Maryland has made a concentrated effort to build the talent in the trenches under head coach Mike Locksley as the unit made noticeable strides last season with the addition of Mosiah Nasili-Kite and Ami Finau. With both back as starters alongside Sam Okuyainonu heading into Saturday, Maryland will face their first test of the season when an experienced Mountaineer offense travels to College Park.
Running back Leddie Brown plays a big role in the Terps’ defensive gameplan as the veteran accounted for over 74% of the team’s rushing yards one season ago. Backup running back Tony Mathis is a game-time decision for Saturday, potentially elevating the importance of Brown to West Virginia’s offensive success, but he’ll have the full attention of Maryland’s defense beginning at 3:30 PM on Saturday.
“He's one of those guys that you know, can hit the home run, runs behind his pads. You try to load the box up and make the safety his guy, he wins that battle,” head coach Mike Locksley said on Thursday. “The one-on-one battle against safeties and, you know, definitely on our radar as to who we have to do a great job of defending.” For Brown, becoming a reliable receiving back played a role in his decision to return to Morgantown as the Mountaineers are expected to move their electric tailback all over the field this season. That’ll give the offense one more weapon in the passing attack as Locksley noted the potential of West Virginia’s offense with quarterback Jarret Doege back under center. The Mountaineers also boast a pair of 6-foot-3 receivers at Doege’s disposal in Sean Ryan and Bryce Ford-Wheaton, but the attention that slot receiver Winston Wright is expected to garner is another integral aspect of the Terps' defensive gameplan.
“With Doege, I think the big thing with him is he gets the ball out quick, a veteran in the system now, he's got some weapons on the perimeter with his receivers, number one that they moved into the slot, though we know their slot guy gets a lot of attention and gets the ball a lot. I think his accuracy, his knowledge and his ability to orchestrate things on offense. He's one of those guys that you can tell he plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. And so I expect I expect them to be very well coached and execute at a high level and we've got to do a great job on defense.”
The “three starting cornerbacks” that Locksley alluded to this week will have their hands full as Tarheeb Still, Deonte Banks, and Jakorian Bennett are tasked with limiting Mountaineer receivers that possess great length. With every Maryland defensive back within the two-deep listed at 6-foot-1 or taller with the exception of Jakorian Bennett, the Terps have the size to match West Virginia’s personnel as Locksley notes what makes the unit electric.
“It's not that we go out and kind of say hey, we got to have 6’1” corners, but we're very fortunate that we do have that length and they all run really well. You know, we're a team that tends to play better when we're in man covers because it takes away the distractions of having too many different variables. It's like, ‘hey, you have him, you have him, cover him.’ And yeah, West Virginia definitely poses a great issue for us on the outside because of their size and you know, the quarterback’s accurate passer does a great job of, you know, getting the ball in areas where they have a chance at the 50-50. And so, definitely will be a great matchup, one that we've got to do a great job of staying in great phase, as we call it, with those big guys that were in a position to contest some of those 50-50 balls.”