Location: College Park, Maryland
Weather: 55 and 20% of rain
TV: BTN
Line: Michigan -16
It seems the weather has calmed down for the new kick off time of 12:00 on Saturday. The field might be a bit wet as they got rain on Thursday and it will rain most of the day on Friday. Sounds like the move to noon was a smart move by the Big Ten even if the Hurricane doesn't hit land.
Let's take a quick look at last week for both teams: Maryland was behind 38-0 to WVU at the half and Michigan was up 31-0 at half against BYU.
Tale of the Tape
Mich QB vs. Mary QB = Michigan
Maryland's Oline vs. Michigan Dline = Michigan
Harbaugh vs. Edsall = Jimmy
Michigan Secondary vs. Maryland QB's = Pick 6
Michigan punt and kick off returns vs. Maryland's return game = Maryland
Power vs. Spread = Power run game
Michigan has the advantage in pretty much every aspect of this game, except playing on the road and Maryland's return game. Will Likely is a 5'7 CB that is #2 in the nation in kick off returns and has returned 2 punts for TD's this season. It will be important for Michigan to keep him from going Rocket Ismail on the Wolverines on Saturday.
Maryland has a hard time stopping the run as they have given up: 201 rushing yards in a loss to Bowling Green, 240 to South Florida, and 304 to West Virginia last week. This is good news for the Michigan running backs.
Sing Hail to The Victors if......................................
- Michigan runs for 250 yards
- Michigan plays well on the road
- Rudock has another "clean" game
- Defense dominates another young QB
- Michigan creates 2 turnovers on defense
- Michigan continues to play poorly on the road (see UConn and Rutgers games)
- Michigan turns the ball over on offense
- Will Likely returns creates points
Maryland uses the spread to throw and pass. Due to poor QB play they haven't thrown the ball very well. Their starter last week Caleb Rowe threw 4 picks and has 9 total on the year. He will be the starter on Saturday.
Maryland can run the ball a little bit, as they are averaging nearly 6 yards a carry. It seems Maryland's offensive line run blocks better then they pass block. Michigan of course does a good job against he run and has the #10 defense against the run in the nation only giving up 82 yards per game.
Michigan is #2 in total defense nationally right now:
Total Defense: Last updated - October 2, 2015 Through games of October 1, 2015
| Rank | Team | G | Plays | YDS | Yds/Play | Off TDs | Opp TDs | YPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston College | 4 | 202 | 472 | 2.34 | 2 | 4 | 118.0 |
| 2 | Michigan | 4 | 235 | 815 | 3.47 | 4 | 5 | 203.8 |
| 3 | North Carolina St. | 4 | 195 | 823 | 4.22 | 6 | 6 | 205.8 |
| 4 | Kent St. | 4 | 254 | 874 | 3.44 | 12 | 15 | 218.5 |
| 5 | Appalachian St. | 3 | 177 | 739 | 4.18 | 4 | 5 | 246.3 |
| 6 | Ohio St. | 4 | 278 | 1013 | 3.64 | 6 | 6 | 253.3 |
This game shouldn't be close as Michigan is the better team. If you remember last year, Michigan was a dumpster fire and needed to beat Maryland at home to make a bowl game. Michigan ran for close to 300 yards but lost when Maryland scored twice in the 4th quarter. This is not 2014 and this team is coached by Jim Harbaugh. The difference is, this team is on the ascend not the decline.
Michigan 34 Maryland 10
1 comment:
Who called Al Borges back? Wtf is with this play calling! Maybe we're looking to put up all our pts AFTER halftime this week.
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