Maryland moved to 4-2 after a disappointing loss against Purdue on Saturday. Now the Terps move onto the Hoosiers as they travel to Bloomington this weekend for a 3:30 PM kickoff. Maryland opens as a 10.5 point favorite against Indiana according to FanDuel. Maryland is 4-2 against the spread through the first five weeks of the season. ESPN gives Maryland a 80% chance to top Indiana this weekend.
Head Coach: Tom Allen, 6th year at Indiana, 26-32
2021 Overall: 2-10, Conference: 0-8,
2022 Record: 3-3
Tom Allen decided to shake his staff up on Sunday morning ahead of his matchup with the Terps.
Indiana fires OL coach/run game coordinator Darren Hiller. He will be replaced by former NIU/Temple coach Rod Carey
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 9, 2022
The Hoosiers had the worst offense in the Big Ten last season averaging 290 yards per game, it had a nightmare of a time with turnovers, they couldn’t run the ball, and the team scored 15 points or fewer in eight of the 12 games.
Head coach Tom Allen will take a more active role in the attack, and a slew of skill parts just got a whole lot more interesting through the transfer portal.
Indiana will also have a new look under center with QB Michael Penix off to Washington and in comes former Missouri starter Connor Bazelak. Bazelak is 155-of-295 on the season with 1,597 yards passing. He also has nine touchdowns to go along with six interceptions.
The receiving corps lost Ty Fryfogle and leading receiver tight end Peyton Hendershot. In comes JUCO transfer Cam Camper and North Carolina transfer Emery Simmons to join DJ Matthews, who showed promise early last year before getting hurt.
The running game is getting an overhaul, too. Most of the top backs are gone, but in comes Shaun Shivers from Auburn and Josh Henderson from North Carolina to add a nice tandem to shine if the line play is fine. If freshman Jaylin Lucas is just that good, look out for this group. Shivers leads the group with 85 carries for 370 yards and four touchdowns.
It’s not a total redo up front around left tackle Luke Haggard and versatile interior blocker Zach Carpenter, but it’s going to take a little work. Get the running game going, keep defenses from living in the backfield, IU’s front five has to be better at both.
The defense was worse than the offense last season. Like the offense, the D has a whole lot of new parts for a group that needs work.
In comes Chad Wilt, a former Maryland assistant who spent the last few years at Minnesota and now takes over in his first defensive coordinator gig. He inherits a group that was the worst in the Big Ten in scoring defense, couldn’t get to the quarterback, and couldn’t generate turnovers.
The secondary is the best position group on the field. It struggled throughout last year, but getting back CB Tiawan Mullen, who was hurt for most of 2021, is a huge plus to go along with Jaylin Williams on the other side. The safeties will be a positive, too, around veteran Devon Matthews.
LB Micah McFadden tried to carry the entire defense by himself, and now he’s off trying to be a New York Giant. Miami transfer Bradley Jennings is attempting to fill the void, and Cam Jones is a veteran holdover from last year who should be one of the team’s leading tacklers.
Cal transfer JH Tevis adds a whole lot of help to the defensive interior, and UCLA’s Myles Jackson needs to be the answer to the pass rush problems, probably at IU’s Bull position. Throw in 319-pound Ole Miss transfer LeDarrius Cox into the rotation, and the Hoosiers are alright.
LB Bradley Jennings, Sr.
Auburn RB Shaun Shivers is going to be a big deal. North Carolina WR Emery Simmons needs to be a huge deal.
Trying to find a linebacker who can step in for Micah McFadden, though, could be the toughest deal of all.
Jennings, the older brother of former Maryland linebacker Branden Jennings, is a smallish 6-1, 222-pound transfer from Miami who made 68 tackles in his career theres, but it took him a season to get over an injury, came back to start 11 games last year, and now he needs to be a star for the Hoosier linebacking corps.
