College Football News Preview 2020: Maryland Terrapins Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Maryland Terrapins Offense
Score whenever there’s a chance. Moving the chains is Job One after converting just 32% of the time on third downs. The offense simply has to move more, control the clock better, and just get into range to be able to score.
And then the Terps have to put up points when they get there. The kicking game was a disaster – hitting just two of five field goals on the year – and the offense was nightmare in the red zone.
Maryland scored a pathetic 66% of the time inside the 20, and even worse it only got there 15 times over the final nine games. By comparison, Ohio State got into the red zone 12 times in the 73-14 win.
Biggest Key To The Maryland Terrapins Defense
Find something it can do well. The Terp D suffered from an O that seemed like it wanted to get off the field as soon as possible, but it also didn’t do itself any favors.
Worst of all, the D got worse. Granted, the team went younger and younger as the season went on to get the new parts into the mix, but the line got killed for 300 rushing yards or more in a run of three games in four towards the end.
The secondary? It allowed more than 300 yards six times, and gave up over 400 in two of those. The pass rush wasn’t steady, there weren’t enough takeaways, and …
The defense needs to find a positive identity.
Key Maryland Terrapins Player To A Successful Season
OT Jaelyn Duncan, Soph. & OT Marcus Minor, Jr.
The Terps have to block better. That’s it. That’s everything. The Terps have promising skill parts, and there are enough good young options to hope for a bit of an improvement overall, but none of it works unless the front five can start to produce.
The Terps gave up 38 sacks and couldn’t run effectively enough throughout the year. The backs were in place, but after running for 671 yards in the first two games, things started to stall – being second-to-last in the nation in third down conversions was a part of it.
All three wins last year came when they ran for 200 yards or more, and as a program it’s 11-2 going back to 2016 when it hit two-bills.
It all starts with the young O line being a whole lot stronger.
Key Game To The Maryland Terrapins Season
Minnesota, Oct. 3
It’s all about building up the program and getting better and better over the first few games, and after a week off to rest up, be ready to dive into Big Ten season.
Last year, Maryland was coming off a decent performance in a loss to Indiana, and it looked like it was about to turn a corner. And then … Minnesota 52-10. Lose, and with two straight road games and with a brutal November to later deal with, it’s going to be a rough season.
– Maryland Terrapins Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Maryland Fun Stats
– Sacks: Opponents 38 for 262 yards – Maryland 21 for 123 yards
– Time of Possession: Opponents 34:15 – Maryland 25:45
– Field Goals: Opponents 16-of-23 – Maryland 2-of-5