Five things to watch for: Penn State

Coming off its first loss of the season and a subsequent bye week, Maryland (2-1) returns to College Park Sept. 27 to welcome No. 12 Penn State to town. The history between these two programs hasn’t been kind to the Terps, but first-year head coach Mike Locksley is hoping to change that trend.

Locksley will be looking at a familiar face across the field on the Nittany Lions sideline, where James Franklin will be calling the shots for Penn State. Locksley and Franklin coached at Maryland together early in their careers under then-head coach Ralph Friedgen, who will also be in attendance on Friday night. Friedgen will be honored on the field during the first half of the game.

That’s one thing to watch in this Big Ten opener, but here are five more things to watch when Maryland and Penn State take the field on Friday night.

1. How will Jackson bounce back?

After averaging 71 points per game through the first two weeks of the season, Maryland only scored 17 in its last outing. Much of the offense’s inefficiency stemmed from Terps quarterback Josh Jackson struggling to deliver accurate throws while under significant pressure from Temple’s defense throughout the game. Locksley has reiterated several times since the loss to the Owls that he expects Jackson to return to form on Friday night against Penn State and doesn’t seem too concerned about his quarterback’s confidence entering the game. Maryland will need Jackson to bounce back strong against the Nittany Lions and hopes he’ll play more like the quarterback who threw for 541 yards, seven touchdowns, and just one interception in the first two games. Locksley said Jackson has had strong practices leading up to the Big Ten opener; we’ll see Friday night if it translates onto the field.

2. Battle of the backfields

Maryland’s backfield is often discussed — at least among Terps fans — as one of the most talented group of running backs in college football, but Penn State has a solid stable of backs itself. Anthony McFarland and Javon Leake handled the running load for the Terps against Temple and combined for 189 yards on the ground. Both are having strong starts to the season, with McFarland already rushing for five touchdowns through the first three games. The Terps’ backs will look to continue their success, as will Penn State’s running back committee of Journey Brown, Noah Cain, Devyn Ford, and Ricky Slade. Slade is a DMV native who started the season atop the Nittany Lions’ depth chart, but he has been outperformed and surpassed in the pecking order by Brown, who’s coming off of a 10-carry, 109-yard rushing performance against Pittsburgh. Whichever team can establish the run quicker and impose their will on their opponent will likely have an edge on Friday night.

3. Can Terps take advantage early?

The Nittany Lions did have an offensive eruption of 79 points in their season opener against Idaho, but since then Penn State has struggled to get its offense going early in games, which is something the Terps must take advantage of if that trend continues. In their last two games, the Nittany Lions have scored just 17 first-half points combined. Their second halves have been better but, as competition increases and conference play gets underway, slow starts could come back to haunt Penn State. Maryland’s offense struggled in its own right the last time it took the field, but in the Terps’ first two games, they scored 56 and 43 first-half points, respectively. If Maryland can get out to another fast start and Penn State takes some time to get going again, it could help the Terps build a lot of momentum early.

4. Maryland’s red zone efficiency

Inefficiency in the red zone was one of the biggest reasons Maryland lost to Temple. The Terps were just 2-for-6 on scoring chances once they got inside their opponent’s 20-yard line, including two missed opportunities in which they couldn’t punch the ball in with McFarland from 1 yard out. Maryland coaches and players have said since the Temple game that a major emphasis in practice has been placed on red-zone work and capitalizing on key situations in the game. We’ll see Friday night just how much that work has paid off. The Terps will look to get back to the type of red zone efficiency that helped them get to 2-0. Besides the Temple game, Maryland is 8-for-9 in the red zone so far this year.

5. Defending Clifford & Co.

Penn State’s stout defense is getting more attention than its offense this year, but the Nittany Lions have some serious weapons on the offensive side of the ball that Maryland will have to be mindful of. Locksley said earlier in the week that it starts with quarterback Sean Clifford, and he’s right. There was some uncertainty at quarterback for Penn State entering the season, but Clifford has answered those questions and played great during his team’s first three games. Clifford has 781 passing yards, six touchdowns, and no interceptions so far this season. He’s aided by a strong backfield, playmakers on the outside like KJ Hamler and Justin Shorter, and two tight ends that can block but are also athletic enough to make plays in the passing game. Penn State’s offense is a balanced attack that keeps defenses on their toes. Maryland will have to start by getting to Clifford and hope affecting his game will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the Nittany Lions’ offense.