Here’s 5 things to watch in Saturday’s Penn State vs. Maryland college football game
The Penn State Nittany Lions (0-2) will look for their first win of the season when they take on the Maryland Terrapins (1-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday (BTN) at Beaver Stadium.
Here are five things you should keep an eye on:
WILL PENN STATE’S RUN GAME REBOUND?
Penn State finished with 44 rushing yards on 27 carries against Ohio State last weekend. That’s a dismal average of just 1.6 yards per carry. Sophomore running back Devyn Ford — who head coach James Franklin said would be the feature back moving forward — only carried the ball eight times for 36 yards. And neither freshman running back Caziah Holmes nor freshman running back Kevyone Lee got a single carry.
Instead, it was redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford who led the team in rushing attempts. But unlike in his 119-rushing yard performance in Week 1 against Indiana, he didn’t have success on the ground versus the Buckeyes. Clifford ended the night with 5 rushing yards on 18 attempts.
Franklin knows that he’ll have to get the freshman duo of Holmes and Lee — along with Ford — more involved in the future to avoid being one-dimensional on offense.
“I think Holmes and Lee are gonna have to be a big part of what we do moving forward,” Franklin said Tuesday. “We were forced into a situation in Week 1 to do it. I thought last week they kinda showed to us that they were ready for the moment, in terms of just kinda their demeanor and how they approach things.”
Through its first two games of the season, Maryland ranks 115th in the country in opponent rushing yards allowed (293.5). If the Nittany Lions can take advantage of the Terrapins’ glaring weakness, they could help their trio of running backs build some much-needed confidence.
PSU WR JAHAN DOTSON
There were a lot of questions heading into Penn State’s game versus Ohio State last week about whether junior receiver Jahan Dotson could be a reliable No. 1 option at receiver for Clifford. After Dotson’s performance against the Buckeyes, it’s safe to say he put those doubts to rest.
Dotson finished with career highs across the board: eight catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns. His second touchdown of the night — a stellar one-handed grab for a 21-yard score early in the fourth quarter — is an early candidate for catch of the year for the Nittany Lions. (The play was No. 2 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays on Saturday night.) And the fact that he did all that against one of the more talented secondaries in the country is plenty of reason to be optimistic about what he can accomplish moving forward.
Through Penn State’s two games so far, Dotson leads the team with 12 catches for 238 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Now, the question is: Can Dotson maintain that pace?
Senior cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields — who often goes up against Dotson in practice — sure seems to think so.
“That’s what he does — he can make one-hand catches; he makes off-balance catches,” Castro-Fields said Wednesday. “... He’s quick. He’s deceptive with his releases off the line, his route-running. He’s a complete receiver, and I just know he’s gonna take off this season and keep building on his performance last week.”
How Dotson follows up his career performance against Ohio State this Saturday against Maryland could go a long way in setting the tone for the rest of his season.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF FRESHMEN WRS
Since the preseason, Franklin has raved about the maturity of freshmen wide receivers Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Washington — who’s been listed as a starter on the depth chart since Week 1 — had only two catches for 12 yards in Penn State’s season-opener against Indiana. But Washington also showed he’s not afraid of big moments in that contest with a 9-yard touchdown grab in overtime. Then, against Ohio State last week, he finished with 73 receiving yards on four catches.
“He acts like he’s been there before,” Dotson said of Washington on Wednesday. “He’s really calm about things. He really just takes on pressure situations like a vet would, honestly. … He’s come in and just made plays.”
Lambert-Smith has had less of an impact so far than Washington, but he’s still looked good in moments. The Norfolk, Virginia, native was listed as a starter on the depth chart this week over redshirt junior receiver Cam Sullivan-Brown, who Franklin said has “had some things going on that wasn’t gonna allow him to play the way he wants to play.” Lambert-Smith has totaled four catches for 43 yards through two games this season.
As good as Dotson’s been as the Nittany Lions’ No. 1 wide receiver, the team will need Washington and Lambert-Smith to step up consistently so opposing secondaries can’t solely lock in on Dotson. Keep an eye on how the freshman duo fairs against the Terrapins on Saturday.
PENN STATE’S D-LINE
The Nittany Lions’ defensive line — particularly redshirt senior defensive end Shaka Toney and redshirt sophomore defensive end Jayson Oweh — looked nearly unstoppable down the stretch in Penn State’s game against Indiana in Week 1. Toney and Oweh combined for 15 quarterback pressures versus the Hoosiers, and the Nittany Lions as a team sacked IU quarterback Michael Penix Jr. three times.
Penn State sacked Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields twice last week, but, overall, the pressure it brought to the quarterback in its season-opener was nowhere to be found.
Oftentimes throughout the contest, Fields had ample time to throw — and he took advantage. Fields finished with 318 passing yards (28-34 completions) and four touchdowns against the Nittany Lions.
“We have two of the best edge rushers in the country (in Toney and Oweh),” junior defensive tackle P.J. Mustipher said Wednesday. “They’re gonna get a lot of attention. That’s when other guys have to step up.”
Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is coming off an overtime win against Minnesota in which he threw for 394 yards (26-35 completions), three touchdowns and one interception, while adding 59 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Tagovailoa became just the third player in Big Ten history to throw for at least 350 yards and three touchdowns and rush for two touchdowns.
It’ll be interesting to see if Penn State’s defensive line can win its battle in the trenches Saturday and make life difficult for Tagovailoa.
PSU OC KIRK CIARROCCA’S PLAY-CALLING
In the first half of Penn State’s game against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions’ offensive play-calling often made you scratch your head.
Penn State decided to go for it on fourth down in its own territory on its first drive of the contest. The failed attempt to convert gave the Buckeyes the ball on the Nittany Lions’ 45-yard line and they proceeded to score a touchdown five plays later to make it 14-0 less than seven minutes into the game.
The decision to run Clifford more times than he’d thrown in the first half was also questionable, especially when it was evident early on that the 6-foot-2, 217-pound quarterback couldn’t get it going with his legs against the Ohio State defense.
Franklin attributed the decision to run Clifford that often to knowing that they had to be “aggressive” against a team that can score as easily as the Buckeyes can.
It’s doubtful that Penn State will feel the same sense of urgency versus Maryland that it felt while facing Ohio State last week. Still, make sure to keep an eye on how the Nittany Lions’ first-year offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca draws up the game plan early on against the Terrapins on Saturday.
