2013-14 Preview (ACC) Maryland Terrapins
The start of the Randy Edsall era at Maryland has been less than stellar. Not sure why but the program got tired of coach Ralph Friedgen even though he won there as much as any previous coach they ever had, probably more, including 9 wins in his last season – a number they have fallen short of the last two season, combined.
Maryland Terrapins
Coach: Randy Edsall
2012 Record: 4-8
Odds of winning BCS Championship: +2000
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I am not sure why but internally they think their program is a sleeping giant when really it is probably just mediocre. They aren’t Duke though.
Edsall said Maryland was his dream job but last year was somewhat of a nightmare as injuries forced the team to play a number of starting quarterbacks. In the end they were actually playing a freshman backup linebacker at the position as the team lost their last 6 games in a row after a promising 4-2 start.
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Things should even out this year health wise so it is possible this team surprises.
This season whether the Terps can improve at all will depend on the play of their quarterback – hopefully just one. Coming into the season it looks like C.J. Brown will be the starter. He is very athletic but he also didn’t play at all last season. In fact he has limited game experience with less than 200 passing attempts over his career.
He does give Maryland an extra running threat though as he is an accomplished rusher who averaged better than 7 yards per carry a couple of seasons ago. He has to stay healthy though so it will be interesting to see if he has any hesitation in taking off and how much the coaching staff are willing to put him in harms way
When he does look downfield he will see WR Stefon Diggs, one of last year’s top freshman receivers anywhere in the country – 800+ yards. Given his production with multiple QBs is stands to reason he could be even more dangerous if he develops some rapport with just one. He is another top athlete the Terps are looking to isolate as much as possible to make plays.
The running game should also be helped by Brown whose mere presence gives the defense something more to think about. There is huge room for improvement there and 3 offensive line starter return to help. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Last year would have been way worse if the Terps weren’t so solid on defense, ranking 3rd in yards allowed in the ACC. Sure they were 6th in points allowed but I think their feeble offense was a factor in that somewhat. However, only 4 starters return so this group has its work cut out for it too.
Two of those starters are at cornerback, a position where experience is an important factor so perhaps they can be good again. Good or bad they will be pretty inexperienced.
2013-14 Record Projection: 6-6
Assuming they can stay healthy I think they can show another 2 game improvement this season. It ain’t much but it might just might save Edsall, who has shown little of the promise when he was a hot commodity at Connecticut.
With improvement on offense and not too much slippage on defense this team should be respectable and their schedule except for games against Clemson and Florida State has a lot of games that could go either way.
All the talk from camp is about how the last two years of losing built up their depth, but now is the time they need to show it. In terms of betting I don’t see these guys being darlings at the wicket though.
More likely they win the games they are supposed to and lose the ones they are supposed to as well. Maybe they put a scare into NC State to guarantee a bowl at the end of the year.
Maybe.
2013 Maryland Schedule
:
AUG 31 – FIU
SEP 7 – Old Dominion
SEP 14 – @Connecticut
SEP 21 – West Virginia
OCT 5 – @Florida State
OCT 12 – Virginia
OCT 19 – @Wake Forest
OCT 26 – Clemson
NOV 9 – Syracuse
NOV 16 – @Virginia Tech
NOV 23 – Boston College
NOV 30 – @NC State
