Week 1 preview Big 12 vs Big 10 kickoff

Editor’s note: This is the first in a 12-part series previewing WVU’s opponents for the 2021 football season.

Although Maryland played just five games in 2020, going 2-3, the small sample size was enough to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the team.Building on the highs and improving on the lows is the job of third-year coach Mike Locksley, who brought in several new assistant coaches in the offseason to do just that.Former Cincinnati assistant Dan Enos will take over as the team’s offensive coordinator, Brian Stewart will begin his second stint with the Terrapins as the defensive coordinator and former Florida head coach Ron Zook will serve as the special-teams coach

.Enos will inherit a unit with experience returning in the passing game and question marks in the running game.Junior Taulia Tagovailoa returns off a relatively successful 2020 in which he ranked third in the Big Ten Conference, averaging 252.8 passing yards. Only Indiana’s Michael Penix (274.2) and Ohio State’s Justin Fields (262.5) were better.Tagovailoa will have plenty of weapons from which to choose with the Terrapins’ four leading receivers returning, spearheaded by 6-foot-3, 217-pound senior Dontay Demus, who led Maryland in catches (24), yards (365) and touchdowns (four) last season.

Leading rusher Jake Funk (516 yards, three touchdowns) was selected in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams and leaves behind a fairly open battle for carries in the Terrapin backfield.Sophomore Peny Boone was next last season but was a long way behind Funk in terms of both carries (19) and yards (95). Sophomore Isaiah Jacobs and senior Tayon Fleet-Davis should factor in as well.While Maryland was respectable offensively, finishing 54th nationally at 409 yards per game, the most glaring weakness for the Terrapins was on defense, particularly against the run. Maryland ranked just 86th in the country in total defense (430 yards allowed per game) and that included an ugly 230 yards per game on the ground, ranking 115th of 127 FBS teams.

In fact, the Terrapins’ rush defense was so bad, it helped mask the fact that Maryland was quite good against the pass, where it allowed just 200 yards per contest, 25th best in the country.The Terrapins return six starters on a defense that forced just four turnovers last season and may rely on young players as part of Locksley’s ever-improving recruiting classes to try and gain some stability on that side of the ball. Ruben Hyppolite was a four-star recruit at linebacker in 2020 and Locksley added another coveted linebacker in 2021 in Terrence Lewis, a five-star prospect from Opa Locka, Florida, who islisted as the top linebacker and 20th-best player in the country in his class, according to  247sports.com .Lewis highlighted a 2021 recruiting class that ranked fourth in the Big Ten after Maryland finished 11th (2019) and sixth (2020) in Locksley’s first two seasons.

Many around the program believe that this could be the most talented team the Terrapins have fielded in quite some time, but will the youth mature fast enough to help give Maryland its first winning season since its first year in the Big Ten in 2014? The schedule isn’t easy, starting with a season opener against West Virginia and toughened by a seven-game stretch through the heart of conference play in which the Terps will host Iowa and travel to Ohio State before a bye week and a game at Minnesota, consecutive home tilts against Indiana and Penn State, a road trip to Michigan State and a home date with Michigan.That rugged conference slate makes Maryland’s home matchup against WVU all the more important.

The Mountaineers lead the series 28-22-2 and have won nine of the last 10, including the last matchup in 2015 in a 45-6 rout in Morgantown. The Terrapins’ 37-0 blowout victory over WVU in Baltimore in 2013 is the squad’s only win over the Mountaineers since the 2004 Gator Bowl (41-7).
 
Contact Ryan Pritt at 304-348-7948 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow him on Twitter @RPritt.

Might prank call Ryan Pritt.

Seems like Maryland is an unknown with pieces moving around. I mean, WVU is a bit of an unknown, too, especially on defense. If the offensive line can get their s--t together, they might be okay enough to scrape by Maryland. Going to be an important game though, win it, and a 2-1 OOC record is likely, and a .500 season at worst should be doable. Lose it, and Neal is on the hot seat. He won't get canned, but things will start warming up.