The Maryland Terrapins will kick off their season on FOX Sports 1 versus the Texas Longhorns on Saturday at 12PM.
AUSTIN, Tx. — Maryland is coming off a 6-7 season one year ago, participating in the Quick Lane Bowl under then-first-year head coach D.J. Durkin. Durkin’s Terps will take on the Longhorns, who went 5-7 under Charlie Strong last season. Strong was fired and replaced by Tom Herman, who was hired on November 26, 2016. Herman put together a 22-4 record as the head coach of the Houston Cougars, the fourth-best record in that span.
The Terrapins will have their work cut out for them. Almost everyone expects the Longhorns to win on Saturday, but Maryland can learn a lot about themselves in the matchup. Among those things are their depth at certain positions, who will start at quarterback in the future and how much this game will gauge their talent.
Depth Chart
HERE'S MARYLAND'S DEPTH CHART IN ALL ITS GLORY pic.twitter.com/6nVZkURWCE
— Thomas Kendziora (@TKendziora37) August 28, 2017
The Terps made their depth chart known a few days ago. Ty Johnson and Lorenzo Harrison III could be a big time one-two punch once again after their great 2016 campaign. They combined for 1,637 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. Their season caused Texas’ Herman to heap on praise to the duo.
“That’s ‘The Presidential Backfield’ with Harrison and Johnson, if you will,” Herman said in a media teleconference. They’re pretty special.”
There weren’t too many surprises, however, that could all change after the next game. Specifically at one major position:
Starting Quarterback
Tyrrell Pigrome is coming into the 2017 season as the starting quarterback for Maryland. In his freshman season, the 5’11, 196 lbs. quarterback had a 52.1% (37-for-71 on passing attempts) completion percentage for 322 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 93.9 passer rating. To say the least, that will cut it for the Terps. They will need Pigrome to step up in a big way this season because if he doesn’t, the freshman backup Kasim Hill could take his spot.
Hill came onto Maryland’s campus to much fanfare. The four-star recruit from St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C. was a household name in the DMV. He was ranked as the 10th pro-style quarterback in the country by 247 Sports. His arm strength is a big part of his game an it sets him apart from the light-throwing Pigrome. Due to that, Hill will most likely be used in Saturday’s game.
Talent Gauge
In game particularly, Maryland is David and Texas is Goliath. The Longhorns are in Football Country, also known as Texas. The sheer amount of money that is allocated to the football program will dwarf many schools, but especially Maryland, which is known as a basketball school. Texas’ talent all begins with their sophomore quarterback. Shane Buechele.
In 2016, Buechele played and started all 12 of the Longhorns’ games. He put put on a little of show for Texas fans, being named honorable mention Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year at the end of the season. He was 60.4% (236-of-391) passing, with 2,958 passing yards (a Longhorns freshman record) and 21 passing touchdowns. The thing that tells the story of his pedigree is this stat:
Buechele is the first Longhorns quarterback since Colt McCoy (2009) to have at least 2,500 passing yards and 20 touchdowns in a season. That’s pretty impressive, considering that the Longhorns weren’t at full strength ever since Mack Brown left. Brown was able to surround his quarterback with playmakers, giving McCoy much to work with. Buechele is still very young, so he can improve on even that.
They also have a defensive lineman by the name of Poona Ford. Ford was fourth on the team with 54 tackles (40 solo), 5.5 of his tackles were for a loss and four quarterback hurries. He also had one forced fumble, one fumble recovery and two blocked PATs. ESPN.com named him a second-team All-Big 12 player and deservedly so. He disrupts everything on defense.
If Maryland can compete with Texas and just game close, it will be a nice little surprise for Terrapins faithful. If they don’t, it’s unsurprising, but it shouldn’t be too discouraging.
How to Watch
Where: Darrell K. Royal Stadium (Austin, Texas)
Kickoff time: 11:05 a.m. CT
TV: FS1
Radio: Texassports.com, 104.9 The Horn
Online Streaming: Fox Sports Go
Weather: A sunny 86 degrees
Odds: Texas (-18.5)
(Photo Credit: Matt Regan/The Diamondback)
Bylines at Fox Sports 1340 AM, Bullets Forever, Baltimore Beatdown, Underdog Dynasty and many other sites.