First Glance: A Mid-October Trip to Maryland Could Swing The Hoosiers Season One Way or Another

Indiana travels to Maryland for a key October matchup. Image: Cam Koenig Hoosier Huddle

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Week Eight Preview: Maryland Terrapins

When week eight rolls around, we will know what the Indiana Hoosiers are? They could be 4-2 and looking to get a fifth win with five to play. The October 19th matchup on the road against the Terrapins is the swing game of the season. A win here would theoretically push the Hoosiers to a fifth win to start the second half of the season that features trips to Nebraska, Penn State and Purdue to go along with home dates against Northwestern, the defending West Division champ and Michigan. So it’s quite clear what a loss would mean. Maryland brings back Mike Locksley as the head coach after a failed stint at New Mexico where he went 2-26. Locksley served as Maryland’s interim head coach in 2015 after the Terrapins canned Randy Edsall (Indiana beat Maryland 47-28) and finished with a 1-5 record.

Week Eight: Maryland Terrapins

Date & Time: Saturday, October 19th, 2019, Time: TBA

Venue: Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium, College Park, Maryland

TV: TBA

Terrapins at a Glance

Head Coach: Mike Locksley

Entering his 5th year as a head coach, first year of his second stint with Maryland

Overall Record: 3-31 (4 years)

At Maryland: 1-5 (1-5)

Last Season: 5-7 (3-6) under interim head coach Matt Canada

Terrapins Returning Leaders

Passing: Joshua Jackson (2018 @Virginia Tech: 36-58, 62.1 Comp %, 575 Passing Yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT)

Rushing: Anthony McFarland (2018: 131 attempts, 1,034 yards, 7.9 avg, 4 TDs)

Receiving: Jeshaun Jones (2018: 22 receptions, 288 yards, 13.1 ypc, 5 TDs)

Tackles: Isaiah Davis (2018: 94 TKLs, 2 TFLs, 2 Sacks)

Terrapins Preseason Predictions

Athlon: 5th in the Big Ten East

Lindy’s: 6th in the Big Ten East

Phil Steele: T-5th in the Big Ten East

Street & Smith’s: 6th in the Big Ten East

S&P+: 4.9 wins 67th nationally

Impact Newcomers for the Terrapins

1. Joshua Jackson, QB- With the loss of Kasim Hill to transfer, Maryland was in the market themselves for a transfer quarterback. They found one in former Virginia Tech signal caller Joshua Jackson who was a two-year starter for the Hokies. Jackson had a big true freshman year in 2017 throwing for 2,991 yards and 25 touchdowns. He was off to a solid start to his sophomore campaign with 575 yards and five touchdowns before breaking his leg. Jackson will probably win the starting job unless something unforeseen happens.

2. Keandre Jones, LB- Jones had to wait awhile to be cleared for immediate eligibility, but it was granted. Jones comes with 34 games of experience at Ohio State and made 29 career tackles. The Terrapins are hoping that he can be an impact player like Tre Watson who transferred from Illinois prior to last season and ended up leading the team in tackles.

3. Tyler Mabry, TE- Another graduate transfer, this time from Buffalo, is tight end Tyler Mabry. He may not win the starting job, but he should be a regular in the rotation. Last season, Mabry made 27 catches for 230 yards with two touchdowns. At 6’3” and 265 pounds, Mabry could be a handful for defenses.

Offensive Preview

Over the last few years the Maryland offense has been predicated on the run. This season, under new head coach Mike Locksley they’ll try and be more balanced, however the Terrapins will still have the potential to have one of the better rushing attacks in the conference, if not the nation.

Spearheading the Maryland rushing attack is sophomore Anthony McFarland, who turned many heads during a record-breaking freshman season. He rushed for a Maryland freshman record 1,034 yards. McFarland is an explosive back who can score from anywhere on the field. In 2019 he won’t have to should the load either. Back are running backs senior LoLo Harrison, who missed most of 2018 with a knee injury. He has 1,339 career yards and is a proven Big Ten player and junior Tayon Fleet-Davis who is another speedster. Junior Javon Leake and senior Jake Funk can also carry the ball well. Maryland goes five-deep at running back and, if they decide to play Tyrell Pigrome at quarterback, will have an extremely explosive backfield.

No matter how explosive a backfield one has, there needs to be balance between the passing attack and the ground game. Maryland should get a major upgrade in their passing attack with the addition of Virginia Tech transfer Joshua Jackson. He was rolling at Virginia Tech before breaking his leg five games into his sophomore season. Jackson is a proven passer with 30 career touchdown passes and only 11 interceptions.

Maryland also returns Tyrell Pigrome, who played most of the game last year against IU. Pigrome actually won the job heading into the 2017 season opener at Texas, but tore his ACL and missed the rest of the year. He is an explosive runner who can also throw a little bit. He can give defenses fits and is another weapon that defensive coordinators have to account for.

Don’t be fooled by the receiving numbers for the Terrapins, they have some quality players on the outside. The headliner is sophomore Jeshaun Jones, who showed his versatility as a freshman and caught six touchdowns. Senior DJ Turner looks to have a big final season after racking up 132 yards in eight games. 6’4” sophomore Dontay Demus is the biggest deep threat after averaging over 21 yards per catch last season. A trio of sophomores, Darryl Jones, Brian Cobbs and Jayden Comma (14 catches 255 yards combined) will be in the rotation as well.

The tight end position received a boost with the addition of Mabry, but the starter is sophomore Chig Okonkwo who caught six passes for 69 yards last season.

Maryland’s offensive line returns their middle, but will have to break in two new starters at the tackle positions. Sophomore Marcus Minor, who needs to stay healthy, should get the nod at right tackle and redshirt freshman Jaelyn Duncan will get the first chance at left tackle after a big spring. The middle of the line is made up of upperclassmen. Seniors Terrance Davis, arguably the team’s best lineman, will start at right guard, and Sean Christie, who has started the last 23 games for Maryland, will be at left guard. Junior Johnny Jordan, the leader of the group, will be the center.

Defensive Preview

Maryland’s defense hasn’t ranked above 63rd nationally in total defense over the last three seasons. Last year the Terrapins gave up 28.7 points per game, but redeemed themselves with a top-15 rank in turnover margin. They struggled stopping the run, but when teams threw the ball, there was a decent chance a Maryland defender was getting a hand on it. However, Maryland only returns four starters off of last year’s defense. Locksley and defensive coordinator Jon Hoke will run a 3-3 front and play a nickel base defense.

Starting with the defensive line, where they needs to see more in run defense, Maryland is anchored by senior nose tackle Adam McLean. The 6’2” 305-pound lineman made 36 tackles last year, but had just one sack. He needs to be more productive if the Maryland defense wants to see improvement. Durell Nchami is a smaller defensive end (6’3” 240lbs), but had 15 tackles including 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack in a reserve role as a freshman. Opposite Nchami is senior Brett Kulka who made seven tackles with half a sack in four games last season. Freshman Tyler Baylor and sophomore Lawtez Rogers along with senior Kairon Howard will round out the defensive line rotation.

Much like the Hoosiers, Maryland will go with a two-linebacker look this fall. Manning those positions are seniors Isaiah Davis, who was the team’s second leading tackler with 94, including two sacks, and Keandre Jones, a transfer from Ohio State who only has 34 tackles to his name in limited action. Senior Nnamdi Egbuaba will back up Daivs and sophomore Chance Campbell will be behind Jones.

Seniors Tino Ellis and Antoine Brooks return in the secondary. Ellis had a stellar junior year as he finished with 44 tackles, three TFLs, a pick and 11 passes broken up. He will be the guy that covers the opponents’ best receiver. Brooks is a hard hitting defensive back who made 68 tackles, including 9.5 TFLs, a pick and three passes broken up. Marcus Lewis, a transfer from Florida State, had a big spring and will be the corner opposite Ellis. Youngsters Raymond Boone and Jordan Mosely looked ready to take over at safety during the spring. Mosely made 29 tackles last season.

Special Teams Preview

The Terrapins have two certainties on their special teams units, kicker Joseph Petrino and kick returner Javon Leake. Everything else is wide open.

Petrino was stellar as a freshman as he hit 12-of-14 field goals and 40-of-41 extra points. He needs to improve his leg strength on kickoffs as he knocked touchbacks on only 14-percent of his kickoffs.

Leake is a weapon on kickoff returns. He took one to the house against Illinois and averaged 24 yards a return.

Replacing Wade Lees, who averaged 40.9 yards per punt last year, will not be easy. Freshman walk-on Anthony Percorella is the favorite to win the job over sophomore Bentley Faulkner.

The other battle is for punt return where Maryland has a number of explosive athletes who can man the position, but finding consistency is an issue. Look for one of the running backs to be here in order to get some touches.

Past 2019 First Glance Previews

Week One: Ball State

Week Two: Eastern Illinois

Week Three: Ohio State

Week Four: Connecticut

Week Five: Michigan State

Week Six: Open

Week Seven: Rutgers