3 predictions for Maryland-Richmond

In case you've been living under a rock, Maryland football opens its season this Saturday against Richmond. Here are three things you can expect in this game that aren't, like, "Maryland will beat this FCS team."

Perry Hills will have a completion percentage over 60 percent:

He completed 57 percent of his passes in his stint under center as a true freshman, and he's certainly improved as a thrower and a thinker since then. Combine that with an overmatched FCS oppenent, and Hills could end up seeing some pretty good results at the end of the day. Building confidence will be important for the redshirt junior, so expect offensive coordinator Mike Locksley to try to get him in a rythm early with some short passes that will boost his completion percentage.

Maryland will struggle to defend the run, at least for parts of the game:

Richmond actually has a pretty strong run game. Redshirt senior Seth Fisher is a solidly-built tailback, coming in at 6'2", 232 lbs. Maryland is debuting its new 4-3 scheme on defense Saturday and a lot of players are seeing their first game action at unfamiliar positions, so there could be some miscommunications that allow Fisher to break free for some chunks of yardage. The Terps' size advantage will keep the Spiders from running all over them, but some mild success in the ground game is certainly possible.

Taivon Jacobs is going to impress some people:

Levern Jacobs's younger brother impressed the coaching staff last offseason and was in position to contribute as a fourth or fifth receiver and kick returner before suffering a season-ending injury in the season opener against James Madison. He has as much talent as any receiver on the team, and he'll finally get to show it this weekend. Jacobs is competing for the third wide receiver spot with Malcolm Culmer this season so his role for Saturday's game isn't exactly clear, but the fans finally have their chance to see what the coaching staff has seen for the past two years. Jacobs should see some significant time against Richmond, especially if the game gets out of hand.

Any predictions you think I missed? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.