Maryland turned heads earlier this year by beating the mess out of Howard before taking Syracuse to the woodshed, leading many to believe the Terrapins might actually have a team. The offense put up 142 points in the first two games with Virginia Tech quarterback transfer Josh Jackson leading the charge.
And then the Terrapins came crashing back down to earth.
The win over Syracuse was minimized when the Orange were further exposed as a fraud (they have yet to beat an ACC team this year, and while they posted 52 points in a win over Western Michigan — well, even Michigan State, which scored 17 points in the entire month of October, put up 51 on the Broncos).
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Maryland has one Big Ten win this year, and that came against Rutgers in a 48-7 victory over a team that fired its coach after a blowout loss to Michigan.
Still, nothing (other than Rutgers losses) is guaranteed in this league, evidenced by Wisconsin’s loss at Illinois a few weeks back. Let a team hang around long enough and they might give you a game.
The Wolverines’ offense seems to have finally found itself, and the team is playing its best football of the year. While the Terps aren’t good, this is an opportunity to make another Maize and Blue statement on the road.
Here’s what Michigan has to do to come away with a win at Maryland:
Continue the recent success on the ground: Nobody saw Michigan’s 303-yard rushing outburst against Notre Dame coming. The Fighting Irish aren’t great up front, but U-M bullied them from the first drive and never let up — and that was in a driving rainstorm with the Irish aware senior quarterback Shea Patterson wouldn’t be flinging the ball all over the yard.
Maryland is coming off a defensive performance in which it gave up 321 yards on the ground at Minnesota in a 52-10 loss. They surrendered 186 yards and 5.8 per rush in a home loss to Indiana a week earlier, so it’s now a trend.
The Wolverines have a chance to prove their new 1-2 punch of freshman Zach Charbonnet and redshirt freshman Hassan Haskins is legit with another good performance on the ground, having implemented more of the old school traps, etc., that head coach Jim Harbaugh and Co. ran when they first arrived in Ann Arbor.
Win the battle on the ground and they’ll have a great chance to leave College Park with a victory.
Make Maryland quarterback Josh Jackson uncomfortable early: With quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome limited with a knee injury, redshirt junior Josh Jackson — son of former Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson and a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech — has been taking first-team reps again.
He’s coming back from his own injury after starting the season strong, leading the Terps to a pair of early season blowouts before struggling mightily in a loss to Temple. Jackson completed only 15 of 38 passes in that game and was pressured mercilessly, leading to three sacks. The Owls finished with 10 tackles for loss and Jackson, a pocket passer, lost 20 yards on the ground.
Jackson, a Saline, Mich., native, didn’t get a look from the Wolverines coming out of high school, and he’ll have something to prove. He’s got some weapons, including 31-catch wide receiver Dontay Demus and a few capable running backs, but the U-M defense should be able to get to him. Maryland is tied for 74th nationally in sacks allowed with 2.13 given up per contest.
Exploit Maryland’s suspect pass defense with some big plays: Maryland ranks 116th nationally out of 130 teams in passing yards allowed per game (273.6). The Terps are tied for 107th in passing plays of 10-plus yards or more (81) allowed, tied for 98th in 30-plus yard passing plays (14) given up and tied for 108th in 50-plus passing plays (five) surrendered.
In short, they can’t defend the intermediate or long ball. They’re middle of the pack in sacks, having notched 18 in eight games. There should be plays there to be made for Patterson and Michigan offense.
The Breakdown: Michigan Wolverines Football at Maryland
Somewhere underneath the surface of the College Park tire fire is a capable team, Michigan cornerbacks coach Mike Zordich said this week. He watched film of the Terrapins from early in the season when the offense was humming, and while the competition wasn’t great, they still made plays.
Like most teams, Michigan plays its best football when it gets off to a good start. The Wolverines have been fragile when they don’t, especially on the road — they rebounded at Penn State to make a game of it after falling behind 21-0, but it took some time.
Protect the ball, avoid big plays against and come to play, and they Wolverines should leave College Park with their fourth Big Ten win in six tries.
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