The third program on our Spring Series is the Maryland Terrapins who are gearing up for the 2021 season after a very short 2020 campaign due to the pandemic.
Maryland: Spring Game, April 24th
Maryland has begun spring camp and is looking forward to a playing a full schedule of games, as last year they were only able to play five of their potential nine. Maryland compiled a 2-3 record in those five games, but also showed some promise that better things are to come in 2021 with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa leading the offense.
Taking It To Another Level
Head coach Mike Locksley enters his third season with the Terrapins with an overall record of 6-17, but has done a good job on paper to bring in talent both through the transfer portal and recruiting. Now, that talent is expected to start producing results on the field in 2021.
Locksley, since taking over the program in December of 2018, has improved Maryland’s national recruiting position from 47th, to 31st, and most recently to 18th according to the 247 Sports Composite Team Rankings. Maryland has been able to land some highly sought after recruits such as 4-star safety Nick Cross, 5-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett, 4-star linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, and recently in the 2021 class 5-star linebacker Terrence Lewis.
The strong performance on the recruiting trail has been mixed in with some success in the transfer portal, most notably at the quarterback position.
Taulia Tagovailoa, the former Alabama quarterback who transferred to Maryland before last season, is being touted by some in the media as one of the best players at quarterback in the Big Ten entering 2021. Last season provided Tagovailoa with his first substantial playing time at the collegiate level as he played in four games, throwing for 1,011 yards, seven touchdowns, and seven interceptions.
Unfortunately he missed the last game of the year against Rutgers due to an illness, believed to be tied to a positive Covid-19 test, but the small showing we got in 2020 left many feeling like Maryland has an unquestioned leader at quarterback.
Expectations for Tagovailoa to develop into a more seasoned player with a full off-season of work, combined with the young and talented recruiting classes Locksley has pulled in the past two years, is providing Maryland with some pre-season hype as spring practices are underway.
Potential Offensive Explosion
If Tagovailoa is to meet or exceed the pre-season hype being bestowed upon him, he’ll obviously need to rely on his playmakers on offense to help him.
Entering the 2021 campaign, Maryland will have almost all of their weapons on offense return, with the most notable duo being the leading receivers from 2020 in senior Dontay Demus Jr. and sophomore Rakim Jarrett.
In the five games Maryland played last year, Demus Jr. posted 24 receptions for 365 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Terrapins in all three categories. Jarrett posted a respectable 17 receptions for 252 yards and two touchdowns in his freshman season, while also flashing at times the speed and skill that landed him the 5-star ranking in the 2020 recruiting class.
Below Demus Jr. and Jarrett is where spring and fall camp may see one of the fiercest battles for playing time.
Maryland was already returning at the receiver position junior Brian Cobbs, junior Darryl Jones, and sophomore Jeshaun Jones before landing in the transfer portal receiver Marcus Fleming from Nebraska. While Fleming saw action in one game with the Huskers, he was a 4-star recruit out of Florida in the class of 2020 and sought after by some of the top programs in the country.
The running back position sees the loss of Jake Funk to the NFL, but sophomore running backs Peny Boone and Isaiah Jacobs should be able to handle replacing any production lost from Funk’s departure. Production from the tight ends has a wait and see type of feel, as first year offensive coordinator Dan Enos has talked of utilizing them more, but we won’t know if that’s true until game like situations unfold.
That said, the receiving core could be as explosive as any in the conference this season and should provide a ton of excitement for the Terrapin fan base, while keeping defensive coaches around the Big Ten up at night scheming on ways to slow them down.
What’s Old Is New
Brian Stewart returns to the Maryland program as defensive coordinator after holding that position previously from 2012 – 2014. During his time as defensive coordinator, Stewart’s unit performed well and had their best season in 2013 when the Terrapins finished 21st nationally in total defense giving up an average of 336.83 yards per game.
Stewart will be replacing Jon Hoke who was in charge of the defense the prior two seasons. Under Hoke, the Terrapins finished tied for 85th nationally in total defense giving up an average of 430 yards per game. Of particular concern was their ability to stop the run, as Maryland finished 115th in the nation giving up an average of 230 yards on the ground.
If Maryland is to achieve some exciting things this year, Stewart knows it will need it’s front seven to perform at a higher level than fans saw in 2020.
Unfortunately news broke recently that incoming 5-star linebacker Terrence Lewis has a torn ACL and will miss the start, if not most, of the season. He was supposed to help handle to loss of leading tackler Chance Campbell who transferred to Ole Miss this off-season. Still, it doesn’t mean that the unit couldn’t see some improvement.
Junior linebackers Fa’Najae Gotay and Ahmad McCullough will be the most experienced players returning to the unit, and they will be joined by sophomore linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II who showed enough promise last season to think he may become an disruptor at the position.
If Lewis is able to return at some point this season fully healthy and ready to go, it will provide Stewart with a supreme athlete for him to utilize as Maryland looks to live up to the preseason hype for the 2021 season.