Maryland squandered a chance at a seventh win in last weekend’s road game against Wisconsin and will look to rebound this upcoming weekend once again on the road, this time against a top-15 Penn State team coming off a 31-point win at Indiana.
While Maryland has a chance to stack wins to close the regular season, a pair of bowl games are closing in as potential favorites with the Duke’s Mayo and Guaranteed Rate Bowl games drawing the Terps across multiple outlets.
The projections to the Music City Bowl have fallen by the wayside, but Maryland still has an opportunity to face a marquee opponent to close the 2022 season. Maryland and Ole Miss haven’t squared off since the early 1950s while a potential matchup against Oklahoma State would be the first in program history. Oklahoma, meanwhile, has rebounded after a disappointing start to the season and is coming off a 27-13 win at Iowa State.
Maryland, of course, can improve their bowl outlook with another win or two this season with matchups against ranked opponents over the next two weeks. Maryland will look for its second consecutive win in Happy Valley this weekend as the two border foes square off. “We’ve played in tough environments. That’s what you sign up for when you’re playing the Big Ten,” Locksley said on Tuesday.
Penn State is coming off a 45-14 win at Indiana and Maryland head coach Mike Locksley knows what makes the Nittany Lions’ offense successful. “[Sean Clifford] is the guy that kinda of makes them go. I know they’ve continued to develop the younger quarterbacks as well, [Drew] Allar has played I think in seven of the games. The two young running backs that they have have really shown to be really productive players for them. [Parker Washington] is probably one of the better receivers I’ve seen on tape and he makes a lot of plays. On offense, even along the tight ends, [Brenton Strange] and [Theo Johnson], both those guys, they create some matchup issues themselves and they’ve got the attention of our defense.”
Maryland will look to limit Clifford’s production to stifle the Nittany Lions. “It starts with Sean Clifford. He’s a veteran guy that we know a lot about. Got to do a really good job of containing them.”
Maryland, meanwhile, will make consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in nearly ten years.
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