Maryland Football Season Preview

When you scratch the surface of Maryland’s 2009 season, you may think it was an unmitigated disaster. But when you dig a little deeper, you will find that five of their 10 losses were by less than a touchdown. In other words, a bounce in Maryland’s favor could have put them in bowl contention. And last season nearly cost Ralph Friedgen his job. But he returns with a lot more experience than the 2009 season, and you would think this year would be better.

 

It will make Maryland fans very happy to know Chris Turner ran out of eligibility. Somehow he finished second in school history in passing yards. But in those three years Turner started, he threw 28 interceptions, which was maddening to Terps fans. But in will step Jamarr Robinson, who filled in for Turner when he missed two games last season. Robinson threw for 459 yards and two touchdowns last season, but is a lot more valuable in the running game that Turner. Robinson ran for 299 yards on 53 carries, while Turner was credited with 22 yards on 84 carries, which equals to 0.3 yards per carry. Robinson’s athleticism will be a key in the offense this year.

The running back position was expected to be pretty good last year, but an injury to Da’rel Scott ended up being a big blow to the running game. Scott was a big key to the running game, and while Davin Meggett filled in and did a good job, he wasn’t as good as Scott was. Scott ran for 425 yards, and averaged 5.0 yards per carry, while Meggett ran for 338 yards and 3.4 yards per carry. I think the running game will be much better this year with Scott fully healthy and Robinson in the backfield running too.

Eight of the top nine on the receiving charts return this season, and despite what seemed to be a very mediocre offense, a star emerged last season in wide receiver Torrey Smith. Smith blew up to the tune of 61 receptions for 824 yards last season, garnering first team all ACC honors. The number two receiver is senior Adrian Cannon. Cannon was pretty highly regarded coming out of high school, but showed signs of finally emerging last season. Cannon caught 44 passes for 468 yards and four touchdowns. The other starter will be Ronnie Tyler. Tyler caught 28 passes last season. The only new starter will be at tight end, which has seen a lot of injuries in the preseason. Look for Matt Furstenburg to get the start at tight end.

The offensive line was not very good. It was a lot of the reason for the poor running game, and the quarterbacks on the run for their lives on a consistent basis. Three of the five starters from last season return. Center Paul Pinegar is the only senior on the offensive line. He is the only member of the offensive line to start every game last season. The other returnees are guard Andrew Gonnella and RJ Dill. The newcomers to the line are guard Bennett Fulper and tackle Justin Gilbert. If Maryland’s offense is going to be any sort of threat, the offensive line will have to improve.

 

The defense was not very good last season. The Terps ranked 100^th nationally in terms of scoring defense. And it only returns five starters this season, one each on the defensive line and secondary, and all three linebackers. The Terps will need to rely on that experienced line backing corps this season. The leader of this defense is linebacker Alex Wujciak, who was second team all ACC last season. The senior linebacker was the leader in tackles by a country mile last season. Wujciak had 131 tackles last season, nearly doubling the amount of tackles of the second leading tackler, which is another linebacker. Adrian Moten had 68 tackles, but led the team with six sacks last season. They will be joined by Demetrius Hartsfield, who had a pretty solid freshman campaign with 64 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

The Terps run defense was in the middle of the pack in the ACC last year, and it only returns one starter from a defensive line that contributed to that statistic. The lone starter returning is sophomore defensive tackle AJ Francis, who had 31 tackles this season. He will be joined on the line by sophomore Justin Anderson and freshman De’Onte Arnett and sophomore Zacaraiah Kerr at defensive tackle. This unit is young and relatively inexperienced, and will have to grow up in a hurry.

The secondary, like the defensive line, only returns one starter from a defense that was barely inside the top 100. But that one starter, cornerback Cameron Chism, was the best player in the secondary, and actually won the team’s most improved player award last season. Chism had 66 tackles and led the team with four interceptions. The other cornerback spot is up for grabs, as you could see junior Trenton Hughes and freshman Dexter McDougle on the other side of Chism. The safeties will be senior Antwine Perez, who both saw some decent playing time last year.

The Terps may have a gem in kicker Nick Ferrara. He started as a true freshman, and hit 18-25 field goals, including a 50 yarder, and also did the majority of the punting. Ferrara averaged just under 40 yards per punt as well. Ferrara made second team freshman all America last season. Travis Baltz will do the punting this year after missing time with an injury.

The kick returns will be handled by Torrey Smith. Even though he’s the go to receiver, Smith was electric on kick returns, averaging over 25 yards per return, and taking two back for touchdowns. The punt return duties will be handled by Tony Logan, who averaged just under seven yards per return.

 

The non conference schedule has a couple of cupcakes and a couple of challenges. The season opens with Navy in a neutral site game in Baltimore, followed by a win over Morgan State, then travelling to West Virginia, and closing the non conference schedule with Florida International. The key road games are at Clemson, Boston College, and Miami, and their toughest home game will be Florida State. This isn’t an easy schedule by any means.

 

The steadiest player on this team is Torrey Smith. He has emerged as an electric ball player, handling both kick return and receiving duties, and doing everything well. If the quarterback play is consistent this year, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could have a 70 catch, 1000 yard season this year.

 

This is a pretty big year for Ralph Friedgen. A lot of people thought he was going to be let go at the end of last season, and he somehow managed to save his job. But he may be on thin ice. And he doesn’t have a lot of returning experience back. I do like the offense, and I think having Jamarr Robinson at quarterback will be a good thing, but the defense scares me. It’s young and inexperienced. I can see Maryland doubling their win total from last year, or maybe even winning five games. But I’m not sure they can get that sixth win and get to bowl eligibility. If that’s the case, we may see the of Ralph Friedgen’s tenure in College Park.