Coming off of a crushing home loss to Northwestern a week ago, the Terps will look to pick up their first Big Ten win of the season Saturday, as they host their new West Coast counterparts from Los Angeles, the USC Trojans.
The Trojans are also looking to get back into the win column, as they have lost two straight entering Saturday's homecoming game in College Park, including a come-from-behind overtime loss at home to Penn State a week ago.
Below, TSR takes a look at three things to watch for Saturday when the Terps take on USC for the first time in program history on FS1.
Can the Terps defense slow down the USC pass offense?
USC enters Saturday with the 26th ranked passing offense in the country, averaging 280.7 yards per game.
The Trojans' passing game is their strength, led by senior quarterback Miller Moss, who currently ranks 20th nationally, averaging just under 270 passing yards per contest.
Moss has a talented group of receivers he is able to spread the ball out to, including a pair of big, talented targets on the outside including the 6-foot-4 Ja'Kobi Lane, who leads the team in touchdown receptions and is tied for the team lead in total receptions with 23 catches.
In the slot is All-American Zachariah Branch, who is one of the most difficult players in the country to tackle in the open field. He does the majority of his damage after the catch. He also uses that elusiveness on special teams as he is one of the most electric kick returners in the country.
With all of that said, Moss is prone to making mistakes from time to time. He has thrown at least one interception in each of the Trojans' past four games. The Terps will likely need to capitalize on any mistakes and come up with an interception or two and convert those turnovers into points if they want to upset the Trojans.
Can the Terps slow down USC's rushing attack?
As good as the Trojans' passing attack has been, the running game hasn't been far behind. The ground game is led by senior running back Woody Marks, who has rushed for over 100 yards four times this season, including each of the past two games. The Mississippi State transfer has already set a career-high with 579 yards rushing through six games this season. He is also averaging a career-high 5.7 yards per carry. It is also worth noting that Marks has been a big part of the Trojans' passing attack, hauling in 21 catches for 189 yards so far this season.
It doesn't end with Marks, however. Redshirt freshman backup running back Quinten Joyner has made the most of his limited touches this season. He ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter last week versus Penn State and is averaging a whopping 9.8 yards per carry coming into Saturday's game.
The Terps' front seven will have their hands full trying to slow down the USC running game while also trying to get after Moss. They will need to be sharp as Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley likes to throw a lot of motion and trickery at defenses.
How does the Maryland offense look in their second game with Mike Locksley calling the plays?
This might be the biggest question facing the Terps heading into Saturday's homecoming contest. Last week versus Northwestern, the Terps finished with more total yards than the Wildcats, but had no run game to speak of, had a number of costly turnovers and struggled on 4th down, going just 1-of-4 and turning the ball over on downs three times.
Locksley has the difficult task of trying to mask a struggling offensive line unit that has failed to give quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. adequate time in the pocket and a run game which has struggled throughout the season.
Does Locksley completely abandon the run game and just start targeting senior wideout Tai Felton 20-plus times a game? Does the offense become more conservative? Do we see more trickery? As the schedule gets tougher and tougher, Locksley will need to be on his A-game when it comes to play calling the rest of the way.
