Remember when I mentioned that West Virginia's starting CB Brandon Hogan was arrested for DUI? At the time, there was some uncertainty regarding his availability for the Maryland-WVU game this Saturday, especially given West Virginia's perceived leniency with stuff like this, but it's official: he's been "suspended indefinitely" and is definitely out for Saturday's game.
The absence of Hogan is big. Not only was he all-Big East last year and probably the best player on the defense, there's not a lot behind him. Keith Tandy will become the 'Eers #1 corner, but there's recently been some discontent about him among the fans lately. He was beaten a few times against Marshall, and it's obvious that Torrey Smith's odds of a big play probably just shot up significantly.
More importantly, there's not that much depth at CB. Pat Miller is a true sophomore that saw some inconsistent playing time last year (but, admittedly, reportedly looked good in the time he saw). Brodrick Jenkins is the other possibility; he's a redshirt freshman and was impressive in the offseason. Both Miller and Jenkins have a lot of potential, but ultimately they're second-year players and former three-stars going up against two-year starters Adrian Cannon and Ronnie Tyler.
As a side effect, it now becomes even more important for Maryland to be able to pass the ball, because it'll likely be available. This is a big opportunity, and Maryland's not so good as to be able to squander it.