by

2018 Season Rewind: Maryland

2018 PREDICTIONS

WHERE I WENT RIGHT

Hitting the Big Ten mark feels good and for the most part I accurately described Maryland’s offensive attack.

WHERE I WENT WRONG

Literally everything else.  I wrote the Maryland post after the passing of Jordan McNair but well before the D.J. Durkin story unraveled and he was fired.  At no point did I discuss Matt Canada as head coaching.  At no point did I discuss Maryland hiring a new coach last winter.  On top of those major omissions, I tossed Anthony McFarland in as a nice recruit who added depth and he went on to led the team in rushing.  I discussed the kicking game being a total unknown and was unimpressed that freshman Joseph Petrino had just one other offer, Army.  He ended up being a solid kicker.  Lastly I said to lock Maryland into a bowl.  Yup, didn’t happen.  I’d like to say in hindsight knowing the Durkin story would have changed my prediction, but I doubt it.  They were a loss to Temple, a two point loss to Indiana, or an overtime thriller against Ohio State away from a sixth win and bowling.  I doubt I would have switched my Temple pick after the scandal was exposed, and those near misses in league showed the potential of this team.

SEASON-DEFINING MOMENT

Obviously McNair’s tragic death and the massive institutional upheaval that followed in its wake defined 2018 but this section of the recap was created to highlight a marquee win or a gut-wrenching loss.  So for Maryland this is the second place season-defining moment, but the top one on the field.  I’m sure a lot of Terps fans would highlight the four game skid to end the year when they were 5-3 (3-2) and lost out on a bowl but I’m not a Maryland fan, I’m an outsider and what I’ll remember about Maryland’s 2018 is their opening day upset of Texas.  There was a ton of emotion in honoring McNair, a gutty performance by quarterback Kasim Hill, and some clutch takeaways.

MVP

Anthony McFarland, RB – the debut season was impressive with 1,034 yards, a 7.9 average, and 4 scores.  This is undoubtedly a good season but what pushes him to MVP status is how big he played in some of the biggest moments of the season.  He had over 120 yards in three of Maryland’s early season wins.  He had 210 in the narrow loss to Indiana and racked up an absurd 298 yards in the overtime thriller against Ohio State.

  • Honorable Mention: Tre Watson, LB – Maryland’s defense finished a middle of the pack 60th in yards per game allowed, up from 86th in 2017.  Watson was a big part of that improvement with a team leading 114 tackles, 70 of them solo.  In addition to racking up the tackles, he had one sack, three defended passes, five interceptions, one pick six, forced a fumble, and a recovered fumble.

Leave a comment