Penn State vs. Maryland Prediction, Game Preview

It’s the first game for Maryland (2-4) in the post-Randy Edsall era, and there’s no time to take any sort of a break with a brutal schedule ahead. Penn State (5-2) might have been exposed last week against Ohio State, but that doesn’t mean it can’t go on a big roll against a not-that-bad run over the next few weeks. Check out the Penn State vs. Maryland prediction and game preview.

Penn State vs. Maryland Game Preview

Broadcast

Date: Saturday, Oct. 24
Game Time: 3:30 pm
Venue: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Network: ESPN

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Why You Need To Care

Penn State is okay. The defense is great, the offense is not so great, but the schedule has been just light enough to come up with a nice first half of the season. While just getting by isn’t what Penn State fans are going to want going forward, considering where the program was at 16 months ago, being in a position to go bowling again with one more win is a plus. However, Illinois has been okay – that’s not a layup next week. Closing out with road games at Northwestern and Michigan State, along with a home game against Michigan, could be very rough and very stressful. The time to get that sixth win is now.

Maryland hasn’t been able to find its offense. Miserable for long stretches, the Terps can’t throw, the defense hasn’t been able to pick up the slack, and overall, everything was trending downward just enough to force out head coach Randy Edsall – this was bigger than just losing to Ohio State. With road trips to Iowa and Michigan State sandwiched around a home game against Wisconsin, it’s not going to be a fun run over the next month. Penn State at home is the easiest game until late November against Indiana.

Why Penn State Will Win

Maryland might as well not even attempt a pass. Even when the Terp running game was working – running for 253 yards against Ohio State – it hasn’t really mattered. The Penn State defensive front should be able to handle the mobility out of the backfield, while the secondary won’t have any concerns about getting tagged with anything deep. One of the biggest disappointments of the Big Ten season, the Maryland receiving corps isn’t working – Maryland has thrown for over 200 yards just once this year with a whopping 17 interceptions and just ten scoring throws. Penn State doesn’t give up much through the air.

Why Maryland Will Win

Penn State can’t do much offensively, either. It’s not as bad an attack as Maryland’s, but Christian Hackenberg has been awful, the running game hasn’t been able to control things, and there’s no worry about the score getting out of hand. The Nittany Lions just don’t have the ability to put a big number on the board. If this is a tight game, Maryland could turn things around with the return game thanks to William Likely, one of the team’s few bright spots averaging 22.65 yards per punt return with two scores. The punting game has been a problem at times for Penn State – the Terps could turn the game around with one play.

Player Who Matters

Mike Locksley is being given another shot to show what he can do. An utter disaster in every way possible, Locksley came up with one of the worst coaching eras in decades, going 2-26 at New Mexico with scandals, suspensions, arguments, a DWI, and lots and lots of losses. Back at Maryland as Edsall’s offensive coordinator after serving on the staff under Ralph Friedgen – and later working at Florida and Illinois – he’ll try to pick up the pieces as the interim head coach. Can he do anything with the offense he helped put together? Here’s the chance to do something special.

What’s Going To Happen?

Penn State’s defense is going to dominate. Maryland has had two weeks to prepare, and it’ll keep the score close, but the Nittany Lion front seven will dominate.