Indiana football hits the road again for the first time since the season-defining win in Autzen Stadium, taking on Maryland for the Terrapin homecoming.
The Hoosiers have avoided the big game drop off,
taking care of Michigan State at home before routing UCLA last weekend to move to 8-0 on the season. Maryland, on the other hand, enters the game on a three game losing streak, but coming off a bye.
With the momentum the two teams have heading into this week, ESPN gives Indiana a 90.4% chance of victory, while Vegas favors the Hoosiers by 22.5 points.
Here are three things to know about Maryland:
The Record
As mentioned above, Maryland enters the game on a three game losing streak, currently sitting at 1-3 in Big Ten play. This includes two home contests against Nebraska and Washington, so they haven’t exactly been a juggernaut in SECU Stadium this year.
In fact, Maryland’s only conference win this year came against a Wisconsin team that has yet to win in the Big Ten this season. Not great!
To the Terrapins’ credit (maybe?) they gave UCLA the tightest game of the Bruins’ three-game win streak, keeping it to one score on the road in a 20-17 loss. That could still end up being a ‘good’ loss, as those things go, but the fact is that Indiana promptly destroyed the same UCLA team the following week.
It’s college football, so crazier things have happened, but this hasn’t been a team that’s demonstrated an ability to stick around with a squad of Indiana’s caliber so far this year.
The Passing Game
As a whole, Maryland’s offense is in the lower third of the conference in yards per game, but the Terps have a passing game that’s within 20 yards per game of Indiana. Perhaps most significantly, Maryland has only thrown three interceptions and allowed three sacks on the season.
The Terrapins are led by Malik Washington, who currently sits at seventh overall offensive in PFF grades for Big Ten quarterbacks. He’s completing 59.7% of his passes, good for 1,716 yards and 11 touchdowns on the year, only having been sacked twice.
Per PFF, he’s been kept clean on 79.5% of his drop backs, but he is capable of scrambling to evade the sack, with 84 scrambling yards on the year. While he hasn’t been pressured often, he hasn’t passed well under pressure, completing just 43% of his passes and throwing one of his three interceptions.
The key to Maryland’s success has really been Washington’s supporting cast, as three receivers, a tight end, and a running back all have at least 20 receptions on the year. Bryant Haines will need to find a way to account for all of them while also pressuring Washington to keep Maryland off the scoreboard Saturday.
The Running Game
Maryland comes in dead last in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game, barely averaging over 100 yards on the ground per contest. Indiana’s defense, meanwhile, is the second best in the conference at stopping the run, allowing just 85.4 yards per game.
This obviously does not bode well for Maryland, especially considering the fact that Washington grades better as a passer out of play action than non-play action plays.
The real problem for Maryland is the line’s inability to block the run. While their five starters all grade above average in pass protection – most of them well above average – just one of them is in the average range for run blocking. Most of them score well below average.
In all, it’s a fairly one-dimensional offense paired with a defense that is similarly in the middle of the pack for the conference. Assuming things don’t get super weird, this is an entirely winnable game, though I don’t know if I’d put money on Indiana winning by more than three touchdowns.
Because weird things do happen.
