| I think most figured that by this juncture of the season, we'd either get our Harbaugh versus his first defensive coordinator in Ann Arbor storylines, or Durkin would be out. Instead it's neither, as the Maryland program remains in limbo. You have to give the staff and kids a ton of credit for being where they are at this point. That Texas win keeps looking better and better, and they opened conference play with a resounding win over what had been a pretty hot Minnesota defense. The Terps did it by getting back to an explosive ground game, the way they have for the past few years. They might not consistently hit you for 4 yards, but they are going to find way to get huge plays on the ground. They tallied 315 rushing yards on 8.5 ypc, with four different players having individual runs of over 20 yards. When you remove the quarterbacks from the equation, the numbers become more eye popping, with 309 yards on 10.3 ypc. They did that against a Minnesota defense that had been one of the best in the league against the run. The challenge now is doing it against the run defense that ranks second in the conference in Michigan. The Wolverines defense hasn't exactly faced the strongest rushing opponents (only Western Michigan ranks in the top 50 nationally), but they've managed to hold opponents to just 2.4 ypc, #4 in the nation. Maryland knows they aren't going to lean on that front all day, they just need to hit their explosive plays when they have the chance. Michigan is one of only 12 teams nationally yet to allow a run of over 25 yards, although Maryland is also one of the 12. Last year that worked for Maryland, as Lorenzo Harrison and Ty Johnson, as well as quarterback Ryan Brand, broke runs of over 25 yards, and the Terps put up 5.6 ypc against Michigan's defense. The problem was that Michigan's offense ran out to a 28 point lead, and forced Maryland into a situation where they had to throw 38 passes. If Maryland has to throw 38 passes, this is going to get just as ugly as last year. If Maryland can keep it a game late, they've proven their running game works against anyone, even Michigan. It's the Maryland defense that people are sleeping on, ranking #7 nationally with just 4.3 ypp allowed. Their defensive efficiency numbers show a slightly different story, ranking #50 nationally, and #8 in the conference, but that's more due to lack of competition offensively than lack of production. That's still solidly behind Michigan's, who ranks #11 nationally, and #2 in the Big Ten, behind only Michigan State. Give Matt Canada two weeks to prepare though, and while he may not be successful, he'll certainly come up with something that will give Don Brown headaches to prepare for. It's the reason I thought Michigan should have pursued Canada more strongly in the offseason, would have given them easily the top pair of coordinators in the nation. The Wolverines have gotten out to rough starts in both road games, but at home they've looked invincible. I expect a closer game than the Ann Arbor fans have been treated to to date, and Maryland will get their big plays, but they'll also get too many three and outs. Oh, and it features the second and third most penalized teams in the conference, so it might be a 4 hour affair. |
