Three takeaways from the Terps' 42-36 loss at Indiana
The Terps failed at their first shot to become bowl eligible with a 42-36 loss to Indiana at Bloomington on Saturday, leaving Maryland and first-year head coach D.J. Durkin 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.
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Maryland’s secondary was a bit shorthanded against a prolific Indiana passing attack, but it was the Hoosiers’ ground game that gashed the Terps throughout the evening. Senior quarterback Perry Hills and the Terps’ strong backfield helped the offense keep pace for most of the contest, but in the end, Maryland’s defense just couldn’t come up with enough stops to win.
A meeting with No. 2-ranked Michigan in Ann Arbor is next on the slate for Maryland, but here are three takeaways from the Terps’ latest outing.
Ty Johnson can’t be stopped
The sophomore running back from Cumberland, Md., was at it again on Saturday. Johnson has now gone over the century make in three of the Terps’ first five Big Ten games this season and is averaging more than 10 yards per carry on the season. Johnson got the scoring going for Maryland against Indiana with a 66-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter and finished the game with 13 carries for 142 yards. His touchdown was the first run of 30 yards or more that the Hoosiers defense has allowed all season. Despite defenses stacking the box against the Terps due to Maryland’s lack of a passing game, Johnson has still been able to rip off long runs in just about every game this season. A platoon with true freshman Lorenzo Harrison has also kept Johnson fresh enough to keep up his torrid pace. The schedule gets extremely tough for Maryland up ahead, but Johnson will look to keep hitting home runs for the Terps.
Maryland’s run defense hasn’t shown much improvement
It’s been a trend pretty much all season for the Terps, but the porous run defense doesn’t seem to be showing any real improvement this season. Teams are barely even attempting to pass the ball against Maryland and Indiana was the first offense in four games to complete more than 12 passes against the Terps. But even though the Hoosiers’ attack is normally pass-heavy, the gameplan for Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson’s offense was simple against the Terps. Indiana ran the ball 57 times for 414 yards and six rushing touchdowns. All of that was part of a 650 total yard effort by the Hoosiers. At some point, stopping the run just comes down to pride and the Terps need to dig down deep in the coming weeks to prevent themselves from ending the season as the worst run defense in the FBS. Poor tackling has been a huge part of the problem for Maryland, as opposing runners that look corralled in the backfield often break free for positive, and sometimes even large, gains. The Terps have also done a poor job of containing the edge and are letting runners bounce the ball outside much too easily. With the upcoming schedule, stopping the run might not get any easier for Maryland, but one can only hope that they are at least learning from their mistakes each week.
Terps need their safeties to step up
Maryland was forced to start two safeties against Indiana that started the season as backups. Senior Denzel Conyers was lost for the season several weeks ago, leaving junior Josh Woods to fill in, and sophomore Darnell Savage Jr. was injured in last week’s win over Michigan State, giving true freshman Qwuantrezz Knight his first career start against the Hoosiers. Knight became the eighth true freshman to start on offense or defense for the Terps this season, but Maryland’s secondary now has some serious problems on the backend. The Terps’ pass defense has been solid all season, however, much of that has to do with opponents deploying run-heavy gameplans and the loss of senior leader Will Likely at the NICKLE also does not help Maryland’s cause. Although the cornerback play against Indiana was good for the most part, the Hoosiers still completed several big plays downfield due to the safeties being out of position. Woods in particular was picked on by Indiana quarterback Richard Laglow, who seemed to look his way anytime the Hoosiers needed to convert. Moving forward, especially if Savage continues to be sidelined, the Terps desperately need either Woods or Knight to start playing better or at least not be a liability for the defense.