Previewing Michigan football at Maryland

Michigan football heads to College Park on Saturday for their final road game of the regular season. Amid the numerous reports off the field, the Wolverines have the chance to gain the 1,000th all-time win for the program this weekend.

Michigan football at Maryland: Game preview

Even without Jim Harbaugh on the sideline, Michigan football managed to go into Happy Valley last weekend and pick up their first ranked win of the season. The Wolverines were led by interim head coach Sherrone Moore, who is expected to coach the remaining two games of the regular season.

Michigan Offense

JJ McCarthy’s passing did not play a very big part in Michigan’s win over Penn State. Despite this, he still managed to complete seven of the eight passes he threw and rushed for 34 yards. While it is unknown how often the Wolverines plan to pass the ball against Maryland, McCarthy will have plenty of options when passing opportunities do present themselves.

Michigan’s receivers will likely be antsy to pick up some receptions against Maryland after being targeted a collective eight times last weekend. Roman Wilson still leads the team with 589 yards on the season, followed closely behind by Cornelius Johnson with 446 yards and Colston Loveland with 426 yards.

After leading the charge against the Nittany Lions with 145 yards, Blake Corum is up to 18 touchdowns and 794 rushing yards on the season. Donovan Edwards had a season-high 52 rushing yards against Penn State, hopefully indicating his return to the forefront of the Michigan football offense.

Michigan Defense

On the opposite side of the ball, Michigan’s defense had an incredible showing against Penn State, only allowing their offense to convert on four of 14 third downs. Even though the Wolverines have done a good job stopping the run, the secondary has their work cut out for them in the upcoming weeks as they face the top two passing offenses in the conference.

Defensive back Makari Paige has 28 tackles so far this season and also picked up his first interception after recovering a Drew Allar fumble last weekend. Paige is joined in the secondary by Mike Sainristil who has 22 tackles and three interceptions, and Will Johnson who has broken up four passes and intercepted two.

Defensive lineman Kenneth Grant made himself a household name after his performance against Penn State. Despite only having four tackles, each one came at a crucial time that helped the rest of the Michigan defense gain momentum. Defensive end Jaylen Harrell had five tackles of his own against the Nittany Lions, but also leads the Wolverines with five sacks this season.

Maryland Offense

Maryland had a last-second win against Nebraska last weekend after coming off a four-game losing streak. While they look to upset Michigan and get their conference record back to .500, the Wolverines are keeping their eyes set on the Big Ten Championship and a National Title.

With 2769 yards and 22 touchdowns, Taulia Tagovailoa leads the conference in passing yards and passing touchdowns. This significant passing also leaves him vulnerable to some negatives with eight interceptions and 21 sacks this season.

Tagovailoa’s main targets this season have been wide receivers Jeshaun Jones, Tai Felton, and Kaden Prather. Jones leads the team with 607 receiving yards and has scored four touchdowns this season. Felton and Prather each have five receiving touchdowns of their own.

The central aspect of the Terrapins ground game has been running back Roman Hemby, who has rushed for 515 yards and four touchdowns.  He has also had some help from running back Colby McDonald, who leads the conference with 6.7 yards per carry on 40 carries.

Maryland Defense

Maryland’s star defensive back Beau Brade has 55 tackles and has broken up five passes this season. Linebacker Kellan Wyatt has also been an important factor in the Terrapins’ defense with 33 tackles and 4.5 sacks.

If McCarthy decides to throw the ball more often against this Maryland defense, he needs to be extra cautious of the Terrapins’ secondary that leads the Big Ten with 13 interceptions. Defensive back Tarheeb Still leads the team and conference with five interceptions, two of which came last weekend against Nebraska.

With Sherrone Moore still in as the interim head coach, it would not be surprising to see another run-heavy game for the Wolverines. Regardless, Michigan football needs to remain focused on the game at hand if they want to continue their undefeated season.

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