At 5-4, Maryland football is on the verge of making a bowl game. With No. 8 Ohio State and No. 21 Penn State looming in the last two weeks of the season, Saturday’s matchup against Indiana is the best chance for Matt Canada’s team to pick up its sixth win of the season.
Before the Terps take the field in Bloomington, we caught up with Cameron Drummond of the Indiana Daily Student to learn a little bit more about the Hoosiers. Our conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
While the Hoosiers are 1-5 in conference play, they’ve had some solid efforts, getting within one score of Michigan State in the fourth quarter and losing by only five to Penn State. How much better is this team than last year’s?
That’s a difficult question to answer. It hasn’t shown on the scoreboard or in the standings yet, but this team is better at taking care of the football and is less prone to untimely turnovers. It’s Indiana football, so those still happen, but with less frequency. While skill position players on offense have come and gone this season, freshman running back Stevie Scott has been a nice positive for the Hoosiers after their top two running backs went down. This team is better than last year’s — just slightly.
Indiana’s defense is ninth in the Big Ten in yards per game (399.6), but it leads the conference with 2.2 turnovers forced per game. How has the unit gotten so many takeaways while giving up so many yards? What do you expect to happen against a Maryland offense that’s sort of the polar opposite (second-fewest yards per game, second-fewest turnovers per game)?
Indiana’s defense is of the all-or-nothing variety — either it stops opponents with a turnover or it allows a touchdown. This trend began at the start of conference play against Michigan State and hasn’t stopped since. The team has a young secondary prone to making mistakes and a pass rush that is OK at reaching the quarterback but bad at actually tackling opponents for a loss. The Hoosiers will have to force some things on defense, and with this secondary that could lead to some breakdowns in coverage. If Jacob Robinson is back healthy on the defensive line, that will be a huge addition for Indiana’s pass defense.
Peyton Ramsey has been the king of the checkdown this year — he ranks second in the Big Ten with a 68.2 percent completion rate, but he’s second-to-last with 6.3 yards per completion. How has the Hoosiers offense adjusted to his skillset? Should the Terps be concerned about him throwing downfield?
No, they should not be. Indiana has had one game with success throwing the ball down the field, and it was against Ohio State. This came because Indiana had a clear offensive game plan to attack the Buckeyes down the field, but the team hasn’t stuck to that script since then. It’s infuriating to Hoosier fans that offensive coordinator Mike DeBord doesn’t dial up more downfield plays, although Ramsey’s arm strength is also a factor in these decisions. Backup quarterback Michael Penix Jr. also offered a change of pace option for Indiana because he can throw the ball a country mile, but a torn ACL against Penn State ended his freshman season.
Stevie Scott was a three-star recruit, ranked No. 80 in the nation among running backs, according to 247Sports. But he’s been one of the better freshmen running backs in the nation, with 791 yards on 159 carries over nine games. How has Scott been able to excel as a fairly unheralded rookie?
In very similar fashion to Morgan Ellison last season, Scott is a bruising, physical runner with the mindset of a linebacker. In fact, he was a linebacker in high school and has said how much he embraces the contact while running the ball. He wasn’t even the Hoosiers’ most heralded running back recruit — they also have a four-star in Ronnie Walker Jr. from Virginia, who has had his moments this season — but for a team that’s average at creating running holes, Scott’s powerful, downhill running style is ideal.
Maryland wins this game if…
…Indiana remains conservative in its offense gameplan and doesn’t get a breakout game from a skill position player on either side of the ball.
Indiana wins this game if…
…Ramsey takes shots down the field and the Hoosier defense remains disciplined against the run.
