Maryland Fan Scouting report PT. 1 Offense

[83Hawk]

Yes it does. Recent history is the single best predictor of the near future. College football is not the same as a coin flip which will always be 50

Your contention that the odds of Maryland scoring 25+ points are low because Iowa has held their last 26 opponents under 25 is patently false. If Iowa holds them under 25 it will be because of their defense (and other factors), NOT because they did it the previous 26 games. I don’t know why you can’t understand that.

Now…..had you said the odds of Maryland scoring 25+ is low because of Iowa’s defense….THAT would be more accurate. I’m sure that is what you meant to say, so let’s just leave it at that.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Thanks for the info! We run the ball and play good defense and special teams.

And our QB plays like he's handed the keys to an expensively nice car and is told "just don't crash it.....or I'll f***ing erase you from existence".........which then leads to him making mistakes anyways, but minor ones like missed receivers and over/under throws, etc etc.

 

[83Hawk]

You're too dumb to argue with.

“Possible but highly unlikely given a 26 game streak of Iowa not allowing 25 points to any team.”

Your words.

 

[Dargo]

Thanks for the info! We run the ball and play good defense and special teams.

We run the ball unsuccessfully is more like it.

 

[LaQuintaHawkeye]

And our QB plays like he's handed the keys to an expensively nice car and is told "just don't crash it.....or I'll f***ing erase you from existence".........which then leads to him making mistakes anyways, but minor ones like missed receivers and over/under throws, etc etc.

 

[fezzador]

And our QB plays like he's handed the keys to an expensively nice car and is told "just don't crash it.....or I'll f***ing erase you from existence".........which then leads to him making mistakes anyways, but minor ones like missed receivers and over/under throws, etc etc.

Stanzi drove the car with a perpetual BAC of .079.

 

[joelbc1]

That’s a frequent discussion on Maryland’s board as well. The undisciplined part comes from Maryland sometimes being over aggressive or over hyped up. For example they had personal fouls on numerous interceptions where our defense got too excited and just started hitting everything in sight. The defense also plays a very aggressive style especially with our DBs. So if the refs are more strict like against Kent State and Illinois they tend to commit some DPIs. As far as TOs they are definitely not undisciplined. Lia’s only int came on a dropped pass that went straight to a defender. They need a little better ball security but I wouldn’t call it a problem.

With all due respect, "undisciplined play" suggests poor coaching technique.....Not saying UM is poorly coached by any means.....Players need to understand they control their behavior, not their coaches or the referees.

 

[thedecider]

Stanzi drove the car with a perpetual BAC of .079.

I'd say closer to .20. But unfortunately he got sober his senior year.

 

[HawkCapt1912]

Interesting read. Frankly--and I hope I'm wrong--I think we lose this one like 21-10 or something like that.
This kid is exactly the kind of QB that gives us fits, and the "speed on the outside" is a recipe for bad things. He can keep plays alive as we all know, and any breakdown on our back-end will be exposed, as has happened a few times; we've seen Moss struggle to cover great speed.
Unless we get a fast-forward-backward to late-2020 Spencer, and our o-line makes 2 months of gains in 4 days in the 'learning to block' category, we will have larger problems moving the ball than we've already seen.
I think we need 3 takeaways in this one, and points off all of them.

Moss gave up the long passes because his eyes were in the backfield. Phil chewed their ass and it didn’t happen again.

Trust it doesn’t happen Friday night.

 

[fezzador]

I'd say closer to .20. But unfortunately he got sober his senior year.

Stanzi did get sober, but his buddies stayed drunk.

The 2010 defense was good, but just couldn't get a stop when it really, REALLY mattered.

 

[The Deplorable Sleeping Dog]

The Turtles have a good offense but they have not seen what we will throw at them defensively. Those little run/pass QBs for which a small part of the fanbase demand do not fare so well when confronted by a fast active defense that comes at them from a hundred directions a thousand miles an hour.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Stanzi drove the car with a perpetual BAC of .079.

 

[oldnewkirk.0]

I see Lia is listed as 5’11 which may be generous? I’m assuming, given his completion %, that he doesn’t struggle with tipped passes at the line? Iowa has some tall DE’s with active hands - looking at potential X factors that may favor the Hawks and throw MD’s offense out of rhythm.

 

[walleye hunter16]

Maryland will definitely get their chunk plays. They’re averaging 520 ypg with 350 being through the air. The key will obviously be limiting them and possibly more important, keeping those big plays from being TDs. A 30 yard pass doesn’t mean as much when 3 plays later you have to settle for a fg.

If Iowa can get consistent pressure only rushing 4 then Maryland is in huge trouble. I don’t think they will because Maryland has had very good pass protection so far. Then again, they haven’t played a line like Iowa’s yet.

I think it will be hard to force Taulia into throwing ints. According to PFF, Lia hasn’t had a turnover worthy throw yet through 4 games (his one int was on a dropped pass). He’s very risk averse and is fine with checking down. As before though. Iowa’s secondary will be the most talented he’s faced. That should be a fun matchup to watch. Your safeties will need to stay home and not creep up. Maryland likes to throw a bunch of short underneath routes to lull the safeties in and then blow the top off when they’re out of position. Unfortunately I feel like your guys will handle that well.

Sounds like the LBs need to put the wood to a few skill ayers and get them looking over their shoulders.

 

[StallmanCurse]

So I just watched Maryland O vs West Virginia. Link here:

My takeaways:

1. Either Maryland is the best screen blocking team I've ever seen or WV is the worst screen defending team I've ever seen. I highly doubt Maryland runs than many screens against Iowa because they won't be nearly as successful.

2. Both Maryland backs are pretty good. OP downplayed Fleet-Davis, but the kid moves well in space. Jacobs runs hard between the tackles. That said, I think Iowa holds Maryland under 125 yards rushing.

3. Maryland will move the ball on Iowa. The intermediate passing game will be open for Maryland, especially if Iowa is adamant on taking away the deep ball (as they typically are). On this note #7 has a tendency to plant a foot and reverse pivot on the catch. Hopefully the secondary notices this in film review. Finally, #5 is fast, very fast.

4. I disagree with OP on Maryland's pass protection. I thought it was pretty terrible (vs WV anyway), and Tagovailoa avoided numerous sacks with his legs. Iowa can definitely get home with four, however, KF mentioned contain rush in his presser so I'm not sure how much they'll be pinning their ears back.

I do think Iowa will need to bring pressure because Tagovailoa will pick Iowa apart if he's comfortable in the pocket. I'm somewhat hoping PP lets the DL get after it with Campbell / Jacobs spying. And please throw zone blitz out of the playbook this week, as Iowa doesn't have a DL that can run sideline to sideline with their QB.

5. I also disagree with OP that Tagovailoa is careful with the ball. At least in the WV game, he made several late throws under pressure. The type of throws Iowa's secondary thrives on disrupting. But Iowa must make Tagovailoa uncomfortable; he isn't going to make unforced errors.

 

[sadiehawkins]

from one of the sport betting site. Maryland allowed kent state past their 50 9 times. kent state scored

like 9 pts off those 9 times Maryland defense isn t good

 

[Jbwest31]

So I just watched Maryland O vs West Virginia. Link here:

View embedded media

My takeaways:

1. Either Maryland is the best screen blocking team I've ever seen or WV is the worst screen defending team I've ever seen. I highly doubt Maryland runs than many screens against Iowa because they won't be nearly as successful.

2. Both Maryland backs are pretty good. OP downplayed Fleet-Davis, but the kid moves well in space. Jacobs runs hard between the tackles. That said, I think Iowa holds Maryland under 125 yards rushing.

3. Maryland will move the ball on Iowa. The intermediate passing game will be open for Maryland, especially if Iowa is adamant on taking away the deep ball (as they typically are). On this note #7 has a tendency to plant a foot and reverse pivot on the catch. Hopefully the secondary notices this in film review. Finally, #5 is fast, very fast.

4. I disagree with OP on Maryland's pass protection. I thought it was pretty terrible (vs WV anyway), and Tagovailoa avoided numerous sacks with his legs. Iowa can definitely get home with four, however, KF mentioned contain rush in his presser so I'm not sure how much they'll be pinning their ears back.

I do think Iowa will need to bring pressure because Tagovailoa will pick Iowa apart if he's comfortable in the pocket. I'm somewhat hoping PP lets the DL get after it with Campbell / Jacobs spying. And please throw zone blitz out of the playbook this week, as Iowa doesn't have a DL that can run sideline to sideline with their QB.

5. I also disagree with OP that Tagovailoa is careful with the ball. At least in the WV game, he made several late throws under pressure. The type of throws Iowa's secondary thrives on disrupting. But Iowa must make Tagovailoa uncomfortable; he isn't going to make unforced errors.

I appreciate your post and opinions on the WVU game but having watched all 4 of Maryland’s games, you’re wrong on points 4 and 5. I don’t mean that disrespectfully or condescendingly, but I just know more about my team.

4. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is it good to be almost off the page <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@PFF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PFF_College?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@PFF_College</a> <a href="https://t.co/e4TZ9nkrdm">pic.twitter.com/e4TZ9nkrdm</a></p>&mdash; HuskGuys (@HuskGuys) <a href="">September 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

5. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Most dropbacks with zero turnover worthy plays this season:<br><br>1. Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland - 116<br><br>2. Matt Corral, Ole Miss - 114 <a href="https://t.co/n7VO4zrEyB">pic.twitter.com/n7VO4zrEyB</a></p>&mdash; PFF College (@PFF_College) <a href="">September 21, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Jbwest31]

Sorry for the awful formatting

 

[JerseyCityHawki]

Hey so I’m a MD fan just coming to give you some insight about our team. Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll try to answer in a non homerish way. This info is just what I have seen so far. I’m not saying Maryland can or will do all of this vs Iowa. So when I say how good our QB or receivers are, I’m not saying we’re gonna put up 50 on you. I’m just commenting on how MD has looked as a team this year.

QB: Maryland finally has a good QB!! It’s been a decade since Maryland had an even serviceable quarterback and Taulia (Lia as we call him) is way better than serviceable. He makes NFL caliber throws look easy. His strengths are his vision, pocket awareness and accuracy. His main weakness is he has a tendency to check down and play it safe.

RB: Tayon Fleet-Davis is our number one back. Maryland has had an NFL caliber HB the last 4 years. TFD is not that guy. He has fairly good stats, but it feels like they are mostly elevated by MDs passing game. He’s a decent threat in the passing game and is good at getting the yards that our Oline opens up, but you won’t see him hitting many home runs. All in all, he won’t hurt us, but also won’t win us games.

WR: MD’s best position group. #7 Dontay Demus and #5 (former 5*) Rakim Jarrett are the best WR duo in the Big 10 (possibly country) outside of Columbus. Demus is 6’4” with 4.4 speed and looks to be a round 2-4 pick. Jarrett is a COVID Freshman and probably the 3rd fastest player on the team. Demus may be our best WR now, but Jarrett looks like a first round pick. Many have him just below Diggs as our most talented WR ever. On top of that, Jeshaun Jones is a fringe NFL player and Darryl Jones/Brian Cobbs would start for many Big 10 teams. You do not wanna play man to man against us. Keep the ball away from #5 and #7 and let other beat you. The only weakness of the group is we have a lot of random wide open drops……yeah idk go figure.

TE: This position is a bit of an enigma. We have Chig (#9) who has drawn some NFL interest but him and Lia don’t seem to be on the same page. Chig has two TDs and you can see the talent, but he missed all of last year with a COVID related heart condition. So him and Lia don’t seem to be completely in sync. Our other TE Corey Dyches (#84) seems to be a star in the making. He’s a converted COVID FR WR. Unlike Chig, him and Lia seem to be completely on point together. He’ll be a beast some day, but probably not for another year.

OL: Maryland has two very good tackles in Duncan and Anderson which accounts for why our pass pro has been very good so far. Our interior line has been average at best which is why our running game hasn’t been great. Our interior line is talented but raw and will get better with experience, unfortunately, Iowa might just be that experience they need but don’t have yet.

Offensive Playcalling: Maryland like to run an uptempo no huddle (but not hurry up) offense. Early on we’ll throw out a lot of weird sets with odd screens and misdirection plays. This I’m assuming is an attempt to make defenses be prepared for anything. As the game goes on they settle into a more traditional RPO style offense. Maryland’s game plan on offense seems to almost be West Cost style at first. We will dink and dunk throwing a lot of short passes and screens to draw the safeties in and then run deep out and crossing patterns (mostly running from right to left) to free up our WRs for big plays(See #5 TD vs WVU and #7 TD vs Kent). Almost all of our runs are zone read plays.
Lia is very mobile, but is instinctually a pocket passer. We may run 2-3 designed runs a game for tops. Almost all of his rushing yards are on scrambles when the pocket collapses.

Anyways, that’s all I have for you on offense. Feel free to ask questions or tell me off. If you guys want I’ll do a defense and ST.

Have to admit this is a AWESOME read you have some big potential bro! Excellent scouting…

 

[Jbwest31]

I see Lia is listed as 5’11 which may be generous? I’m assuming, given his completion %, that he doesn’t struggle with tipped passes at the line? Iowa has some tall DE’s with active hands - looking at potential X factors that may favor the Hawks and throw MD’s offense out of rhythm.

I believe he had an issue with it last year, but it hasn’t been one this year. Possibly a mechanical issue that Lia fixed?

 

[j0nnyhb_Prime]

I believe he had an issue with it last year, but it hasn’t been one this year. Possibly a mechanical issue that Lia fixed?

Thanks Jbwest31! Were you going to do a defensive breakdown too? Good stuff.

 

[Jbwest31]

Thanks Jbwest31! Were you going to do a defensive breakdown too? Good stuff.

Yup working on it now actually.

 

[BUCKSNDUCKS]

Great analysis. I hope Iowa defense sacks him early and often.

 

[StallmanCurse]

I appreciate your post and opinions on the WVU game but having watched all 4 of Maryland’s games, you’re wrong on points 4 and 5. I don’t mean that disrespectfully or condescendingly, but I just know more about my team.

Thanks for disagreeing in a respectful manner, but it turns out I was quite right.

 

[hawkinne]

Maryland will definitely get their chunk plays. They’re averaging 520 ypg with 350 being through the air. The key will obviously be limiting them and possibly more important, keeping those big plays from being TDs. A 30 yard pass doesn’t mean as much when 3 plays later you have to settle for a fg.

If Iowa can get consistent pressure only rushing 4 then Maryland is in huge trouble. I don’t think they will because Maryland has had very good pass protection so far. Then again, they haven’t played a line like Iowa’s yet.

I think it will be hard to force Taulia into throwing ints. According to PFF, Lia hasn’t had a turnover worthy throw yet through 4 games (his one int was on a dropped pass). He’s very risk averse and is fine with checking down. As before though. Iowa’s secondary will be the most talented he’s faced. That should be a fun matchup to watch. Your safeties will need to stay home and not creep up. Maryland likes to throw a bunch of short underneath routes to lull the safeties in and then blow the top off when they’re out of position. Unfortunately I feel like your guys will handle that well.

How many picks will your QB throw? Like his brother arm strenght is a problem. OSU will also beat you and possibly bad.

 

[TRHawkeye145]

OP's "analysis" aged well lol

 

[Sett1997]

OP's "analysis" aged well lol

He's a fan that was excited about his team.
I appreciate him coming over and sharing with us.
Have some fing humility.

 

[oldnewkirk.0]

I believe he had an issue with it last year, but it hasn’t been one this year. Possibly a mechanical issue that Lia fixed?

Appreciate you taking the time to give an analysis and continue to answer questions here. It was a rough night for MD in which nothing seemed to go right and Iowa could almost do no wrong. Tough break for Demus, and wish him a full recovery. Best of luck the rest of the year!