The Maryland Terrapins meet the West Virginia Mountaineers in week 1 college football action from Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium on Saturday.
The West Virginia Mountaineers come into the 2021 season looking to take another step forward after a 6-4 campaign in 2020, culminating with a 24-21 win over Army in the Liberty Bowl. Jarret Doege is back and expected to start at quarterback for the Mountaineers after starting all 10 games last year, throwing for almost 2,600 yards, 14 touchdowns and 4 picks, but a bad performance in the bowl game where Doege was pulled left questions for the Mountaineers if he’d be the guy to lead the charge this season. Running back may be the underrated strength of this team, after Leddie Brown rushed for 1,010 yards and 9 TDs last season while also having a rotation featuring A’Varius Sparrow, Tony Mathis and recruits like Jaylen Anderson and Justin Johnson Jr. There’s also options at receiver for WVU with Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Sam James and Winston Wright Jr. James was a frustrating receiver to back if you were a Mountaineer fan last year, but Ford-Wheaton and Wright Jr. showed glimmers of promise after combining for 74 catches, almost 1,000 yards and 5 TDs last season. T.J. Banks and Mike O’Laughlin are also names you’ll hear at tight end for West Virginia this season. Defensively, the Mountaineers bring back some solid pieces, starting up front, with Dante Stills recording 10.5 TFLs last season while Jeffrey Pooler Jr. and Akheem Mesidor return after the latter logged five sacks last season. Josh Chandler-Semedo, VanDarius Cowan and Jared Bartlett will be the likely faces at linebacker while the secondary will need to be rebuilt after losing guys like Tykee Smith to the transfer portal. Sean Mahone and Alonzo Addae return to fill the safety spots while Nicktroy Fortune, Jackie Matthews and Daryl Porter are the expected names at corner for the Mountaineers this season. As a team, West Virginia averaged 26.5 PPG while allowing 20.5 PPG last season.
The Maryland Terrapins will be trying to build on a decent season after a 2-3 mark in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season for the Terps. Taulia Tagovailoa is back under center with new offensive co-ordinator Dan Enos a year after Tagovailoa threw for 252.8 passing yards per game with a 61.5% completion percentage last season, both ranking 3rd in the Big Ten. Tagovailoa also starred last season after throwing for 676 yards and 6 touchdowns while also rushing for another 2 in their wins over Minnesota and Penn State. Tayon Fleet-Davis will lead the charge in the backfield as a do-it-all type running back, while Dontay Demus Jr. leads Maryland’s receiving group with 10 career touchdowns, averaging 15 yards per reception last season. Rakim Jarrett showed tremendous upside as a true freshman, while Brian Cobbs and Jeshaun Jones will also be key cogs in Maryland’s receiver rotation. The Terps also have a solid pair of tight ends in Malik Jackson and Chigoziem Okonkwo, the latter of which missed the 2020 season but is back for this year. Defensively, a lot has to be done to improve a defense that was in the bottom half of the Big Ten in a lot of defensive categories, including 230 rushing yards allowed per game, the second-worst in the conference. Durell Nchami is back after injuries cut his 2020 season short on the D-line, as well as Mosiah Nasili-Kite, Ami Finau and Joseph Boletepeli. There’s also tremendous depth at linebacker, with Fa’Najae Gotay, Ruben Hyppolite II and Demeioun Robinson in the fray while budding stars like Branden Jennings and a new recruit in Terrence Lewis should get their fair share of looks on the field as well this season. The secondary may be the Terps’ greatest strength, with guys like top safety Nick Cross, Jordan Mosley and another rising recruit in Osita Smith while the corners feature names like Tarheeb Still, who was all-Big Ten as a true freshman, Deonte Banks, Jakarian Bennett and Lavonte Gater. As a team, Maryland averaged 23.6 PPG while allowing 32 PPG last season.
The over is 6-1 in West Virginia’s last 7 games as a favorite. Maryland is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall while the over is 7-1 in their last 8 week 1 matchups.
This should be an interesting matchup but realistically, I’m still not buying what Maryland is selling. The Terrapins are just not up to snuff in the majority of areas on the football field and while West Virginia is one of those teams that usually just hangs around the middle of the Big 12, I think they’re simply the better team across the board here. Give me the Mountaineers and lay the points here.