On Saturday, Michigan has a lot riding on it. Not only do the Wolverines need to win to stay in the College Football Playoff race and have a chance to repeat as Big Ten champs, but if they defeat Maryland, Michigan will become the first program to achieve 1,000 wins.
Michigan has beaten Maryland two years in a row, and the Wolverines lead the all-time rivalry 10-1.
Maryland started the season off going 5-0 and appeared to be a prolific team in 2023, but as usual, the Terps dropped four games in a row once Big Ten play started. After defeating Nebraska last weekend, Maryland will enter the contest with Michigan at 6-4.
Here are three keys to a Michigan victory over the Terrapins.
1. Make Taulia Tagovailoa feel pressure
Senior Taulia Tagovailoa is one of the premier passers in the Big Ten. Maryland is second in the conference throwing for 281 yards per game and Tagovailoa leads the Big Ten averaging 276.9 yards per game through the air.
He also leads the conference with 22 touchdowns thrown on the season, but Tagovailoa’s weakness is throwing the football to the other team. He is tied with Purdue’s Hudson Card throwing eight interceptions on the season which is next to last in the Big Ten.
As a team, Maryland ranks 80th in the nation with 15 turnovers lost and a significant piece of that pie belongs to the quarterback. Tagovailoa has the ability to escape the pocket and make plays with his feet, but if he starts feeling pressure then he can become off-balanced and make poor throws.
If the Michigan defensive line can get some pressure on Tagovailoa and force some errant passes, the Wolverines could be in store for a turnover or two on Saturday to set up their offense.
2. Get J.J. McCarthy back in rhythm
Michigan just ran the ball 32 straight times against Penn State in the second half last week. The last time McCarthy registered a pass on the stat sheet was with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
This may be more of an overarching key, but with Ohio State next on the schedule, the Wolverines will want both the run game and passing attack rolling.
Michigan has leaned on the arm of McCarthy’s for most of the season and it’s not like he couldn’t perform last weekend. He went 7-for-8 and looked sharp throwing the ball, but he only threw it eight times.
I’m sure Michigan will want to keep the run game going and keep both Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards rolling with confidence heading into The Game, but getting McCarthy back on schedule feels equally as important.
McCarthy has a chance to get it done this weekend against Maryland. The Terps have the 54th-ranked pass defense in the country, compared to them having the 34th-ranked rushing defense. The Wolverines have a chance to throw it against Maryland on Saturday if they choose to.
3. Pass protection needs to hold up
The Wolverines struggled with pass protection last weekend. But Penn State has tremendous Edge rushers that gave a few of the Michigan O-linemen troubles.
While Maryland is no Penn State, the Terps are one of the better teams in the conference and country at getting to the opposing quarterback. The Terps rank third in the Big Ten and 20th in the country recording 28 sacks — Penn State has 38 for comparison.
This season, Maryland has five players with three or more sacks. Linebacker Kellan Wyatt leads the Terrapins with 4.5 sacks, but Michigan will need to focus on several players this Saturday.
Maryland, like Penn State, can play aggressively at the quarterback, and this will be another good test for the Michigan offensive line to see if they improved from last weekend against the Nittany Lions.
