A look at IU football’s 2024 opponents: Week 5 — Maryland

With college football season starting to creep up, we’re running down Indiana’s schedule to preview all 12 opponents for 2024.

IU gets into the main portion of the Big Ten schedule in week five against Maryland. Head coach Mike Locksley has the Terrapin program in a good place entering his sixth season in College Park. He needed a couple seasons to turn things around, but UMD has now posted three straight winning seasons. The Terps will look to keep up that consistency and aim to take another step forward in 2024.

Opponent: Maryland
Date/Time/TV: Saturday, September 28, TBA
Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
2023 record/postseason result: 8-5, 4-5 Big Ten, 31-13 win over Auburn in the Music City Bowl

Returning production, offense: 36 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (123rd in the country)

Offensive outlook: The Terps’ offense rode a lethal passing game to a successful 2023 season. They finished first in the Big Ten and 22nd in the nation with 278.9 passing yards per game. Of course, Taulia Tagovailoa is gone now, so that air attack will look different for Maryland this year. But redshirt junior Billy Edwards Jr. has game experience with the Terps in his first two seasons in College Park. In eight games last season, he completed 10 of 30 pass attempts for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception; he also ran for 91 yards on 29 attempts with a team-high seven touchdowns. Edwards is battling for the starting job with NC State transfer MJ Morris, who completed 63 of 113 pass attempts for 719 yards and seven touchdowns with five interceptions in four games with the Wolfpack.

The Terps have several key offensive weapons returning this season. Redshirt junior running back Roman Hemby has led Maryland in rushing for the last two seasons. He rushed for 680 yards on 142 carries in 2023 with four touchdowns, and he caught 38 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns. UMD lost leading receiver Jeshaun Jones, but seniors Tai Felton (48 receptions, 723 yards, six touchdowns in 2023) and Kaden Prather (42 receptions, 666 yards, five touchdowns) could form one of the stronger outside duos in the Big Ten this year.

But Maryland underwent significant turnover on its offensive line from last year. Redshirt junior Kyle Long started six games at right guard last season, and redshirt senior Conor Fagan started three at right tackle and one at left guard. Those two, while starting for less than half of Maryland’s season, are the only returning starters on the offensive line. Redshirt senior Josh Kaltenberger will likely slot in at center after transferring from Purdue, and Locksley may turn to redshirt sophomore Georgia transfer Aliou Bah and junior Division II product Alan Herron in other open spots on the line.

Returning production, defense: 66 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (42nd in the country)

Defensive outlook: Maryland has much more back on defense this year than offense. The Terps actually rank in the bottom half of the Big Ten in returning defensive production, but that says more about how much the rest of the conference has returning. In fact, Maryland added only one defensive player from the transfer portal this offseason, in 2023 first-team All-MAC cornerback Jalen Huskey from Bowling Green.

Maryland’s defense performed well in 2023. The Terps finished seventh in the Big Ten and 31st in the nation in total defense, at 334.1 yards allowed per game. They were pretty balanced in success against the run and the pass — they ranked 34th in the country and sixth in the conference with 125.5 rush yards allowed per game, and they placed seventh in the Big Ten and 38th in the country with 208.6 pass yards allowed per game. Maryland also tied for second in the conference and 13th in the country with 24 takeaways.

The Terps lost their leading tackler from last season in safety Beau Brade. But they have second and third-leading tacklers back in redshirt senior middle linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II and senior safety Dante Trader Jr., respectively. Hypollite was a third team All-Big Ten selection last year. Junior linebacker Kellan Wyatt led the Terps with 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 2023, and he returns this year as well. Defensive line tandem Tommy Akingbesote and Quashon Fuller are experienced, and Donnell Brown — rated the fourth-best returning pass rusher in the Big Ten by PFF — could be in for a bigger year.

UMD will need some reserves to step into larger roles this season to fill some gaps, but this unit looks like it could be solid again.

Special teams outlook: Maryland has redshirt junior kicker Jack Howes back after a tough 2023. He finished 12th in the Big Ten in 2023 by converting 68.4 percent of his field-goal attempts, so he’ll look to bounce back this year. Punter Colton Spangler is gone, and redshirt junior Brenden Segovia will take over that job. Sophomore kickoff returner Braeden Wisloski returns after he averaged 23.8 yards per return last season with one touchdown. Hemby, Felton, and Octavian Smith Jr. could also factor into the kick return game, and one of that group is likely to take over punt return duty with Jones gone.

Overall Outlook: Maryland’s roster, on the whole, looks solid. The Terps have a lot of pieces back from last season, and Locksley has done a nice job developing talent in College Park. The quarterback change will determine just how good Maryland can be this season, though. If Edwards or Morris takes over seamlessly, the Terps could be a tough team to beat once again. If there are hiccups, though, it could signal a small step back. But while Maryland is unlikely to compete for a Big Ten title, the Terps should at least be in contention for a fourth straight bowl appearance.

Previous opponent outlooks:

Florida International

Western Illinois

UCLA

Charlotte

For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”