Maryland Football: Kent State Recap, Iowa Preview

Sorry for the late link, Larry and Maryland fans alike—been a day. Thanks to Larry as always for the Maryland content, and to you all for reading! —MNW

Maryland Terrapins 37, Kent State Golden Flashes 16

This game was never seriously in doubt. It was 24-9 at half-time and MD eventually built a 37-9 lead going into the 4th quarter.

But somehow it felt closer than that. Kent State won time of possession 34-26, Total yards was about even—526 for Maryland to 458 for Kent State. The difference was that the Terrapins scored touchdowns, while Maryland forced Kent State to kick field goals. Kent State’s offense really stalled once near the end zone where there wasn’t the same vertical deep threat.

A few observations: Kent State’s QB and WRs are very good. MD went man-coverage the entire game with the intent to stop the run and get sacks. Kent State connected on a few deep balls where the WR was well-covered. On more than one occasion, MD committed an intentional pass-interference penalty when they knew they were beat just to protect against a 25+ yard completion. It was an interesting decision to just accept that numerous deep balls would be completed, but to take that just to disrupt the running game and QB timing. I think we see the same strategy from MD in their upcoming game against the toothy-birds. (That mascot creeps me out.)

Also, Taulia Tagovailoa has a super quick release and is very accurate. He looked really good, but he had all day to throw because there was virtually no pass rush by Kent State. That will change dramatically in the coming weeks.

Bottom Line: Maryland beat one of the top teams in the MAC, which is what competent B1G teams are supposed to do. By losing to not one of the top teams in the MAC, by definition, that makes PJ Fleck’s rowing crew incompetent.

Under HC Randy Edsall (yes, the same Edsall that got retired at UConn), the Terrapins lost to Bowling Green when they were coached by Dino Babers. Let that sink in for a moment for you Fleck lovers out there.

MD is 4-0, which I predicted (Yay me—I actually got something right).

I’m still sticking with my 7-5 prediction. Between Indinia, @ Rutgers, UM, @MSU and @Minny, I think MD can find three wins.

Up Next: #5 Iowa Hawkeyes at Maryland Terrapins

Friday, October 1 | 7pm CT | Iowa -4 | O/U 46

Iowa visits MD in the B1G version of Friday Nights Lights! Attendance for Kent State was a woeful 30,000...no super spreader event here! Woo hoo!

Friday night we will be going full-Florida at Spring Break super-spreader event with a Black Out and a stadium that is sure to be sold out. A friend and colleague of mine who is a die-hard Indinia fan (we have a continuing existential debate on whether it’s worse to be a Maryland football fan or a Indinia football fan) truly believes Maryland’s speed at WR combined with having a good QB will allow for the upset.

Yes, one could make a reasonable argument that the toothy birds are not built to score and if MD gets a few quick strikes, the toothy-birds could be in trouble. This hypothesis is certainly not My-Pillow-Guy-on Fox-News crazy, but......

Tickets for this game can be bought for as low as $31 on Stubhub. If I truly thought the Terps would win, I would already have my tix. I don’t. And I don’t plan on buying tickets.

Maryland suffered two key LB injuries yesterday, making three LBs that were in the 1 and 2-deep at the beginning of the season not available for Iowa. What was once a deep and talented group is no longer the case for MD’s LBs. When the key to stopping Iowa is a talented front seven, these injuries do not bode well for Maryland.