Matchup Preview: Purdue-Maryland

Purdue at Maryland

Date/Time/Place: Saturday, October 8, 12:00 PM ET, SECU Stadium

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 54,000 (tickets available)

2022 schedules/records: Maryland 4-1 (1-1 Big Ten), Purdue 3-2 (1-1 Big Ten)

Series notes: Saturday will mark just the fourth meeting between Purdue and Maryland, with the previous three all coming in recent memory. A 24-7 Terrapin victory in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl kicked off this series prior to Maryland's move to the Big Ten. Since then, each team defended their home turf. Maryland dominated the Boilermakers 50-7 in College Park in 2016, while Purdue cruised past the Terps 40-14 on Homecoming at Ross-Ade Stadium in 2019.

TV: BTN (PxP Lisa Byington; Analyst Anthony Herron; Sidelines Meghan McKeown)

Radio: Purdue Sports Properties (PxP Tim Newton; Analyst Pete Quinn; Sidelines Mark Herrmann) Listen on Tunein or the VarsityApp

Line: Maryland -3.5

Pregame: Gold and Black Radio

Purdue roster | Purdue Game Notes

Maryland roster | Maryland Game Notes

College Park weather

Behind an experienced offensive line unit, Maryland averages a strong 174 yards per game on the ground. They bring a two-running-back approach to the field as Roman Hemby and Antwain Littleton form a nice one-two punch. Hemby possesses some big-play potential with his speed, averaging 6.5 yards per carry on the season, while Littleton provides more of a "power" running approach, as evidenced by his five touchdowns in five games. Additionally, QB Taulia Tagovailoa can scramble and make plays on the ground. The veteran quarterback averages more than five carries per game and is a threat to tuck it and run when nothing is open downfield. In their spread offense, they can utilize zone-read concepts when the opportunity presents itself.

Fresh off a fantastic performance against Minnesota's strong run attack, Purdue should feel good about its run defense after five games. The Boilermakers have handled several strong rushing attacks for the most part to this point, but if there's a weakness with the run defense, it lies in quarterback runs. Garrett Shrader of Syracuse and N'Kosi Perry of FAU saw success on the ground against Purdue, and you have to figure Maryland will look to do the same with Tagovailoa. The Boilermaker defense will likely get its best player back in LB/S Jalen Graham, whose athleticism and speed certainly help in the run game.

Averaging 283 yards per game through the air, Tagovailoa comes in as one of the Big Ten’s better and more proven signal callers. He's now in his third year as the starter for Maryland, and the experience shows after a solid 2021 campaign. Tagovalioa is completing 75% of his passes to this point, and while he's tossed four interceptions, it's hard to ask for a much better start.

The Terrapins present a nice receiving corps that will keep Purdue defensive coordinator Ron English up at night. Former five-star recruit Rakim Jarrett, now in his junior season, can really run out of the slot. He's far from their only weapon, as Jeshaun Jones can make plays on the outside, where Florida transfer Jacob Copeland joins him.

While they did allow some big pass plays, Purdue's defense took advantage of a shaky performance by Minnesota's Tanner Morgan last week, picking off three passes in the victory. English elected not to isolate his defensive backs as much, which paid dividends. As Cory Trice gets healthier and Graham returns to action, the pass coverage group should continue to improve. Stopping big explosive plays will be the next step for this secondary, and a good Maryland aerial attack will test them.

Though Purdue's number one running back to open the season, King Doerue, is expected to miss his fourth-consecutive game on Saturday, the Boilermaker rushing attack looks solid without him. The walk-on duo of Dylan Downing and Devin Mockobee each recently turned in a 100-yard performance, something not many expected at the beginning of the season. The much-maligned Purdue run game over the past few seasons now brings a bit of a punch, in part thanks to Mockobee's speed and elusiveness that Purdue hasn't had in the backfield recently. No, this won't ever be a run-heavy offense, but the ground game looks better than in recent years.

Against the better opponents on their schedule, the Terrapins' run defense looked somewhat vulnerable. SMU and Michigan State averaged over four yards per carry, while Michigan's star running back Blake Corum ran all over the Maryland defense. They can make plays in the backfield, with 24 tackles for loss to this point, so the Purdue offensive line will look to create a push to gain positive yardage. Can Purdue break off another explosive run or two to keep the defense off-balance?

While Aidan O'Connell returned for the matchup with Minnesota, he didn't appear to be 100% healthy when throwing the football. While he completed 27 of his 40 passes, O'Connell ended the day with just 199 yards and two interceptions. At times, the throws seemed to lack the usual velocity and crispness that O'Connell brings to the table. Jeff Brohm sounded optimistic that O'Connell would be healthy for Saturday's game and indicated that the sixth-year quarterback would see more practice time this week.

Charlie Jones remains O'Connell's most reliable target in the passing game. Outside of him, the offense continues to look for consistent playmakers in the passing game. In a matchup with Maryland that figures to be high scoring, the time could be now for another member of the receiver room.

Though the Terps' schedule to this point hasn't featured many pass-heavy offenses, results against the pass appear mixed. SMU, which likes to throw the ball around, saw great success, racking up 369 yards passing in their 34-27 loss at Maryland. While Michigan only reached 220 yards, they missed on a number of open deep shots that could have blown the game open. Maryland's defense has eight sacks and four interceptions thus far. If Purdue can avoid adding to those totals, they should be able to finish with a nice day through the air.

An underrated aspect of last week's win at Minnesota? Kicker Mitchell Fineran saw both field goal attempts sail through the uprights. Before the pair of makes, Fineran had missed his two previous attempts.

Chris van Eekeren consistently sends kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks, keeping the opposition from making plays in the return game. The next step for punter Jack Ansell will come in getting punts to check up inside the 10-yard line after a pair of his punts went into the end zone last week.

Terrapin kicker Chad Ryland looks like one of the nation's best, knocking through seven of his eight field goal tries on the year, including three of his four attempts from 50+ yards out. Any time Maryland gets the ball inside the 40, Ryland can be called on. He's not the only dangerous specialist, as punter Colton Spangler averages 48 yards per punt. Nearly half of his punts are downed inside the 20-yard line, and he's booted six punts over 50 yards.

Maryland averages 10 yards per punt return and has returned kicks 39 and 41 yards, so Purdue will look to tread lightly when sending the ball to the Terps.

Purdue notched its sixth win over an AP Top 25 opponent under Jeff Brohm last weekend with the 20-10 win over Minnesota. After those first five ranked wins, however, the Boilermakers are just 1-4 in the game immediately following. Purdue needed positive momentum, but can they put it behind them and pull off another road upset, albeit a milder one, this weekend?

So far, so good for Maryland, who enters just two wins away from bowl eligibility. Since joining the Big Ten, Maryland has never started 5-1, but they could do it with a win on Saturday. After giving Mike Locksley a contract extension following their 7-6 season in 2021, Maryland is looking to move up the totem pole in the crowded Big Ten East.

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