The Maryland Terrapins (1-0, 0-0 B1G) will take on the Towson Tigers (1-0, 0-0 CAA) at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on Saturday. Both teams are coming off of major Week One victories.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Tigers defeated the Morgan State Bears 10-0 in their matchup last Saturday. The Terps defeated the Texas Longhorns 51-41 earlier during the same day.
Both schools are located in Maryland; Maryland in the Washington D.C. area and Towson in the Baltimore area. However, this is just their second time meeting one another in program history. The first game took place in 2011, where the Terps were victorious, defeating the Tigers 28-3.
The Tigers play in the Colonial Athletic Association in the Football Championship Subdivision of Division 1. Maryland plays in the higher level Big Ten Conference in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Maryland
The Terps had their first victory against a ranked opponent (#23 Texas) in seven seasons. Maryland also never had a win against a ranked opponent in a season-opening game (0-7), before defeating the Longhorns.
Just after defeating the Longhorns, the Terps will have to start a true freshman at quarterback in Kasim Hill. Hill will make his first start, after participating in his first game against the Longhorns in relief of the injured sophomore quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome. Pigrome is now out for the season with a torn ACL and Hill will be the presumptive starter for the rest of the season. Sophomore Max Bortenschlager will be Hill’s backup.
Maryland will also bring in a powerful running back trio in junior Ty Johnson, sophomore Lorenzo Harrison III and sophomore Jake Funk. The three running backs provided 192 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 rushing attempts.
The Terps have won 11 consecutive home-openers at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium since 2006. Their last defeat came at the hands of the then-25th ranked Clemson Tigers, 28-24 on September 10, 2005.
Towson
Towson also has their own quarterback swap and it is also due to injury. Redshirt freshman Ryan Stover will replace the injured Max Mahalak, who will miss the game with an upper body injury. Stover went 5-for-12 for 44 yards when coming in for relief of Mahalak.
The Tigers’ defense was stout on Saturday, shutting out the Bears. Three defenders had interceptions against the Bears: redshirt junior defensive back Tyron McDade, redshirt junior defensive back Monty Fenner and junior defensive back Lyrics Klugh. The last time that the Tigers had three interceptions by three different defenders was on September 10, 2005 against Loch Haven.
Towson also boasts the reigning CAA Rookie of the Week. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Bryce Carter was named the CAA Rookie of the Week. In his first college game, Carter recorded six tackles, a strip sack and a fumble recovery.
Analysis
Maryland has the size, the depth and the facilities. However, they cannot afford to sleep on Towson’s defense. The team is well-coached and just stopped Morgan State redshirt junior and former four-star recruit Elijah Staley. The Terps cannot sleepwalk through the game, despite being the overall favorite.
Kickoff is set for noon on Big Ten Network.
(Photo Credit: Tim Warner/Getty Images)
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