2011 Maryland Football Predictions
Written by Steve Janus
The Maryland Terrapins just missed out on the ACC Atlantic Title in 2010. Had the Terrapins beat Florida State at home in the second to last game of the regular season, they would have been the ones playing Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game. Maryland ended up going 5-3 in the ACC and 9-4 overall after an impressive 51-20 win over East Carolina in the Military Bowl. It was a pretty impressive turnaround for a team that won just two games in 2009. Ralph Friedgen earned ACC Coach of the Year honors for what he did with this team in 2010, but he was released after the season. Maryland has replaced Friedgen with Randy Edsall, who earned Big East Coach of the Year honors at Connecticut last season. Edsall takes over a Maryland team that has 14 starters back from last year, seven on each side of the ball.
To see if the Terrapins can build off last year’s impressive run, let’s take a look at who they will send to the field on both sides of the ball, plus I’ll give out my prediction on where I see them finishing in the ACC.
Offense:
A big reason the Terrapins were able to go from winning two games total to nearly winning the ACC was the outstanding play of freshman quarterback Danny O’Brien, who earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors after throwing for 2,438 yards with 22 touchdowns to just eight interceptions. O’Brien will come into the 2011 season with huge expectations, and if he delivers Maryland will once again be near the top in the ACC Atlantic.
The Terrapins lose starting running back Da’Rel Scott, but shouldn’t have any trouble matching last years rushing totals with the return of senior Davin Meggett and sophomore D.J. Adams. Meggett actually led the team with 720 yards and four touchdowns, while Scott added 708 yards and five touchdowns. Adams finished third on the team with 239 yards, but easily led the way with 11 rushing touchdowns. Edsall has a strong history of getting the best out of his running backs, which could lead to even better numbers than you might expect from this group.
Maryland will have to replace their top two receivers from last year in Torrey Smith and Adrian Cannon. Smith had 67 catches for 1,055 yards and 12 touchdowns, while Cannon caught 36 passes for 324 yards and one score. To give you an idea of just what they are losing, the best three after Smith and Cannon combined for just 43 receptions and four touchdowns. The only starter back is senior Ronnie Tyler, who had just 13 catches for 149 yards and a score. The hope is that junior Kevin Dorsey, redshirt freshman Adrian Coxson (Florida transfer), and true freshman Nigel King can step in and really make a difference.
The Terrapins bring back four starters up front on the offensive line. All that experience will be huge for a group that really doesn’t have a standout at any position. The only spot up for grabs is at right tackle, where sophomore Pete DeSouza appears to have the early edge heading into the fall.
Defense:
Despite returning just five starters to a defense that allowed 31.3 ppg in 2009, the Terrapins held opponents to just 22.2 ppg in 2010. They will look for even bigger improvements with seven starters back. Up front they return three starters to a defensive line that allowed just 124 yards a game on the ground. Junior defensive tackles A.J. Francis and Joe Vellano are two of the best at their position in the ACC, and a big reason why the Terrapins were so good against the run. Sophomore David Mackall had 3 sacks as a true freshman last year, and should be an even bigger force in his second season.
At linebacker Maryland loses leading tackler Alex Wujciak from last year. They bring back junior middle linebacker Demetrius Harsfield and are expected to move senior Kenny Tate from free safety down to the Star linebacker. Junior Darin Drakeford and redshirt freshman Lorne Goree will compete for the starting weak-side spot.
In the secondary the Terrapins will welcome back the starting corner duo of Cameron Chism and Trenton Hughes, but with Tate moving to linebacker they will have to replace both starting safeties. Sophomore Matt Robinson looks to have the edge at strong safety, while redshirt freshman Titus Till is expected to take over for Tate at free safety.
ACC Prediction: Tie 4th ACC Atlantic - While the Terrapins appear to have one of the best young quarterbacks in the conference, I don’t think they have enough playmakers around him for this team to compete with the likes of Florida State in the Atlantic. We will find out a lot about this team in their first game, as they open the season at home against Miami.
More Resources:
- Bettors World has Mayrland pegged for seven wins this season.
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