Keys to the Game: Michigan football at Maryland

Michigan is back on the road Saturday to take on a bad Maryland team, no matter how anyone tries to spin it. The Terrapins have some players and they’ve played Michigan tough in the last two meetings, but they’re 4-6, have lost six straight, and have scored more than 20 in only one of those games … a 34-31 home loss to Nebraska.

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It’s a homecoming for a few Michigan players, including edges Derrick Moore and Jaishawn Barham. They’d love nothing more than to have big games in their final performances in front of friends and family in the DMV, and they’ll get their shot in what we’ll call a “trap” game, even if head coach Sherrone Moore won’t.

“Don’t even do it. No, it’s not a trap game,” Moore said. “This is a good team … this is not a trap game. There’s nothing about this game that is a trap game. There’s zero trap game on this.

“This is about a really good team that, if you don’t play well, you will get beat. So there’s that trap. The trap is like the Nick Saban ‘poison’ comment trying to get us … and everybody knows what’s ahead [vs. Ohio State], but we’ve got to go execute. We’ve got to go prepare for this one like our lives depend on it. It’s a playoff game for us in this building.”

We’ll have to agree to disagree about the “good team” part. At the same time, the “if you don’t play well, you will get beat” … absolutely. This team can’t afford to look past anybody, as it’s proven weekly this year.

Here are the keys to getting past Maryland to set up a huge game with Ohio State the following week.

Michigan Key No. 1 — Protect the football

This one is usually obvious, but with two red zone turnovers in a squeaker with Purdue and a ridiculous five vs. Northwestern in Chicago last week in a last-second win over the Wildcats … well, it’s time to “clean it up.” It was those miscues that kept both games closer than they should have been and that nearly (and probably should have) cost them the game at Wrigley Field last week.

“Offensively, you talk about where we are, and obviously the turnovers you’ve got to clean up,” Moore said. “The kids have already been in many times throughout yesterday, today [Sunday and Monday] to watch the film, evaluate the film. The coaches have attacked that. They’ll do it again later on here today. Everybody’s very aware of what we need to fix and what we need to do.”

In addition to the five turnovers, there was a ball on which freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood got hit and Michigan tight end Deakon Tonielli snagged that easily could have been picked, another Underwood put on the ground that went out of bounds, and a ball coming out just after Jordan Marshall crossed the goal line. Ball security needs to be an emphasis this week.

Key No. 2 — Make frosh quarterback Malik Washington uncomfortable and the Terps one-dimensional

Washington is a talent and, like Underwood, appears to have a great future in the conference [if he sticks around]. He’s thrown for 2,294 yards, but he’s been mistake-prone the last several games, having thrown five picks. Per Fox Sports, though, Washington is second to BYU’s Bear Bachmeier among true freshmen with 2,577 yards of total offense this season and one of only two Big Ten true freshmen with at least 2,000 yards passing and 250 yards rushing since 1996.

“[Washington] is a good young player,” Moore said. “They’ve got skill, a lot of really good skill that can hurt you. He’s dynamic throwing the football.”

Less so, though, when there’s someone in his face, which there hasn’t been much this year. Moore and Barham seem like prime candidates to make it harder on him, but they have to be wary of staying in rush lanes, too. Washington ran for 164 yards in a loss at Rutgers, including a 73-yard touchdown. They’ve started implementing some designed runs for him in recent weeks, but they haven’t run the ball well outside of him.

Michigan key No. 3 — Pound the rock

Michigan junior Justice Haynes won’t play and second-year back Jordan Marshall (shoulder, wrist) probably won’t, either, but former walk-on Bryson Kuzdzal is capable. He showed it last week in providing some burst and strength from the position, and they’re going to need him to step up.

Maryland’s defense allows 171 rushing yards per game, the third worst in the Big Ten, and Indiana, Rutgers and Illinois all ran for at least 225 yards on the Terrapins in the team’s last three games. We’ll see more RPOs and expect Underwood to air it out at times with the emergence of frosh receiver Andrew Marsh, but don’t overthink it … there’s going to be great opportunity on the ground, and that’s been this offensive line’s strength.

Michigan at Maryland — The Breakdown 

Michigan isn’t guaranteed a playoff berth if the Wolverines win the next two games, but they’re assuredly out if they lose either of the next two. The playoff committee essentially said that style points matter in pointing out U-M’s two losses weren’t competitive, so this would be a good weekend to show they belong.

“We’re 8-2. All our goals are in front of us, and we’re playing for a lot,” Moore said. “You’re playing meaningful football in November, which is what you ask for as a football coach, as a college football player, just any player in general in this game.

“When you’re in November and you’re playing for something that means a lot, especially with a young football team … you go out there with six freshmen on offense and a bevy of them on defense and special teams. Yeah, the mistakes are there that we’ve got to fix, but you’re also very blessed to be able to be in that position of being 8-2.”

Blessed would be a good word given they have yet to play their best football and escaped unscathed through the “easier” portion of the schedule, to date. It would be nice to see them put a complete game together, but this is another one in which they could get away a “clunky” performance and still win.

We’d be pleasantly surprised with something better than that at this point, but it’s hard to see anything but a Michigan win, regardless.