Maryland trying to become bowl eligible as Canada returns to Bloomington

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- If Maryland (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) is going to become bowl eligible this season despite having numerous distractions surrounding the program since summer, the Terps’ best chance to secure a sixth win will come Saturday when they travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana (4-5, 1-5).

“Excited to go to Indiana, excited to play a team that’s had two weeks to get ready for us,” Terps interim head coach Matt Canada said. “They’ve played everybody very, very close. They’ve won the games that they probably were supposed to win and they’ve done the same things that a lot of teams have. Really, really good football team. Coach [Tom] Allen has done a great job there, I’ve known him a long time. Great respect for him and their staff and obviously their players and how hard they play. It’ll be a great challenge for us going to Indiana, but our guys are excited to go play.”

But after a 24-3 loss at home last week to Michigan State, Canada and his team aren’t focusing on the postseason. Rather, the Terps are honing in on making the necessary corrections from the week prior so that they can get back into the win column against the Hoosiers.

“It’s a challenge for us to play but I think more importantly than however many wins we get, we talk about getting to 1-0 every week,” Canada said. “When you come off of a disappointing game like we just did, I think our guys just want to go play again. Both teams really want to win, but that’s true every Saturday. We’re focused on this one, we’re focused on ourselves. There’s things we have to improve on our football team in order to play sounder, better football to win games, and that’s what we’re going to try to do on Saturday.”

Canada is no stranger to Bloomington or the Indiana football program itself.

The offensive coordinator turned interim head coach is from Palestine, Ind., earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Indiana and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Hoosiers from 1994-1996. After coaching at Butler and Northern Illinois from 1997 to 2003, Canada returned to Indiana where he served as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator over a span of seven years. But other than having appreciation for his time spent there, Canada is not letting his ties to Maryland’s next opponent affect the way he prepares for the game.

“About me going back, there’s no part of it,” Canada said. “But as far as me as a coach, the guys I worked for, from Joe Novak to Coach DiNardo, to Coach Hoepp, to Coach [Bill] Lynch… starting with Coach Mallory, I was very, very fortunate as a young coach to be around great coaches.”

While Canada’s connection to his alma mater isn’t impacting his game plan, it certainly gives him some insight into Indiana’s style of play and what the Hoosiers’ strengths and weaknesses are entering Saturday.

The Hoosiers are right in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten when it comes to total offense and total defense--ranking seventh and eighth in the conference, respectively. But Canada knows how dynamic both units can be at times and is preparing as such.

“I think on offense they do a great job of scheming their opponents,” Canada said. “They’ve scored points on everybody they’ve played and they’ve played some very good teams in our league, and they’ve scored points, they’ve stayed very competitive in those games. They’ve beaten people, certainly scored enough points to do that. They throw the ball well, I think it’s over 250 [yards] a game they’re throwing the football for. They’re doing a very good job with that. They do a very good job of run-pass option football, making sure you defend the whole field. Great respect for [Indiana OC] Coach DeBord, he’s been coaching a long time as their coordinator on their staff.

“On defense, Coach Allen’s been moving along and coming through. He’s been there for three years - two as the head coach - but he’s running the defense. Went down to South Florida and did a great job and obviously I’ve known him a long time. Their defense is very aggressive. They play very, very hard. They fly to the football. Our guys are going to have to be assignment-sound on both sides of the football to find a way to win the game and it’s going to be a great challenge.”

To combat Indiana’s aggressive defense, the Terps could have two of their weapons in the backfield back in action.

Junior running back Jake Funk has been sidelined since Week 2 with a wrist injury and senior tailback Ty Johnson missed last week’s game with a calf strain. Funk returned to practice this week and is expected to play on Saturday. Johnson will be a game-time decision for the Terps once again, but Canada is hopeful that he’ll be able to suit up.

“[Funk] was cleared to play - and we’ll see where he goes today - but he was cleared last week,” Canada said. “Ty will be a game-time decision. We’re hopeful Ty can play. It’s week [10], so we’ll just have to see where we are.”

Maryland and Indiana are set to kick off in Bloomington at 12 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.