Preview: Maryland football vs. No. 9 Penn State

Maryland football (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) returns home on Saturday, faced with the monumental task of snapping a three game losing streak against No. 9 Penn State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten). 

The Terps won five games in a row to begin the season before their loss last weekend at Northwestern. Maryland was coming off its bye week and crumbled to a team that was projected to finish last in its conference with an interim head coach and a backup quarterback. 

“We’re still ready to compete for Big Ten championships,” coach Michael Locksley said. “Just right now, we’ve shown in the last couple of weeks that we’re just not there yet. And how do I evaluate it? By the scoreboard.” 

The Terps’ last two games were both decided by less than one score. However, efficiency issues on offense and allowing big plays on defense against inferior opponents doesn’t instill confidence.

Penn State is led by coach James Franklin, whom the Maryland program is very familiar with. He coached the wide receivers at Maryland from 2000-2004 before returning in 2008 as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. He became the head coach at Vanderbilt in 2010, leaving Maryland for good.

Franklin spent six years alongside offensive coordinator Josh Gattis — three at Vanderbilt and three at Penn State.  

Penn State enters the matchup with just one loss, a 20-12 defeat against No. 3 Ohio State. The Nittany Lions failed to score a touchdown until 29 seconds left in the game. They also failed to convert their first 15 third down attempts. Quarterback Drew Allar had just a 43% completion rate. 

The poor performance from Allar was an outlier and more a byproduct of facing an elite defense. Allar has thrown one interception all season and clocked just five turnover worthy plays, according to Pro Football Focus. For comparison, Taulia Tagovailoa has twice as many. 

Allar’s number one receiver is junior KeAndre Lambert-Smith, who commands a 26 percent target share. He also ranks third in the Big Ten in receptions per game (5.4) and receiving yards per game (68.8).

Penn State’s passing offense ranks fifth in the Big Ten in yards per game but its identity revolves around running the football. Its 175 rushing yards per game ranks third in the conference. 

“Especially as a safety you got to be able to stop the run and the pass,” senior Beau Brade said. “But I think our first concern is definitely the run. Whatever they do passing wise we’ll definitely be ready for it.”

Sophomore running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton form a star duo in the backfield. Together they’ve forced 32 missed tackles, according to PFF, which doesn’t bode well for a Maryland defense that missed 10 tackles last week.

However, neither running back has had a run longer than 20 yards. Injuries have plagued the offensive line and against Indiana, both starting tackles came away banged up. 

Defensively, Penn State is holding its opponents to 11.5 points per game and getting after the quarterback with 32 sacks, second among FBS programs. Its .282 third down conversion percentage also ranks fourth in the FBS. 

Sticky man coverage in the secondary by Kalen King and Johnny Dixon allows pass rushers Adisa Isac and Chop Robinson to tee off on opposing offensive lines. Maryland surrendered six sacks last week to a Northwestern team that had one sack in its first four conference matchups. 

“They’re a very talented front seven, athletic,” Locksley said. “50 percent of the snaps are some form of pressure and they play man coverage. “[We] got to win some of these one-on-one matchups whether it’s in protection or whether it’s in coverage.” 

Maryland is 4-47-1 in program history in a lopsided rivalry against Penn State with its last win coming in 2020. The Terps scored the most points against the Nittany Lions in that game as their defense recorded three turnovers and Tagovailoa threw three passing touchdowns. 

Kickoff on Saturday is set for 3:30 p.m at SECU Stadium in College Park.