Maryland Terrapins 2019 College Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Maryland Terrapins 2019 College Football Preview

2018 Recap

Record – 5-7

ATS – 6-6

There were a lot of distractions hovering around the program last year but the Terps managed to get off to a solid 5-3 start. They beat the Longhorns in week one (again) and POLEAXED the Golden Gophers by a score of 42-13. After crushing Illinois, they lost their last four games to finish up at 5-7. Many of you may remember that they almost SHOCKED THE WORLD late in the year but lost in OT to Ohio St (52-51).

New HC Mike Locksley is back in town and he went 1-5 with Maryland back in his previous tour of duty in 2015. What kind of team will Maryland have this season? Let’s find out.


2019 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

East Division – #6

Big 10 – #13


Maryland Terrapins 2019 Outlook

OFFENSE

If you think that the GOLDEN ST WARRIORS had injury trouble during the NBA playoffs this season, you should ask the Maryland Terrapins about the QB injuries they have endured over the past few years. The good news? Talented QB Josh Jackson comes over to give them stability (and talent) under center. The bad news? Jackson has missed time recently due to a BROKEN LEG. Jackson appears healthy and we HOPE he can stay in one piece because he is a dynamic QB. RB Anthony McFarland is one of the most explosive players in the Big Ten and he is coming off a year in which he rushed for over 1,000 yards at 7.9 (!) yards a pop. The RB unit also boasts a lot of depth. The question becomes what they do at WR. Maryland had one of the worst passing attacks around last year (#13 Big Ten) averaging a measly 141 YPG. It’s unclear what kind of playmakers reside in the WR room but at least they should have a legit QB getting them the ball. The offensive line returns just a pair of starters and Maryland has allowed 30+ sacks for three straight years.

It’s tough to know what to expect from the Terps with new OC Scottie Montgomery who coached at East Carolina the past three seasons. The upside is there, but it’s been a while since Maryland has managed to score 30 PPG (28.5 LY). We’ll call for a similar level of production in 2019, but keep in mind things might go DOWNHILL really fast if Jackson can’t stay on the field.

DEFENSE

New DC Jon Hoke comes to Maryland from the NFL and definitely has some work to do. It’s not like the Terps were horrible last season on defense (#7 Big Ten) but they were too soft vs the run (#11 Big Ten) and had a horrible time getting PENETRATION as they only bagged 18 sacks which was 2nd worst in the conference. Their 54 TFL put them at the bottom of the Big Ten pecking order and in the bottom ten of the FBS. For the most part they held up well until they played decent offenses and then they got ROLLED. What about this season?

They only return five starters and the strength of the team appears to be the secondary which is their most experienced defensive unit. They have one of the best safeties in the conference in Antoine Brooks who led the team in TFL a season ago whilst picking up 2nd Team Big Ten accolades. They yielded a mere 54% completions last year despite no pressure being put on opposing QBs so maybe there is hope? The front seven concerns us given the aforementioned troubles they had stopping the run a year ago, and it’s unclear how much talent they have at DL and LB.

We forecast an increase in YPG and PPG as the defense appears to be a work-in-progress.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Mixed signals, yo. PK Joseph Petrino was 12/14 on FG attempts in 2018 (1/2 from 40+ yards) and KR Javon Leake took a KR to the house. They need to find a new P and PR.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – It’s not too bad, actually. They miss Wisconsin and Iowa from the West division and have it fairly easy until they hit November (Michigan, at Ohio St, Nebraska, at Michigan St). Out-of-conference tilts with Syracuse and Temple (away) are winnable games, albeit challenging.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing of note as we go to press.

Season Win Total

Over 4 -125

Under 4 +105

MEGALOCKS says:

Hmm. Tough call. We aren’t that high on Maryland’s prospects but that’s a pretty low bar to clear. Taking a pass for now and will reassess later in the summer.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

The team’s official colors of red, white, black, and gold have been in use in some combination since the 1920s and are taken from Maryland’s state flag.

Maryland’s nickname, often abbreviated as “Terps”, was adopted in 1933 after a turtle species native to the state. Startle your FLIRTATIOUS FLIGHT ATTENDANT with that trivia bomb.


MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Negative

It feels as though we need to give Mike Locksley and the new coaching staff a year to get their sea legs. It’s great to see that they have a potential stud at QB, and the RB group is loaded, but there are still a lot of holes on the roster. 

Maryland has a 57-66-1 (45.6%) mark vs Vegas over the past ten years whilst going through seemingly 42,000 head coaches. It’s been a long time since they have been money-makers and we don’t see it happening this season. The wild card is Josh Jackson. We recommend taking a wait and see approach early in the season.


Want more Maryland football ?

WEBSITE

http://www.umterps.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=120713

FORUM

http://maryland.247sports.com/Board/University-of-Maryland-Sports-53

https://maryland.forums.rivals.com/forums/terps-football-forum.18/

NEWS

http://www.testudotimes.com/

https://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/120/maryland-terrapins

http://bleacherreport.com/maryland-terrapins-football

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/maryland/

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/terps/

TWITTER

Hashtag – #LOCKedIn

Accounts to follow

https://twitter.com/TerpsFootball