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Leading up to the start of Maryland's football season on Sept. 3, we're doing an at-a-glance preview of every opponent on the schedule.
Week 1: Howard (Sept. 3, Maryland Stadium, 12 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network)
Week 2: FIU (Sept. 9, Ocean Bank Field, Miami, 7:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network)
Week 3: UCF (Sept. 17, Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, 7 p.m., CBS Sports Network)
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Purdue (Oct. 1, Maryland Stadium, 3:30 p.m., TV TBA)
Week 6: Penn State (Oct. 8, Beaver Stadium, 12:00 p.m., TV TBA)
Week 7: Minnesota: (Oct. 15., Maryland Stadium, time and TV TBA)
Week 8: Michigan State (Oct. 22, Maryland Stadium, 7:30 p.m., Big Ten Network)
Week 9: Indiana (Oct. 29, Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, TV TBA)
Week 10: Michigan (Nov. 5, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, time and TV TBA)
Week 11: Ohio State (Nov. 12, Maryland Stadium, time and TV TBA)
Remember that time Maryland was tied with Ohio State in the third quarter of their 2015 matchup? No, you didn’t make that up, it actually happened. The Buckeyes of course dusted the Terrapins by a final margin of 49-28, but this game really was 21-all in the third quarter after Perry Hills dashed into the end zone for a score.
After Maryland gets home from its trip to Michigan this season, it gets the privilege of hosting a rematch with Ohio State. This should be a totally fun and definitely not depressing two weeks of football.
Last year’s Ohio State team was the one that was supposed to win it all by capitalizing on the vast amount of young returning talent from the 2014 National Championship squad. That didn’t end up happening and the Buckeyes are replacing a whole lot of starters, but they’re replacing those starters with ridiculously talented youngsters, which makes for an interesting team.
How good is this team?
In all likelihood, the Buckeyes are still going to be great in 2016. Even if they can’t beat Michigan, they’re probably the second-best team in the Big Ten, at worst (Michigan vs. Ohio State is Nov. 26, mark your calendars). Even though they’re replacing more starters than just about anyone, almost all of their projected starters were blue-chip recruits, so they’ll be pretty good.
Who should I watch?
Quarterback J.T. Barrett returns for his junior season. With Cardale Jones on the NFL, it’s Barrett’s show, and something tells me he’ll be closer to the 2014 version of himself than the 2015 one, which split time with Jones throughout the year.
Linebacker Raekwon McMillan creates a lot of problems. He racks up a lot of tackles, is the quarterback of Ohio State’s defense, and is a force against the run.
Snap prediction, way ahead of time: Does Maryland win?
Most likely not. It seems like Maryland will have an easier time against Ohio State than it will against Michigan, but that’s not saying much. Bill Connelly’s advanced metrics give Maryland a 28 percent chance of winning, which isn’t great.