Tag: Maryland

Michigan 59, Maryland 18

That was quietly ugly for Maryland. With my high school season having ended last week, I made the trip to Maryland because I had never been there for a game. Watching the game in person, Michigan was certainly in control for the whole game but in the first half, it seemed like the Terrapins were holding their own. Michigan should have been able to run all over them, but they couldn’t. Michigan should have been able to beat up and bruise Taulia Tagovailoa, but they couldn’t. It was a comfortable 24-3 lead at halftime, but it never seemed like Michigan was beating the pants off them. And then . . . well . . . the third quarter happened, when Michigan exploded for 28 points. Even though Maryland scored 15 in that stanza, the rout was on. I looked up at the scoreboard and thought, “Is Michigan about to score 60 on a Big Ten opponent not named Rutgers?” In truth, no, they weren’t. But they got as close as possible.

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Preview: Michigan at Maryland

RUSH OFFENSE vs. MARYLAND RUSH DEFENSE
Michigan is the #14 rushing offense in the country (225 yards/game). The bell cow right now is 6’1″, 225 lb. Hassan Haskins, who has 58 carries over the past two weeks since Blake Corum hurt his lower leg. Haskins has responded with 168 and 156 yards, many of them coming after contact while pushing piles, twisting, and diving for extra yardage. Michigan will pound-pound-pound the ball inside and then get big chunks on the edges. Maryland is #77 in rushing defense (157 yards allowed/game) and #70 in yards allowed per carry (4.11). They did a respectable job against Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker last week (30 carries, 143 yards, 2 touchdowns), but that allowed quarterback Payton Thorne to average 9.6 yards per passing attempt and throw 4 touchdowns. The top two tacklers for the Terrapins are safeties Jordan Mosley (6’1″, 205) and Nick Cross (6’1″, 215) with 67 and 57, respectively. It’s not usually a great thing when safeties are leading the team in tackling. Nose tackle Ami Finau (6’2″, 320) is a decent run stuffer with 5 tackles for loss. Michigan might not be able to gash Maryland over and over again, but they should be able to move the ball consistently.
Advantage: Michigan

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Michigan 38, Maryland 7

Emotional letdown. Watching as a fan, I did not take as much pleasure in this 38-7 victory as I normally would. Maybe that’s what happens after a big game against Penn State and a beatdown of Notre Dame in a night game. People talked about it potentially being a trap game for Michigan’s players, but I guess it was for me as a fan, too. Michigan played well overall, but there wasn’t a lot of juice. Other than the opening kickoff return, there weren’t many big plays. It was a solid beating, but Michigan didn’t exactly run roughshod over the Terrapins. It wasn’t death by a thousand papercuts, but it was close.

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Highlights: Michigan 38, Maryland 7

Note: No Maryland preview

Believe me when I say it stresses me out when I can’t put out my regular content each week. I don’t talk much about my personal life, but you would probably consider me an insane person if you knew everything else going on in my daily existence and then considered I was still trying to keep up a blog.

I apologize, but I just have no choice but to prioritize other things at the moment.

Thanks for reading (or at least attempting to read), and Go Blue!

Prediction: Michigan 42, Maryland 13