go each and every week. Maryland fans are very familiar with seeing multiple quarterbacks play in a season, so it stands to reason that 2020 would continue that trend. Then again, it’s 2020, so perhaps either Legendre or Tagovailoa start all nine games and become the quarterback of the Terps’ future.

Regardless of whether or not COVID or other circumstances cause Maryland to start more than one quarterback this season, if Maryland finds a quarterback it can roll with moving forward this season, that would be a success.

Build a Core

Finding a quarterback is the start, but building a core of key players is the next step the Terps must take in order to have a successful season. Maybe it’s blue-chip freshman wide receiver Rakim Jarrett or one of the incoming running backs, Penny Boone or Isaiah Jacobs. Can sophomore Nick Cross become the leader of the defense and can freshman Ruben Hyppolite eventually join him there? Is junior wideout Dontay Demus ready to take the next step and can redshirt sophomore Swiss Army knife Jeshaun Jones rebound from a knee injury that cost him last season?

Regardless of who it is, the Terps need a core of players on both sides of the ball to step up and become leaders of this team. Luckily for Maryland, it’s a young roster, which leaves room for freshmen and sophomores to step up and not only be leaders this season, but for years to come.

Show Some Fight

Who’s tired of getting blown out by Big Ten blue bloods by an average of like 40 points? I know I certainly am. No one is expecting Maryland football to be Ohio State, Michigan, or, dare I say it, Penn State any time soon. But it’d be nice not to be the equivalent of a pay-for-play game on the schedule of these teams year in and year out.

This season might not yield many wins against the cream of the Big Ten crop, but if the Terps can at least show some fight against the best programs in the conference, that would be a huge sign of improvement and a great success for Maryland.

Beat Rutgers

Maryland fans will be happy to see good efforts against perennial Big Ten powerhouses, but Rutgers is the one game that might actually enrage Teps fans this season if it ends in a loss.

It could be rough sledding for the first seven weeks of this year’s schedule, but drawing the Scarlet Knights in the eighth game at least gives Maryland a chance to finish strong and build some momentum heading into the cross-divisional matchup in their ninth game.

Maryland is 9-6 against Rutgers all time and 4-2 since both teams joined the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights are one of the few Big Ten teams the Terps have a winning record against and will be the best opportunity for a win this season. Maryland cannot let this one slip away and call the season a success.

Stay Healthy

This is always a tricky one when it comes to Maryland football. The Terps have certainly had their fair share of injuries in recent years. But in a season where the Big Ten is already playing less games than most college football programs and that was already expected to be a building year, it’s even more important for Maryland to do whatever it can to get out of this year healthy.

Let’s face it, Maryland isn’t playing for a National Championship this season, or even a College Football Playoff appearance. This was never expected to be a winning season for the Terps. All of the aforementioned things are caveats of a successful season for Maryland, but none of it means anything if the Terps can’t stay healthy. If Maryland can build that core and keep it healthy, the future should be brighter than the present.