Maryland Q&A with insider Scott Greene

Distractions have once again mounted the day before a road test for Michigan. On Friday of last week, Jim Harbaugh was suspended during the team's flight to Penn State. This week, the day before the Maryland game, Michigan fired its linebackers coach Chris Partridge, and more news surfaced surrounding the sign-stealing investigation.

However, Michigan remains on a one-track mind, and it's focused on taking care of business in College Park this weekend to set up a potential undefeated matchup against Ohio State at the Big House next week.

But in order to be undefeated heading into what promises to be one of the best games in rivalry history, Michigan will first need to defeat Maryland on its home field.

Maize and Blue Review caught up with Maryland insider Scott Greene this week to get a look at the Maryland team ahead of Saturday's matchup.

While last Saturday's win at Nebraska was absolutely huge for the program for a number of reasons, I'm not so sure about keeping the momentum going. In fact, I'm not sure how much momentum was really built with the win.

Against Nebraska, the Terps committed 10 penalties for 92 yards, they committed three turnovers and they had zero rushing yards in the first half. Yes, they were able to come up with five takeaways of their own, but several of those interceptions by Maryland DBs were wounded ducks thrown right to them. Two of the biggest positives to take away from Nebraska were Hemby's rushing in the fourth quarter and the fact that they simply found a way to get into scoring position on the final drive and win the game.

Michigan seems like a team on a mission after the Harbaugh suspension and I think that is going to make it tough for Maryland this week.

I don't know that I've ever really thought of Tagovailoa as a dual threat QB. Yes, his rushing numbers are easily the best of his career, but it has more to do with him understanding that when he's flushed out of the pocket (which is often), he is sometimes better served using his feet versus trying to force a throw down field.

They don't really use many designed run plays for Tagovailoa, he's just become much better at taking what the defense gives him when the pocket breaks down. With that said, he is still prone to making the occasional forced throw when flushed out of the pocket and that is when he really gets into trouble. And Michigan's top-ranked defense will pose a major challenge, especially for Maryland's offensive line.

I guess all of that is to say, can Tagovailoa's elusiveness give Michigan fits on Saturday? Absolutely. But if he's going to really beat a team, it is almost certainly going to be with his arm and again, the top-ranked pass defense will present a major challenge.

All three of Maryland's starting wideouts are capable of making big plays for the Terps. Junior Tai Felton has been the most consistent of the three the past couple of weeks, with 70-plus yards in both games and the Terps' lone touchdown in the win over Nebraska. Felton is arguably the team's fastest player.

West Virginia transfer Kaden Prather is capable of making some highlight catches and had a streak of three games with a touchdown earlier in Big Ten play. And sixth-year senior Jeshaun Jones is coming off a five-catch, 86-yard performance last week and caught a TD in each of the two games prior. He leads the Terps in catches and receiving yards. So all three need to be accounted for.

On defense, the first name you have to mention is safety Beau Brade. The Terps' leading tackler a season ago, he leads the team in that category again this season despite having missed a game. He's also second on the team with four pass breakups and he has an interception. Fellow junior starting safety Dante Trader Jr. is coming off of a two interception game last week versus Nebraska.

In the front seven, FCS transfer Donnell Brown is a name to know. The edge rusher leads the Terps with 15 quarterback hurries, while he also has three sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble. So while he is arguably the Terps' best pass rusher, he has also proven to be excellent in coverage, too.

I could go on here about play calling or a lack of run game and so on, but the answer to this question is pretty simple: They have gone up against some pretty darn good defenses. How good? Well, Penn State currently ranks second nationally in total defense, while Ohio State ranks fourth. Even Northwestern boasts a top-30 total defense at the time of this writing. But to make matters worse for the Terps' pass-happy offense, all three of those defenses rank inside the top-15 nationally in passing yards allowed.

Diving a little deeper, while Tagovailoa was sacked just three times in the first five games, he's been sacked a total of 17 times since. Last Saturday's win in Lincoln was the first time Tagovailoa had been sacked less than twice in a game since their win over Indiana.

And then finally, turnover margin. The Terps were among the nation's best in turnover margin through the first five games of the season. But since then, they have turned the ball over a total of 12 times versus just six turnovers for their opponents. If you take away last Saturday's win at Nebraska, the Terps turned the ball over a total of nine times with just a single takeaway during their four-game losing streak. That's a recipe for disaster.

Defensively, this is the toughest unit they are going to face all season. They are loaded with talent, are ranked No. 1 nationally and are coming off of an impressive road win in Happy Valley in which they held the Nittany Lions to just 15 points.

Offensively, while they might not stick out in any one area, the Wolverines still rank in the top-10 in scoring offense and starting running back Blake Corum is likely to be extra juiced to get the chance to play the Terps in College Park this season after missing the Maryland game two years ago. And of course who can forget the fact he ran for 243 yards and a couple of scores last year versus the Terps.

This one might remain close for a quarter or so, but Michigan should eventually pull away from Maryland and win comfortably.

Michigan 42, Maryland 20

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