Penn State vs. Maryland preview: BWI Daily
Penn State football takes on Maryland Saturday at 3:30, and Blue White Illustrated is getting you ready for the game with the official Penn State vs. Maryland preview. Host Thomas Frank Carr fills in for Sean Fitz and Nate Bauer returns to give you his thoughts on practice and the upcoming game. Subscribe to the BWI Daily Edition on YouTube, so you don’t miss the show!
Penn State practice observations
T-Frank and Fitz start the show by discussing what they saw at Penn State’s open practice on Wednesday evening. Bauer oversaw the defensive observations this week and reported what he did and, most importantly, who he didn’t see at practice Wednesday evening. Bauer also noted a specific tonal shift with the practice this week. He attributes that to a late-season effort for engagement from the coaching staff.
Next, they shift to the offense and discuss what T-Frank saw with the offensive line, where he spent most of his time. First, he discusses what he saw from right tackle Caedan Wallace, coach Phil Trautwein, and freshman left tackle Drew Shelton when he was observing the evening’s proceedings. From there, they discuss the state of the offensive line with the news this week about Landon Tengwall’s surgery, Hunter Nourzad’s announcement, and Olu Fashanu’s absence.
T-Frank has some thoughts about the narrative of Fashanu as a top-10 draft pick and his reservations about that reality coming true in the spring. In addition, he discusses facts he found when researching younger offensive linemen entering the league and other factors that he thinks others are ignoring in the evaluation.
Maryland game preview
After discussing Penn State head coach James Franklin’s post-practice comments, they dive into the preview of Maryland. First, T-Frank discusses what he’s seen on film from the Terps and how which key matchups he thinks will determine the game on Saturday. Next, they discuss the Maryland passing game and how T-Frank thinks Taulia Tagovailoa’s injury affects him during games. Penn State isn’t the only team with an offensive line in flux, either. They discuss Maryland’s issues at center and how Wisconsin neutralized the passing game last week in Maryland’s loss to the Badgers. Finally, check out the podcast to hear why he thinks screens are such an important part of the upcoming game.
Next, they discuss the defense and how that unit can attack Penn State. T-Frank labels freshman linebacker Jaishawn Barham “Maryland’s Abdul Carter.” Finally, they give their game predictions for Saturday.
