Maryland Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

Maryland College Football Preview 2024

FINALLY, the Maryland football program catches a break.

Complain all you want about the expanded Big Ten and all of the new teams and geographical quirks, but there’s one aspect of all this that’s a huge deal to schools like Maryland.

No more divisions means no more playing the same killers every year.

Maryland joined the Big Ten in 2014 and immediately did a whole lot of nothing. The 7-6 season under Randy Edsall to kick things off was nice, but six straight losing seasons made the Terps nothing more than a paycheck game for the Big Ten big boys.

The last three seasons under Mike Locksley have been - for this program - terrific. Three straight winning seasons, three straight bowl victories, and all of it with a fun offense and a try-hard team that’s easy to like.

But to get back on track, now comes the good part. No more divisions, and so, this year, no Ohio State and no Michigan. Penn State is still there to deal with, but everyone has to play someone in this league.

Maryland is a combined 1-20 all-time against the Wolverines and Buckeyes, and this season it effectively replaces them with … USC and Oregon. Okay, so that’s like jumping out of the fire into a pit of piranhas, but it could’ve been a LOT worse.

The Terps could’ve had Ohio State and Michigan on the slate and missed, say, Rutgers and Indiana from the old Big Ten East.

This year’s team has enough experience to be dangerous, and even with the Ducks and Trojans to deal with the schedule isn’t all that bad as long as the fun continues from the …

Maryland Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The offense scored the most points since the 2010 team put up 419, going 7-0 when scoring 31 or more, and 1-5 when it didn’t. This year’s attack has loads of promise even after losing its main man that led the Big Ten’s top passing offense.

Gone is Taulia Tagovailoa - who closed out his career with 25 touchdown passes and 3,377 yards last season - and stepping up will likely be Billy Edwards Jr., a big passer who ran for seven scores last season.

Pushing for the gig is NC State transfer MJ Morris, who threw for 1,367 yards and 14 scores over the last two years in his little bit of time.

- The receiving corps is still loaded. Leading rusher Jeshaun Jones is done, but Tai Felton and Kaden Prather are deep threats who combined for 90 catches and 11 scores last season. There’s plenty of depth to rotate in with the two stars.

TE Corey Dyches is gone to Cal after catching 49 passes, but the tight ends - primarily sophomore Preston Howard - are still good.

- The transfer portal is taking over the offensive line. Guard Kyle Long and tackle Conor Fagan have experience, but it’s Georgia transfer Aliou Bah at one guard spot, Purdue’s Josh Kaltenberger at center, and Alan Herron from Shorter at left tackle who’ll have the spotlight on. The depth is very young and very inexperienced.

The running game took a backseat to the passing game, but it has good backs. Leading rusher Roman Hemby can take over the O when given the ball enough - he came up with 680 yards and four scores - and No. 2 man Colby McDonald averaged 5.8 yards per carry.

Maryland Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense had its moments. The 2020 season aside, the Terps allowed fewer than 300 points for the first time since 2010. The turnovers were there, the pass rush was strong, and the run defense wasn’t bad.

It should be a little better up front with a front three that returns experienced. 320-pound Jordan Phillips is back on the nose, Quashon Fuller is a decent factor in the backfield from one end, and Tommy Akingbesote is a big 6-4, 320-pounder who’ll hold up against the run.

- The linebackers are experienced and good. Ruben Hyppolite was second on the team with 66 tackles from the middle, and the combination of Fa’Najee Gotay at one spot and hybrid edge rusher Donnell Brown two veterans who can hit.

- The Terps picked off 17 passes and made a whole slew of big plays against the run. Beau Brade is gone after leading the team in tackles over the last two seasons. The senior Dante of Rex Fleming and Dante Trader will be fine - Trader was third on the team with 53 tackles and picked off two passes. Glendon Miller came up with four interceptions.

The corners are new with top interception guy Tarheeb Still done. Bowling Green transfer Jalen Huskey picked off four throws last year and made 52 tackles - he’s a baller who’ll shine right away.

Key To The Maryland Football Season

Keep taking the ball away.
Of course every defense cares about coming up with lots of turnovers, but for a team like Maryland who has a smallish margin of error against all the decent Big Ten teams, making big things happen matter.

The Terps were 5-0 when they came up with multiple takeaways. Since 2020 the team is 11-2 when generating two or more turnovers.

Maryland Key Player

Billy Edwards Jr., QB Jr.
Or MJ Morris. Taulia Tagovailoa had an interesting career, starting out at Alabama before leaving for Maryland where he threw for well over 11,000 yards with 76 touchdowns in a strong four-year run.

Billy Edwards stepped in here and there over the last two years and threw for 441 yards and four scores - and showed enough running ability to matter.

But Maryland is coming off of three straight 3,000-yard passing seasons after not hitting the mark since 2013. The offense has to still be explosive.

Maryland Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Aliou Bah, OG Soph.
A big 6-5, 333-pound blocker who was supposed to be a factor at Georgia, he’s not a versatile option for a Maryland offense that needs parts to fit. He’s a right tackle who might play guard, or vice versa, but no matter what he’ll be a big deal out of the gate.

Top Transfer Out: Jaishawn Barham, LB Jr.
The Maryland linebacking corps will be fine without Barham, but he was a good all-around playmaker who could get into the backfield and provided a little pop. He made 95 tackles with seven sacks in his first two years, but now he’s off to Michigan.

Maryland Key Game

Northwestern, Oct. 12
This might not seem like a big deal compared to the stars on the schedule - it’s Northwestern - but Maryland has to learn how to hit this putt.

The Terps and Wildcats have only played four times, and the turtle types are just 1-3 including a 33-27 loss last year.

There’s a real shot at going 6-0 to start the season, and with what’s coming over the second half of the season - and coming off a week off - this has be a must win at home.

10 Best Maryland Football Players

1. Ruben Hyppolite, LB Sr.
2. Roman Hemby, RB Jr.
3. Tai Felton, WR Sr.
4. Kaden Prather, WR Sr.
5. Glendon Miller, S Sr.
6. Quashon Fuller, DE Sr.
7. Dante Trader, S Sr.
8. Jalen Huskey, CB Jr.
9. Billy Edwards, QB Jr.
10. Aliou Bah, OG Soph.

Maryland 2023 Fun Stats

- First Downs: Maryland 273, Opponents 268

- Field Goals: Opponents 18-of-20, Maryland 14-of-20

- Time of Possession: Opponents 31:48, Maryland 28:12

Maryland Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

In 2016 Maryland started out 4-0 and ended up 6-7. The 2013 team started 5-1 and ended up 7-6, and to go way back, the 1978 team started 8-0 and lost three of its last four.

Enjoy the first half of the 2024 team, worry big about the finishing kick.

The Terps can’t take any game for granted, but beating Michigan State and Northwestern at home and taking out Virginia and Indiana on the road isn’t a heavy ask. But after dealing with the Wildcats, it’s uh-oh time.

USC, at Minnesota, at Oregon. Rutgers isn’t easy this year, Iowa is still Iowa, and going to Penn State to close is a problem.

With that said, there’s no Ohio State, Michigan, Washington, or Wisconsin to deal with. Missing Illinois, Nebraska, and UCLA isn’t a bad deal either - the Terps also skip Purdue.

There’s a real shot, though, and coming up with nine wins for the first time in the Mike Locksley era and for the first time since 2006. It might take a bowl victory to do it, but the schedule is light enough and the team is good enough to be a mini-surprise in the new Big Ten.

Set The Maryland Win Total At … 7.5

Likely Wins: UConn, Villanova

50/50 Games: at Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, at Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, USC, at Virginia

Likely Losses: at Oregon, at Penn State

2024 Maryland Football Schedule

Aug 31 UConn
Sept 7 Michigan State
Sept 14 at Virginia
Sept 21 Villanova
Sept 28 at Indiana
Oct 5 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 Northwestern
Oct 19 USC
Oct 26 at Minnesota
Nov 2 OPEN DATE
Nov 9 at Oregon
Nov 16 Rutgers
Nov 23 Iowa
Nov 30 at Penn State

Missing: Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin