Maryland football is set to close the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon in State College as the Terps’ look to play spoiler against fourth-ranked Penn State. Who and what to know ahead of the Terps’ season finale:
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Names to Know:
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QB Drew Allar: Allar has been one of the top quarterbacks in the Big Ten for the last two years. He’s fifth in the nation with a 72.2 completion percentage and tied for third in yards per completion. He’s been efficient all year, completing at least 60% of his passes in every game, and had a single game where he threw more than one interception. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2023 and a semifinalist for the Davey O’Brien Award this year.
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RBs Kaytron Allen, and Nicholas Singleton: It is hard to explain how great these two have been since stepping on the field as true freshmen in 2022. Singleton rushed for over 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns that year, while Allen had over 850 yards and 10 touchdowns. Allen then took the team rushing title from his classmate in 2023. This year they are again doing equal damage to defenses with under 20 rushing yards separating them. Singleton is also the kickoff returner for Penn State and is prepared to run a big one back.
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TE Tyler Warren: Bowling Green’s Harold Fannin is the only tight end with more receiving yards than Warren in the FBS this year. On the year he has caught 75 passes for 910 yards and five touchdowns. His best performance came against USC where he had 17 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown. He was named a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award and a semifinalist for the Mackey Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year. He’s also been named a midseason All-American by multiple sites.
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DE Abdul Carter: Carter is not just the Nittany Lions’ best defender, he’s one of the best in college football. He leads the team with eight sacks along with his 48 tackles, three passes defended, and two forced fumbles. Carter is a game-wrecker every time he’s on the field. There’s a reason he’s projected to be a top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. He’s been named a semifinalist for the Lott Impact Award, Lombardi Award, Bednarik Award, and Walter Camp Player of the Year. He was an All-Big Ten selection in each of the last two seasons.
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S Jaylen Reed: Reed and Zakee Wheatley form one of the best safety duos in college football. Reed does everything for Penn State from that safety spot, leading the team in both tackles and interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown. He’s also knocked down two passes and has 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. Was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten in 2023.
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Record Watch:
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Tai Felton needs 144 receiving yards to break Marcus Badgett’s single-season record. Felton also needs 36 yards to pass Torrey Smith for third in school history in career receiving yards and 48 to pass Stefon Diggs for second. Two more touchdowns will put him into a tie for second in receiving in a single season with Jermaine Lewis and Marcus Badgett.
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Roman Hemby needs 119 rushing yards to move into tenth in school history. Hemby also needs one rushing touchdown to gain sole possession of fourth in school history.
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Billy Edwards Jr needs seven completions to pass Scott Milanovich’s 1993 season for the fourth-most completions by a Terp QB in a single season, 127 yards to pass Taulia Tagovailoa’s 2022 season for the fifth-most passing yards, and two touchdown passes to move into a tie for ninth.
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Series Notes:
Penn State won last year’s matchup 51-15 and leads the series 43-3-1.
The last Terp win came in 2020 with a final score of 35-19.
The Terps have gone 2-3 in Happy Valley since joining the Big Ten, winning in 2014 and 2020.
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