2014 Maryland Football Preview

Submitted by Unicycle Firefly on

Pretty good in-depth preview of 2014 Maryland football over on SB Nation.  BLUF: The Terps could be poised for a breakout season this year if they can get on the positive side of the injury trend and their previously-young team improves with age/experience (where have we heard this before?). 

Of course, this potential breakout season rolls around when Maryland makes their first trip to Ann Arbor.  After a big road win in Blacksburg last year, it doesn't seem like the Terps are too intimidated by big road environments.

 http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/5/19/5723228/maryland-football-2014-preview-schedule-roster

BiSB

May 19th, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^

But Ace reached a similar conclusion when researching Maryland for HTTV. They probably don't suck.

Don't worry. Rutgers still sucks.

The Baughz

May 19th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^

I may be in the minority here, but I do not think Maryland is going to be as bad as some people think. They have some nice skill position players, and if they get rid of the injury bug they could pose a real threat in the B1G. Im not saying they will win the division, but I think they will be very competitive. 

 

FreddieMercuryHayes

May 19th, 2014 at 11:37 AM ^

Agree.  I was higher on them in the long term before Franklin stepped in at PSU because UMD is a talent rich area, and they were doing well recruiting.  I can see PSU eating up a lot of their potential recruits now (well as long as PSU wins and such under Franklin).  That said, if they can get their finances in order, they have a giant athletic company owner waiting in the wings to make them the Oregon of the East...they could become a dangerous program in the future as well.

gwkrlghl

May 19th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^

I think (the state of) Maryland will be very similar to Virginia. They'll keep a good amount of 3* talent in state but top programs will usually poach a lot of the elite talent from there. Virginia is constantly raided by other schools and I think Michigan, OSU, and PSU will be raiding Maryland fairly frequently now. (PSU has always had a signifiant presence in Maryland anyway)

LSAClassOf2000

May 19th, 2014 at 10:23 AM ^

I would have to agree with others - if their bad run of injuries is mostly behind them, Maryland probably stands a decent chance to impress its new conference at least moreso than some may believe. Just as an example, despite injuries they did manage to maintain a defense that was, at least on several important metrics, in the upper half of Division I defenses and a passing offense that was in the upper half of Division I (again, not everywhere, but in many places that count), so it isn't too hard to imagine that a more experienced, healthy Terrapin team could improve on that. 

ak47

May 19th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^

They probably have the best wr pairing in the big ten in stefon diggs and deon long.  If their offensive line holds up (I feel like i've heard that before) they probably finish over .500 in the big ten.

 

Edit: I'm also predicting right now that diggs returns a punt for td against michigan, he is an incredible returner and michigan's punt coverage isn't exactly legendary.

Ron Utah

May 19th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^

I think Maryland has the chance to be a good, but not great team.  9-3 is probably their ceiling.  Their defense was fairly consistent, but never great and their offense was like a kid learning how to drive stick: sometimes popping off the line, sometimes stalling, always jerky.

They are safely ahead of Indiana and Rutgers, but not a threat to Ohio or MSU's reign at the top.

I'd have to lie to say that Michigan is convincingly better, but this is not a game that makes me worry, largely becuase it is at home.

Let's put it this way: if we're losing to Maryland at home, Hoke is probably in pretty hot water, because we're probably looking at 7-6 or 8-5 again.

umbig11

May 19th, 2014 at 6:56 PM ^

I live in MD and most Terp fans believe they will be much better in 2014. However, most all of them agree that the B1G is going to be more than they can handle. Better team, but it may not show up in the win/loss column.