Here is a scouting report on Maryland (7-5 overall, 4-5 Big Ten), who plays NC State (8-4 overall, 4-4 ACC) in Duke's Mayo Bowl at 12 p.m. Friday in Charlotte, N.C.
The game will be on ESPN.
Five Maryland players to watch
Junior safety Beau Brade
Junior safety Beau Brade leads the team with 78 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles. He had 15 tackles, an interception and one forced fumble against Southern Methodist on Sept. 17. The. 6-1, 200-pounder has 95 career tackles. Rivals.com had Brade as a three-star prospect in the class of 2020 out of Clarksville (Md.) River Hill.
Redshirt freshman running back Roman Hemby
Hemby has rushed 164 times for 924 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, plus an impressive 31 catches for 276 yard and a score. He topped 100 rushing yards in four games, including 24 carries for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-24 win over Northwestern on Oct. 22. Hemby was a Rivals.com two-star prospect out of Bel Air (Md.) John Carroll High.
Redshirt sophomore right tackle Delmar Glaze
The 6-5, 305-pounder was a Rivals.com two-star prospect out of Charlotte (N.C.) West Mecklenburg High in the class of 2020. He was the lone Maryland offensive player to make an all-Big Ten squad, getting honorable mention. He was third-team All-ACC for Pro Football Focus. He played in 13 games and started six — four at right tackle and two at left tackle.
Fifth-year senior kicker Chad Ryland
Ryland was named second-team All-Big Ten after playing his first four years at Eastern Michigan. Ryland went 16 of 20 on field goals and 38 of 39 extra points with a long of 53 for 86 points. He has gone 72 of 94 on field goals in his five years, and has impressively made nine career field goals of at least 50 yards with a long of 55. He made a season-high three field goals in the regular season finale against Rutgers.
Redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa
Redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was a Rivals.com four-star prospect coming out of Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson High in the class of 2019. He is the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Hawaiian native followed his brother to Alabama, but left for Maryland when coach Mike Locksley got hired in 2020. He has gone 243-of-354 passing for 2,787 yards and 17 touchdowns, plus six interceptions.
What to watch for from Maryland
1. Maryland will have a balanced offense, but some of that firepower is now gone.
Maryland's offense revolves around quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa being a part-magician at times and point guard, who knows how to rack up the assists. Tagovailoa knows how to scramble and buy time, and he rarely turns the ball over. Maryland only had 13 turnovers on the season — seven fumbles and six interceptions.
Tagovailoa has thrown for over 300 yards in four games this season, but he isn’t a big running threat. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder torched Charlotte for 391 passing yards, four touchdowns and one rushing score. He closed out the regular season with 342 passing yards and a score against Rutgers.
What remains to be seen is how Maryland looks without former Rivals.com five-star wide receiver Rakim Jarrett, and talented sophomore tight end C.J. Dippre. The 6-0, 190-pound Jarrett caught 40 passes for 471 yards and three touchdowns this season. He had 62 catches for 892 yards and five scores a year ago. He’s entering the NFL Draft and will be missed in the bowl game.
Dippre looks like a future NFL player, but he’ll be doing it in another uniform coming up. He’s choosing between Ohio State and Alabama on Tuesday morning. He caught 30 passes for 314 yards and three scores this season.
2. Maryland struggled stopping the run against the better teams of the Big Ten.
The three-game losing streak in November with losses at Wisconsin, at No. 14-ranked Penn State and vs. then No. 2-ranked Ohio State were by combined 96-40.
Wisconsin simply dominated the trenches and neither team could throw the football. The Badgers rushed 46 times for 278 yards and two scores in a 23-10 victory. Both quarterbacks threw for exactly 77 yards.
Penn State won the trenches by an even bigger margin in a 30-0 wipeout. The Nittany Lions rushed 43 times for 249 yards and two scores, and Tagaovailoa was again held to a minuscule 74 passing yards. Maryland only 134 yards of offense in the loss.
Maryland shredded the Ohio State secondary for 318 yards and two touchdowns, which was a preview of what Michigan did in the season finale against the Buckeyes. Ohio State, like Wisconsin and Penn State, used the ground game to defeat Maryland 43-30. The Buckeyes rushed 43 times for 160 yards and three touchdowns, with freshman Dallan Hayden leading the way.
3. The conundrum with Maryland’s 3-4 defense is that it should be stout against the run.
The three down linemen are at least 6-2 and 310 pounds with senior nose tackle Ami Finau checking in at 6-2 and 320 pounds. He has 29 tackles and five tackles for loss this season. Senior Henry Chibueze has 23 tackles and two sacks and has started three games. Fellow defensive end Mosiah Nasili-Kite has 26 tackles and a sack. The trio has appeared in 93 games with 53 starts.
Two of the four linebackers are freshmen, but all four weigh at least 220 pounds. Of the group, junior Ruben Hyppolite II is the most experienced with 20 career starts. Freshman Jaishawn Parham is the most productive with 53 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks. He was a Rivals.com four-star prospect out of Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances in the class of 2022.
NC State has struggled to run the football of late, but then the Terrapins have been uneven in stopping the run.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. MJ Morris could return, but offense will have some changes. NC State’s offense is likely to change regardless of who the quarterback is.
That’s the nature of having running backs coach Kurt Roper calling plays after offensive coordinator Tim Beck was hired as head coach at Coastal Carolina. Odds are good that freshman quarterback MJ Morris will get the start, but redshirt freshman Ben Finley could also get some series. The quarterback who can move the team will remain in the game, that is certain.
The NC State offense struggled running the ball in four of the last six games, rushing for less than 100 yards. The Wolfpack ended the year with 25 carries or 59 yards and a touchdown in the win over North Carolina.
Opposing teams rushed for 142.7 yards per game against Maryland this season.
2. NC State’s defense makes teams one-dimensional: NC State loves to blitz and that should be interesting with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa who managed 78 carries for 61 yards and four touchdowns this season. He actually is a better runner than those statistics indicate.
NC State has been adept at shutting down opposing run games all season. Opponents have rushed for an average of 102.8 rushing yards and 3.5 yards per carry against NC State. The Terrapins enter the game at 146.8 rushing yards per game. Maryland has thrown 408 passes and rushed 428 times.
Maryland scored at least 30 points in seven games this season, topped with 56 points against Charlotte, and a Big Ten-best 38 at Indiana on Oct. 15.
3. Special teams battle. NC State has the best kicker in college football with senior Christopher Dunn making 24 of 25 kicks with a long of 53.
Redshirt freshman punter Caden Noonkester has booted 22 punts for an average of 43.6 and a long of 67.
Maryland kicker Chad Ryland has gone 16 of 20 on field goals with a long of 53. Punter Colton Spangler has kicked 51 times for 45.0 yards this season. Kicker returner Octavian Smith is averaging 22.4 yards this season, with a long of 54.
The Terrapins had a punt blocked against Ohio State, but also blocked a Buckeyes field goal attempt, and returned it for two points.
Three numbers of note
9 Ranking nationally for safety Beau Brade in pass coverage by Pro Football Focus. He has an 84.6 grade.
14 Ranking nationally for Maryland in red-zone offense this season. The Terps have gone 41 of 45 in the red zone, with 32 of them touchdowns for 78 percent.
41 Different starters for Maryland this season — 25 on defense and 16 on offense — which is the seventh-most among FBS teams this season.
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