Maryland began the season as one of the hottest teams in the country, rattling off four straight wins and scoring at least 32 points in each contest. They then ran into the FSU buzzsaw, and the injuries mounted, leaving them to go 3-5 the rest of the season, scoring more than 30 just once. Marshall was more mixed early in the season, but ended with five straight wins in the regular season before falling to Rice in the C-USA championship game.
The Terrapins offense has been a bit uneven this season, going three and out on 26.3% of their drives. CJ Brown missed the majority of four games this year, and only was able to complete 58.9% of his passes this season, for a solid 7.9 yards per attempt. His touchdown total was just eleven, and he also threw six interceptions. The passing game struggles really can be traced to the loss of Stefon Diggs and Deon Long, the two outstanding who had been averaging 17.3 and 15.3 yards per catch respectively. This left Levern Jacobs as the top pass catching option, where he hauled in 40 passes for 540 yards. Freshman Amba Etta did have a breakout game against NC State at season's end, going over the hundred yard mark on just four catches. The lack of a solid passing game affected the run game a bit, but Brandon Ross followed up his freshman campaign with a comparable sophomore campaign. Ross didnt break the century mark this season, but did manage to average 4.52 yards per carry. The trouble for Ross was into the maroon zone, where he averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.
The Thundering Herd have been able to move the ball fairly effectively, averaging 6.4 yards per play and picking up 37.8 yards per drive. The run game has been the impetus, where Essray Taliaferro and Steward Butler have formed a nice one two punch. Taliaferro was stymied against Rice in the C-USA title game, picking up just 3.1 yards per carry. But in four of the previous five games he had run for more than 6.2 yards per carry in every game. Butler has been more explosive, with better than one in four carries going for more than ten yards. In the passing game, Gator Hoskins has proven to be a devastating target from his TE position, averaging 16.3 yards per catch, turning 31 of his 44 catches into first downs. His ability has been a boon to Rakeem Cato, who has struggled to always complete passes, posting just a 59.3% completion rate. Cato though has a 4:1 touchdown to interception ratio, with 88 passes of more than fifteen yards.
Defensively, the Terps were hamstrung by the injuries to starting corners Jeremiah Johnson and Dexter McDougle, leaving freshmen Will Likely and Jarrett Ross to defend the air space. Likely was able to defend five passes to lead the team, which only had 27 passes defended on the season. Despite these losses though, receivers only averaged 10.7 yards per catch against Maryland, and picked of eleven interceptions. Maryland also was able to hold ground games to minimal gains, posting a tackles for loss rate of 10.8%. Senior Marcus Whitfield lead the team with 14.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage, nine of them as sacks. Andre Monroe added another 14 stops, 8.5 of them sacks. It doesnt bode well for a Marshall offensive lien that has allowed pressures on 15% of Cato's dropbacks.
The Thundering Herd have been very good at shutting down passing games, allowing just a 51.2% completion rate and just 6.4 yards per attempt. Theyve picked off 17 passes, with 12 players picking off a pass. They might be without safety AJ LEggett, who has battled injuries down the stretch and missed the conference title game. The Herd have defended 13.5% of the passes against them. Opposing run games have struggled through November, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry despite trying to run the ball 41 times a game. James Rouse leads the team with 12 tackles for loss, with four sacks and another five QB hurries. Alez Bazzie and Ra'Shawde Myers have combined for another 15 QB hurries, two more than the Terps allowed all season.
Marshall has been the better offense all season, but theyve been vulnerable on defense at different times. This shouldn't make a big difference against Maryland though, who have had troubles stretching the field in the passing game thanks to injuries to the receiving corps and CJ Brown. The Terps defense though could stymie Marshall early on, which makes the Under 62.5 the attractive play in this meeting.
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