How do these two not play for a trophy. A bust of Jim Delany or something of the sort? This game is everything about the last decade in his tenure. Maryland and Rutgers, his final two additions, playing Thanksgiving Saturday, not the Saturday before, so the stadium will be empty, on the BTN that he helped create, for bowl eligibility, so that we can play a game in Indianapolis next weekend. Maryland did their usual September fake out, followed by complete collapse. The Terps were 4-0 in September, hosting #5 Iowa on Friday night, with all of the eyeballs in the nation. They got romped, and have lost 6 of 7 since, all of the losses being by 3+ scores, the one win being over an Indiana team in absolute freefall, at home, by 3, easily the best performance Indiana has had all year against a Power Five team. Rutgers has been all over the place, but for the finale they return home...to a place where they somehow play worse. At home Rutgers has gotten blasted by Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. On the road, they've beaten Syracuse, Illinois and Indiana, and given Michigan and Penn State games. So considering either stadium will be empty, maybe Greg Schiano should offer to play this one in College Park. Taulia Tagovailoa vs. the Rutgers passing defense should determine this one. Tagovailoa is 3rd in the Big Ten in passing yards per game in Big Ten play, going up against the Big Ten's worst pass defense, in terms of yards per attempt. The problem with Tagovailoa has been he puts up yards in bulk, but hasn't been efficient. He's in the bottom half of the conference in QBR, behind guys like Payton Thorne, Adrian Martinez and Tanner Morgan. Just two weeks ago, he threw for 350 yards, but Maryland only scored 21 points. Why? On back to back possessions he went a combined 0-6 once Maryland had 1st and 10 across midfield; he threw a red zone interception, they missed a field goal, he took a 15 yard sack on 1st and 10 in fringe field goal range, they failed to pick up a 4th and 1, they took a false start on 4th and 7 when they were going for it. That sums up the Terps. They'll get their yards...but they'll make WAY too many mistakes. |