Penn State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Maryland in Week 5
By Brian Miller
Fans will be in for a treat this Friday night as Maryland’s high octane offense plays host to Penn State football’s 96th-ranked pass defense.
Expect to see both of these teams leave it all on the field as PSU fights to remain undefeated and Maryland does everything they can to avoid chalking up a second loss of September.
Here are our boldest predictions for the Penn State Maryland game this Friday night.
3. Penn State shuts down Maryland’s run game
Maryland’s eighth-ranked run game already features six different running backs who have scored a touchdown so far and we’re still in September. Among those six running backs, four of them have at least 146 yards rushing on the season and average at least 4.5 yards per carry and collectively rush for over 270 yards per game.
That said, on Friday night the Terps will have serious problems moving the ball on Penn State as the Nittany Lions feature one of the best run-stopping defenses in the nation. Don’t be surprised if Maryland’s running backs only manage to be half as productive as they usually are, finishing the game only slightly over 100 yards on the ground.
In the early parts of the game, Mike Locksley will try to get things going by rotating these four running backs into the game but by halftime will be forced to change his offensive game-plan to focus primarily on the passing game.
Penn State will run into similar problems on offense as they face the best rushing defense they’ve seen so far this season. In this regard, Penn State and Maryland are very evenly-matched as their rushing defenses are ranked ninth and 10th in the country, respectively.