The Terps (3-2) comes into Friday night's game versus Northwestern (2-3) looking to earn their first Big Ten win of the season after falling to Indiana their last time out.
The Terps should be rested both physically and mentally following last week's bye as the time off should have them at or near full strength.
Like the Terps, the Wildcats also lost to Indiana their last time out as they are also looking for their first conference win of the season.
RELATED: Watch Mike Locksley preview Northwestern
TSR went in depth with Wildcat Report publisher Louie Vaccher to get some perspective on the Wildcats and his thoughts on Friday night's matchup between Maryland and Northwestern.
What is the vibe around the Northwestern program following a tough home loss to Indiana and with a short week to prepare for Maryland?
The general mood is positive in Evanston, I would say. Even though the Wildcats lost their second straight game and are 0-2 in the Big Ten, the offense had its best performance of the season, and that’s been their Achilles’ heel. Quarterback Jack Lausch really turned a corner against Indiana in his third career start, throwing for a career-high 243 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, and running for 34 more yards. The offense REALLY struggled against Washington, producing just 112 yards and three points, so their performance against the Hoosiers was encouraging. Ironically, the defense, which had been rock-solid all season, didn’t uphold their end of the bargain and IU shredded them for more than 500 yards and scored on seven straight possessions. But let’s face it: Indiana has the No. 1 offense in the Big Ten for a reason. Kurtis Rourke and that RPO offense is a buzzsaw right now, so the hope is that the defense’s performance was an anomaly and they’ll get back on track.
Why do you believe the Northwestern offense has struggled so much this season? What should Maryland fans expect from the Wildcat offense?
As I said above, Northwestern’s offense showed some signs of life last week. But before that, save for two quarters against Eastern Illinois, they were dreadful. There were a lot of reasons. Quarterback play was erratic to terrible for the first five games. Grad transfer Mike Wright started the first two games and was a little too careless with the football for the coaching staff’s taste. So they gave the keys to Lausch, who had been the team’s wildcat (lowercase W) with 78 career passing yards before taking the job. He’s still inconsistent, but he’s improving and shows signs that he has the skill set to be a good QB. The offensive line has a couple problem spots; they’ve been good in pass protection but don’t get much of a push in the running game. Their short-yardage offense has been anemic – they ran eight plays from inside the Washington 4 on successive possessions and couldn’t punch it in. Maybe the biggest issue, though, is third-down conversions. The Wildcats rank dead-last in the Big Ten and 123rd in the nation at 29.7%.
Who are some playmakers on offense Maryland fans should keep an eye out for?
Northwestern does have some weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Running back Cam Porter is a real difference maker when healthy, a real power runner who hits the hole hard and make one when there isn’t one there. He missed the Washington game with an undisclosed injury and was limited against Indiana last week, but head coach David Braun says he should be back at 100% this week. The Wildcats have a pair of very good receivers in AJ Henning and Bryce Kirtz. Henning leads the team with 31 catches, 296 receiving yards and three TDs, two of which came against IU. He has the type of speed that NU doesn’t have very often and can blow the top off of a defense. Kirtz, an effective possession receiver, hadn’t really established much chemistry with Lausch and had just four catches through the QB’s first two starts. But last week he exploded for 10 catches for 128 yards.
Why has Northwestern's defense been so strong against the run and so weak against the pass?
Part of that is because they’re so good against the run that teams generally abandon it fairly early. Plus, those numbers were skewed last week against Indiana, when Rourke torched them for 380 yards. The Wildcats just had no answer for their RPO game. But before Saturday, the Wildcats hadn’t allowed more than 250 yards in any other game this season. The other likely factor is that the offense hasn’t been doing them any favors, eating very little game clock and often leaving them with poor field position.
Who are some playmakers on defense Maryland fans should keep an eye out for?
Maryland native Anto Saka is a guy to watch up front when he comes on in passing situations. The junior DE leads the team in sacks and hurries despite missing a game this season and only playing situationally. He can be a handful. OLB Xander Mueller is the unit’s best player, leading the team in tackles and TFL; he’s one of those guys who is always around the ball. In the secondary, the Wildcats have a pair of very athletic safeties in Devin Turner and Coco Azema who can both cover a lot of ground and really bring the lumber in the run game. Their best cover corner is Theran Johnson, who lead the team with six PBUs.
What does Northwestern need to do in order to win this game?
Lausch really made strides as a passer last week, but I still think the Wildcats need to get back to the running game to have success. Get Porter 20 touches, run some read-option to leverage Lausch’s threat as a runner and try to eat some clock, shorten the game and get some play-action passing going. The defense needs to revert back to its old self by bottling up Roman Hemby and the running game, and then putting pressure on Billy Edwards Jr. when he drops back to pass. We might see bracket coverage on Tai Felton, the Big Ten’s No. 1 wide receiver. Northwestern wants to muck the game up. It goes without saying that tacking care of the football and winning the turnover battle will be critical.
Who wins and why? Score prediction
Northwestern has some things working against them. It’s a road game, for one, and on a short week. Maryland, on the other hand, is coming off of a bye. The Wildcat offense is just starting to find its footing, while the defense slipped for the first time last week. But I have a hunch the Wildcats are gaining confidence and will put it together on both sides of the ball against the Terps. I’m going to take Northwestern in a tight one, 24-23.
