Ok, so here are my initial postgame thoughts following the Terps' 30-24 win over WVU to open the season....
- This offense is really good. They put up just shy of 500 total yards on a defense that was one of the best in the nation last season. Maryland finally has it's quarterback in Lia and Demus Jr. and Jarrett are as good as advertised. Demus in particular, finished with 6 catches on 9 targets for 133 yards and a touchdown. But he also had two drops where the ball hit him in the chest and he had two hands on it and these catches would have gone for first downs and kept drives alive. We saw Chig get involved early and finish with 3 catches and a touchdown. Jeshaun Jones didn't even see the field until the 2nd half and Peny Boone didn't play at all today. As long as the o-line can continue to give the playmakers enough time, this offense is going to be really, really good.
- While it took some time to really see it, the defense looks improved from a season ago and you can really see the talent level continuing to get better. Jakorian Bennett and Nick Cross came up with a couple of big takeaways in the secondary. And when they lost Fa'najae Gotay early on, true freshman Branden Jennings stepped in at linebacker and immediately lived up to his Rivals ranking. He looks bigger than Hyppolite and came up with a huge play to cause a fumble by Leddie Brown in the 3rd quarter. The D-line also came up with some big plays in the second half, with Sam O and Nasili-Kite bringing down Doege and coming up with a big deflection on a 3rd down. Finally, although he didn't finish with a sack, you could immediately see the natural pass rushing skill of Chop Robinson when he got into the game. He's going to get some sacks this year and he should continue to look better and better as the game starts to slow down for him. You could tell Chop was high on adrenaline.
- Now for the areas of concern. Special teams. Obviously, don't like seeing Rak fumble a kick return. And in the kickoff game, to give up 217 yards on kickoffs for an average of 43 yards per return simply doesn't cut it. Zook has his work cut out for him.
- Finally, the 'self inflicted wounds.' While the 5 penalties for 39 yards the Terps had today isn't nearly as bad as the 79.6 yards of penalties they gave up on average in their 5 games las season, it's the time of and the type of penalties that continue to be an issue. The DT lining up offsides on a third down pass play with WVU inside the Maryland 20 and to allow them another play to get it in the end zone when they would have otherwise attempted a kick just can't happen. And the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Nick Cross INT cost them 15 yards and some of the momentum they gained by the pick. Cutting down on these as the season goes on will go a long way in helping this team as they look to get to a bowl game.
Overall a great win and that signature win Locks needed to really kickstart his tenure as head coach. This should really get recruiting moving in the right direction again and they should really be able to build some momentum with the upcoming schedule the next couple of weeks.
- This offense is really good. They put up just shy of 500 total yards on a defense that was one of the best in the nation last season. Maryland finally has it's quarterback in Lia and Demus Jr. and Jarrett are as good as advertised. Demus in particular, finished with 6 catches on 9 targets for 133 yards and a touchdown. But he also had two drops where the ball hit him in the chest and he had two hands on it and these catches would have gone for first downs and kept drives alive. We saw Chig get involved early and finish with 3 catches and a touchdown. Jeshaun Jones didn't even see the field until the 2nd half and Peny Boone didn't play at all today. As long as the o-line can continue to give the playmakers enough time, this offense is going to be really, really good.
- While it took some time to really see it, the defense looks improved from a season ago and you can really see the talent level continuing to get better. Jakorian Bennett and Nick Cross came up with a couple of big takeaways in the secondary. And when they lost Fa'najae Gotay early on, true freshman Branden Jennings stepped in at linebacker and immediately lived up to his Rivals ranking. He looks bigger than Hyppolite and came up with a huge play to cause a fumble by Leddie Brown in the 3rd quarter. The D-line also came up with some big plays in the second half, with Sam O and Nasili-Kite bringing down Doege and coming up with a big deflection on a 3rd down. Finally, although he didn't finish with a sack, you could immediately see the natural pass rushing skill of Chop Robinson when he got into the game. He's going to get some sacks this year and he should continue to look better and better as the game starts to slow down for him. You could tell Chop was high on adrenaline.
- Now for the areas of concern. Special teams. Obviously, don't like seeing Rak fumble a kick return. And in the kickoff game, to give up 217 yards on kickoffs for an average of 43 yards per return simply doesn't cut it. Zook has his work cut out for him.
- Finally, the 'self inflicted wounds.' While the 5 penalties for 39 yards the Terps had today isn't nearly as bad as the 79.6 yards of penalties they gave up on average in their 5 games las season, it's the time of and the type of penalties that continue to be an issue. The DT lining up offsides on a third down pass play with WVU inside the Maryland 20 and to allow them another play to get it in the end zone when they would have otherwise attempted a kick just can't happen. And the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the Nick Cross INT cost them 15 yards and some of the momentum they gained by the pick. Cutting down on these as the season goes on will go a long way in helping this team as they look to get to a bowl game.
Overall a great win and that signature win Locks needed to really kickstart his tenure as head coach. This should really get recruiting moving in the right direction again and they should really be able to build some momentum with the upcoming schedule the next couple of weeks.
