Penn State heads to College Park this weekend looking to continue to put a loss to Ohio State behind it while continuing to pick up momentum for a looming meeting against Michigan next weekend at Beaver Stadium. First things first though, the Nittany Lions have to get through the Terps and here are five storylines to follow on that front.
Early Shot: Maryland has lost three straight games, which have included an understandable defeat to Ohio State and then two more perplexing losses to Illinois and Northwestern. The Terps have seen a promising season take a complete 180, giving up 27 or more points in each of the last three games. Maryland has managed to score 24+ in each of the previous two games but can’t find the winning mojo again. It stands to reason that Maryland will be up and ready to go for this game, but given recent struggles and historic struggles against Penn State, the Nittany Lions getting some early points on the board and some early stops could put this game away before it ever really starts. Aside from the win over Penn State during COVID, Maryland hasn’t scored more than 14 against Penn State since 2015. Saturday wouldn’t be the worst time to continue that trend.
Off Schedule: Penn Sate and Maryland have both given up 36 tackles for a loss this season, which is 20th in the nation. Alternatively the Terps have a modest 246 rushing attempts this year while the Nittany Lions have 337, which is 21st-most in the nation. Both teams will want to stay on schedule in this game, Maryland for having a chance against Penn State’s defense and the Nittany Lions for not wanting to make things harder than they already are sometimes for this group. Maryland has only given up 14 sacks this year, three more than Penn State. Avoiding tackles for a loss isn’t the only way to stay on schedule but it’s a good first step. Penn State is the 10th-best in the nation at creating TFLs. Maryland meanwhile is 64th. Edge to the Nittany Lions.
Momentum: It is true that winning is winning, but if Penn State wants to have any sort of momentum heading into the Michigan game, winning on Saturday and not feeling like the Nittany Lions barely scraped by would be a good first step. Beating Maryland is a very different ask than beating Michigan, but Penn State will need to be in a confident headspace prior to facing the Wolverines. If it can take care of business in convincing fashion on Saturday that could help everyone believe that this group has a real chance — especially on offense — to make plays against a top-four team.
Health And Wellness: Time will tell if Chop Robinson and Trey Wallace will be healthy for this one or the Michigan game, but even if they are — and that seems dubious at best — Penn State can’t afford to go into that Michigan game having picked up any new knocks of either side of the ball. End of the day, it may not matter but it’s safe to say more injuries aren’t going to help Penn State’s cause any. Keeping Drew Allar healthy continues to be a key, even if Penn State’s offense lacks some of the punch fans were hoping for from him and his teammates. This would be the first time since 2017 that Penn State hasn’t had to play the backup quarterback due to an in-game injury.
Locked Down: Taulia Tagovailoa is maybe the best quarterback Penn State has seen this season in terms of arm ability and overall experience. Maryland might be on the slide, but Penn State’s defense will have to bring its A game to avoid giving Tagovailoa some momentum of his own to work with. With 19 touchdowns and six interceptions, it has been a pretty productive year on that front and 2,200 yards passing is a nice round number with a third of the season left to go. Simply put, if Maryland is going to win on Saturday, it’ll start with Tagovailoa, so the Nittany Lions can’t afford to have blown coverages like they did against Indiana.
