Maryland
Grading Maryland football’s position groups after its loss to No. 3 Michigan
Maryland football twice had an opportunity to take a late lead against No. 3 Michigan.
But it was ultimately unable to overcome a disastrous five-minute span in the second quarter, and the undefeated Wolverines escaped College Park with a 31-24 victory.
Here’s how every Maryland position group performed against Michigan.
Quarterback
Michigan had not allowed an opponent this season to score more than 15 points before Saturday’s game. It also had an average margin of victory of six touchdowns.
Taulia Tagovailoa, although coming up just short, delivered a valiant performance in his final home game. And you can’t fail to mention Billy Edwards Jr.’s three rushing scores.
However, Tagovailoa’s late interception and early fumble each came in a crucial spot.
His 241-yard performance captured what Tagovailoa’s entire Maryland career has shown: a lot of highs, with some crushing lows.
Grade: B
Running back
Maryland’s rushing game found a rhythm in the second half at Nebraska, but came crashing back down to earth against the Wolverines’ top-10 defense.
56 yards on 20 carries is a more efficient performance than most in recent weeks, but no running back managed an explosive play — or a run of more than seven yards, at that.
Grade: C-
Wide receiver
Not seeing a receiver fumble was a positive sight for the Terps, and the unit had a successful afternoon overall.
Kaden Prather once again made the highlight reel, hauling in a contested 34-yard catch. His 81 yards led all Terps, but Tai Felton saw the most action, with five catches for 41 yards on 10 targets.
Jeshaun Jones also tacked on 70 yards in his last game at SECU Stadium.
Grade: B
Tight end
Corey Dyches’ production has been up-and-down this season, and on Saturday, he was a reliable, yet fairly inefficient source. He caught all five of his targets for 26 yards. He also didn’t see an overwhelming number of snaps in blocking situations, per usual.
Grade: C+
Offensive line
What’s been known all season was once again made clear against Michigan. Maryland’s offensive line isn’t horrendous, but it is far from being able to compete against the best.
Protection held up alright, but when it didn’t, the results were costly. The unit gave up four sacks for a loss of 49 yards.
Grade: C-
Defensive line
Michigan’s offensive line has won the Joe Moore Award — given to the best unit in the nation — in each of the past two years, and the Wolverines had success at the line of scrimmage.
Blake Corum ran to the tune of 94 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries and Donovan Edwards tacked on 39 yards. Both players’ performances were still less efficient than their season averages, though.
And when the Terps needed stops in the fourth quarter to give the offense a chance, Michigan’s running backs found themselves constantly stood up.
Grade: B+
Linebacker
One of the biggest plays of the game came late in the first half. Deep in Maryland territory with a chance to go up 20, Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy threw the ball into the hands of Jaishawn Barham. Not only did the pick keep the deficit at two scores, but it was Barham’s first career interception.
That play gave Maryland’s defense a bolt of energy, as Michigan’s offense scored just once after that.
Barham and Ruben Hyppolite II were dominant all afternoon, clogging up the middle of the field and combining for 17 tackles — eight of those solo.
Grade: B+
Secondary
Lights-out is the only way to describe the secondary, albeit it should be noted that Michigan’s top target, Roman Wilson, exited the game early.
McCarthy struggled to find receivers thereafter, ending his day 12-of-23 passing for 141 yards.
Beau Brade and Ja’Quan Sheppard each finished with a pass breakup and tackle for loss, with no play more memorable than Sheppard’s thunderous second-half sack on McCarthy.
Grade: A
Special teams
We should’ve known it would be a wacky day after it took three tries for Jack Howes to send the opening kickoff deep.
Howes made his lone field goal attempt, a 35-yarder, and Brenden Segovia had a tough day with Colton Spangler still off punting duties.
Segovia’s first punt was blocked for a safety — an eventual nine-point swing — and his second went just 32 yards.
Grade: D
Coaching
Maryland put together a good game plan to pull off the unthinkable. It came out with an early score and had a chance to win in the end.
Unlike past weeks, no questionable play calls stood out, but a loss is still a loss.
Grade: B+
Maryland
Maryland begins the post-Tagovailoa era against a UConn team laden with newcomers
UConn at Maryland, Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (FS1)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Maryland by 20 1/2.
Series record: Maryland leads 2-1.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Maryland must replace standout quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa after he gave the Terrapins several years of stability at the position. Billy Edwards Jr., MJ Morris and Cameron Edge are candidates to step in. UConn enters its third season under coach Jim Mora. He’s 9-16 so far. The Huskies are one of a small number of major college football independents, and there’s talk of the program joining the Big 12 eventually. So the progress — or lack thereof — for UConn football may be under a significant microscope this year.
KEY MATCHUP
Maryland’s defense against a UConn team with plenty of new faces. The Terps’ defense seems like the closest thing to a known commodity in this game after Maryland held opponents to just 22.5 points per game last season. The Huskies, meanwhile, added 51 new players to the roster since the end of the 2023 season.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
UConn: QB Nick Evers started his career at Oklahoma and was with Wisconsin before transferring to the Huskies. He has three years of eligibility and is pretty much a blank slate, having appeared in only one college game.
Maryland: RB Roman Hemby ran for nearly 1,000 yards in 2022 and then produced 680 on the ground last season. He’s also capable of contributing as a pass catcher.
FACTS & FIGURES
Maryland has won a bowl game in three straight seasons for the first time. That’s part of the reason the Terps have now won 12 straight nonconference games overall. … UConn OL Chase Lundt was picked for the 2025 Senior Bowl watch list. … The Terps have allowed progressively fewer points per game since 2019: 34.7, 32.0, 30.7, 23.2 and 22.5. … This is UConn’s lone scheduled game this season against the Big Ten.
Maryland
UConn football travels to play Maryland in season opener
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WFSB) – The UConn football team will travel to play the University of Maryland on Saturday.
This will be their third road game in the last four seasons to open the season.
Kick-off is scheduled for 12:03 p.m. at SECU Stadium in College Park, and the game will be televised on FS1.
It will be the fourth-ever meeting between the Huskies and Terrapins, with Maryland currently holding a 2-1 series edge.
This year marks the fourth season the Huskies have competed as an independent team.
The match-up with Maryland is the only game against a Big Ten school this season.
UConn has three match-ups with teams from the ACC this season (Duke, Wake Forest, Syracuse) and will face four teams from their former conference, The American (FAU, Temple, Rice, UAB).
Tickets are still available for the home opener and other games this season. Click here for more information.
Copyright 2024 WFSB. All rights reserved.
Maryland
EPA may increase oversight of state stormwater programs in Chesapeake region – Maryland Matters
By Karl Blankenship
Chesapeake Bay Journal
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is warning states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed that they are “significantly off track” in meeting goals to reduce stormwater pollution and that the agency may exert greater oversight of those efforts.
The warning came in the EPA’s most recent evaluation of state-written plans that will guide their actions through 2025, the region’s voluntary deadline for meeting goals to reduce pollution in the Bay.
State and federal officials now acknowledge that the target, established in 2010, will be missed by a large margin, mostly because of shortfalls in the agricultural sector, the largest source of water-fouling nutrients to the Bay.
But runoff from developed lands also contributes a significant amount of nutrient pollution — which includes both nitrogen and phosphorus — to the Bay and its rivers. And, according to computer models, the load is increasing as more land is turned into buildings, roads and parking lots.
Although stormwater runoff has steadily increased since 2010, the evaluations released Aug. 14 mark the first time that the EPA issued a warning to all Bay states that their programs could be subject to greater scrutiny. The warning was not given to the District of Columbia, which has met its goals.
The reviews did not say exactly what actions the EPA might take. But Adam Ortiz, administrator of the agency’s mid-Atlantic region, said he wanted to see “meaningful progress” from the states.
Ortiz said the agency had not warned of possible actions over stormwater programs in past reviews because of the need to focus on agricultural runoff, which states are counting on for the vast majority of future nutrient reductions. But state and federal agencies have greatly ramped up spending for farm conservation efforts in recent years, he noted.
Chesapeake’s underwater grasses rebound for third year
“Agriculture is now going in the right direction overall, and stormwater has been the stubborn one for a variety of reasons,” Ortiz said. “It’s the toughest and most expensive, and it’s where we’re seeing the most growth with our populations and impervious surfaces.”
Ortiz said Bay states need to be more timely in issuing stormwater permits and demonstrate that they have enough staffing and funding to oversee their programs.
Much of the stormwater runoff is addressed through state-issued permits, which cover densely developed urban and suburban lands. But a growing amount of runoff comes from development in rural and dispersed areas that aren’t currently required to have stormwater permits.
Ortiz said the EPA could begin recommending that permit programs be expanded to such areas.
Kristin Reilly, director of the Choose Clean Water Coalition, which represents more than 300 organizations in the Chesapeake watershed, said she welcomed the stormwater emphasis, noting that it is an area her members have highlighted for years.
“We’re happy to see that it’s finally being called out,” she said, but added that the EPA had been unclear in its reviews about exactly what it would do to increase oversight.
She noted that states often have been late in issuing new permits and that those permits often don’t contain the specific measures needed to reduce runoff.
“It’s less about whether [the permit] was reissued,” Reilly said, “It’s more about what is in the permit. Is it a strong permit?”
The EPA’s evaluations covered plans written by each Bay jurisdiction outlining the nutrient reduction actions they plan to take in 2024-25, and it also included a review of state progress toward targets set for 2022-23. The plans, or “milestones,” are written in two-year increments as part of an effort to ensure that states are on track to meeting their goals.
If the EPA concludes that states are not showing adequate results, it can take a variety of actions to prod greater progress, such as withholding clean water grant money or forcing wastewater treatment plants to make up for shortfalls in other sectors, such as agriculture and stormwater.
Key environmental group seeks more action on Bay cleanup from feds, states
The agency has historically been reluctant to take such actions, though.
In its reviews, the EPA said all Bay states need to demonstrate that they are accelerating efforts to reduce agricultural runoff. Ortiz acknowledged there is “still a big gap” in meeting agricultural goals, but he said, “the bleeding has stopped, and we’re moving in the right direction.”
The EPA reviews also show that Delaware is particularly far off track. The state has achieved only 9% of the nitrogen reductions needed to meet its goals. “We’re in conversations with Delaware, the results have been concerning,” Ortiz said, adding “more to come.”
Among other jurisdictions, all but the District of Columbia and West Virginia were falling short of at least some targets they had set for 2023:
- Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York did not meet targets for nitrogen, phosphorus or sediment.
- Virginia did not achieve targets for nitrogen or phosphorus but it did for sediment.
- Maryland did not achieve targets for nitrogen but did for phosphorus and sediment.
The District of Columbia has met its nutrient and sediment goals, thanks to upgrades at the Blue Plains wastewater treatment plant. It also has undertaken massive upgrades to fix its combined sewer overflow system, which used to send untreated sewage into the Anacostia and Potomac rivers during heavy storms.
Most states are further off track than the EPA review indicates, though. The agency used an older version of a computer model to evaluate nutrient reduction progress. Had a newer version been used, states would have had even less progress.
The EPA said it would begin using the newer model to evaluate state progress beginning next year.
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