Big Ten University

Ohio State Football: What Are The Buckeyes’ Expectations In 2018?

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Ohio State comes into the season as the betting favorite to win the Big Ten, but things aren’t that simple. The school is stuck in a complex situation, and the fate of head coach Urban Meyer will be determined in the coming days after a meeting of the Ohio State Board of Trustees. Supposedly, suspension is the most likely outcome.

For the team itself, that outcome isn’t as bad as Meyer being fired outright. Still, it would be hard to claim that entering the season with a different head coach in charge isn’t something that will negatively effect the players. Especially when the pressure is already tremendous this year, with the Buckeyes starting out in the top five of the AP Poll.

What is expected of Ohio State entering this season?

Every team that begins the season in the top ten, let alone the top five, believes that they can win the championship. Only four teams will have the chance to play for a title, however, and Ohio State starts off as the last team out. But championships aren’t decided by preseason predictions, and making the playoffs is definitely the expectation for the team that is the favorite to win one of the toughest conferences in college football.

It’s true that Ohio State doesn’t have an experienced quarterback this year. They’ll have to pick between redshirt sophomore Dwayne Haskins Jr. and redshirt freshman Tate Martell, and it looks like Haskins will be the one to come away with the starting job. While neither player has significant playing time, Ohio State doesn’t necessarily need to win with just their quarterback carrying the team.

They have a loaded backfield with J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber returning, forming one of the best one-two punches in the nation. Dobbins had 1,403 yards as a freshman, and an average of 7.2 yards per rush. Dobbins isn’t the most physically intimidating of football players, but while defenders may assume that he’ll be an easy tackle, his strengths lie in his speed and his movement.

Dobbins’ 2017 highlight reel was filled with outside runs and cuts to the outside, with the freshman displaying how light on his feet he is. He also uses his low center of gravity better than many would expect, meaning it’s not a given that he’ll go down on first contact. He’ll surely have more than seven touchdowns in 2018, and his impact will be combined with that of Mike Weber, who rushed for 10 touchdowns last season.

Their defense returns Jordan Fuller, who had the second most tackles on the team with 62. Junior defensive end Nick Bosa is also being hyped up for good reason. The Buckeyes lost defensive line talent to the NFL, but that means that Bosa will have more time on the field in addition to a larger role.

Bosa has shown himself to have a good sweep move to get outside of the offensive tackle, and that combined with his pure athleticism should help him improve on his 8.5 sacks from last year.

It all doesn’t mean that the team won’t be without its challenges. Ohio State won’t start any senior linebackers this season, and that could negatively impact the organization of their defense. But that’s something that should work itself out over the course of the season, as a leader emerges.

That leader may just be outside linebacker Malik Harrison. “Malik is a playmaker that’s got a lot of people looking at him,” said linebackers coach Bill Davis, back in the spring. He also spoke about some of the other members of that unit. “It’s exciting to watch them take their leadership role. We talk about leadership being more about actions than words, and I think that’s kind of what they’re trying to do.”

Perhaps the biggest question mark is Dwayne Haskins Jr. The redshirt sophomore had some playing time as the backup to J.T. Barrett, but wasn’t a starter last season. He threw for 120 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game earlier this year, but there’s always risk involved with introducing a new quarterback that hasn’t played as a starter in the past. He flashed his deep arm in the spring game and made some precision strikes downfield to decently covered receivers, but it’s hard to judge a player fully from his performance in a scrimmage.

Overall, Ohio State has playmakers on both sides of the ball and whether or not they make the playoffs should be determined by if they slip up in a select group of games against other elite teams. Namely, their games on the road against Penn State and Michigan State and their home game against archrivals Michigan. They also face a top 20 team during nonconference play in TCU, and that presents an interesting challenge.

The Urban Meyer scandal may just be the difference between the Buckeyes coming away with the Big Ten title, and not even playing for it. Looking at this forum surrounding Meyer’s odds on keeping his job, it looks like he won’t be fired. Even if Meyer only receives a suspension, it’s something negative that will hang over the season. And it’s the reason why few will be surprised if the playoffs come around and the Buckeyes are on the outside looking in. The Big Ten will likely have a playoff team, but there’s a reason why Wisconsin is trending up and Ohio State is trending down.

Season Prediction: 11-2, Rose Bowl winners

Ohio State Football: Training Camp Insights From Ryan Day

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Off the field, the Ohio State football team has been surrounded in drama. On the field, however, progress is being made in the preparation for this season, which will begin in less than two weeks. At least, that’s what acting head coach Ryan Day’s latest training camp update would indicate.

While a head coach isn’t going to tell everyone the weaknesses of their team going into the season, it’s still interesting to see what the staff have said about their players at this point in the offseason. The update goes through all of the team’s position groups, starting with the one that everyone pays the most attention to, quarterback.

“In our entire room, we have zero collegiate starts,” Day began, referencing the graduation of multi-year starter J.T. Barrett. Replacing Barrett, of course, won’t be an easy task considering the fact that he threw for just short of 9,500 yards across his four year career with the Buckeyes.

“That being said, Dwayne Haskins and Tate Martell have been putting in work on and off the field to get themselves prepared for an excellent season. They have both been taking the majority of reps in practice… We can see improvement in each of the QBs on a daily basis.”

Haskins, who was the backup to J.T. Barrett last season, received some game time but has zero starts. He’s believed to be the favorite for the starting job, and was the number seven pro-style quarterback coming out of high school in the 2016 class. The younger Tate Martell, on the other hand, was the second ranked dual threat QB in the class of 2017.

The quarterback competition isn’t the only one going on right now. “Thayer Munford and Josh Alabi have been competing for the starting left tackle spot while Brady Taylor, Michael Jordan, and Josh Myers have all been taking snaps at center,” Day wrote.

There’s some more interesting position battles in the secondary. “Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield are poised to continue the tradition of great Buckeye CB play… [Safety] Jordan Fuller in particular has established himself as a leader and as a playmaker on our defense. There has been excellent competition to determine who will be the starter opposite Fuller, between Isaiah Pryor and Jahsen Wint. Brendon White and Amir Riep are fueling the competition by showing up on film and making plays.”

The positive report from training camp comes at a time when many are doubting the Buckeyes, because of the ongoing investigation involving Urban Meyer. Still, they take a very talented roster into the season, whether or not Meyer makes it to their first game in September.

Big Ten: Michigan vs Notre Dame Is A Game To Look Forward To

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There’s been plenty of complaints in recent years about the quality of non-conference matchups in college football. Some teams schedule cupcakes and head into conference play undefeated every year. Others risk their records against tough opponents, but do it at neutral sites.

Well, fans of the more traditional home and home method of playing non-conference games will be happy with the return of the Michigan and Notre Dame rivalry, which will be played during week one. Michigan has perhaps the most to lose of any Big Ten team in week one, and that’s part of what makes the latest iteration of this rivalry game so interesting.

If the Wolverines pull off the win in South Bend, many will assume that it’s just because of another Notre Dame disappointment. The Fighting Irish are the higher rated team in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, with Michigan being unranked in the former. But their recent history of underwhelming seasons under Brian Kelly means that they’ve been devalued as a quality win.

This will become very relevant in the playoff conversation, if Michigan is still contending at that point in the season. On the other hand, however, a loss to Notre Dame would do more than just start the season off on the wrong foot. Head coach Jim Harbaugh has had a grace period with the Wolverines, but that’s coming to a close soon and fans expect results. If the team starts 0-1, you can expect a negative atmosphere to follow the team into the coming weeks.

You can also expect fans and media to ask how Michigan will beat Ohio State and Penn State if they can’t beat Notre Dame. Things are largely similar on the Notre Dame side. As the eleventh ranked team in the country, losing to an unranked rival would be an embarrassment. Even if that rival is a dark horse to contend for the Big Ten this year.

It’s not just the pressure surrounding the game that makes this matchup great, though. The keys to the game lie in opposing areas for each team. Notre Dame senior Brandon Wimbush has some hype going into the season, and could be a surprise contender for the Heisman Trophy. But Michigan’s defense is once again one of the better ones in the conference, and possibly the country as a whole.

They bring back Rashan Gary and Chase Winovich, both of whom are feared pass rushers. Additionally, Michigan’s secondary had the lowest passing yards per game average of any team in the country. That’s a very impressive stat, considering Michigan beat out a number of teams that have reputations for defense and were more successful overall, such as Wisconsin, Alabama, and Clemson.

Notre Dame lost both Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey to the NFL Draft. Can they protect Wimbush long enough for him to get his throws off? Will Wimbush even be able to throw on a defense that allowed less passing yards per game than anyone in the country?

If the Michigan defense holds strong as they did in many games last year, the improved offense should have a chance to shine. Shea Patterson will likely enter the season as a starter, and will have a chance to show a national audience why he was compared to Texas A&M Heisman winner Johnny Manziel. He’ll have the help of sophomore receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones, the number one receiver recruit in the 2017 class and a player expected to step up his performances this year.

All of it makes for an exciting game where both teams will have to play to their strengths. It will all happen on week one, and will perhaps make for a better kickoff to the season than Washington and Auburn, who play in this year’s iteration of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.

Iowa Football: Can Nate Stanley Do What Others Couldn’t?

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It seems like Iowa is always a factor in the Big Ten, whether they’re in contention to win it or not. Even if Iowa themselves aren’t one of the contenders to win, Kinnick Stadium has gained a fearsome reputation among visiting teams. As Ohio State learned last season, back when they were ranked number six in the country, anyone can fall victim to the upset when playing away at Iowa.

Still, Iowa needs more than just a home field advantage to get back to the conference title game, which they lost after going 8-0 during conference play during the 2015 season. A good quarterback is absolutely essential to that goal, and they might just have that on hand with Nate Stanley. Stanley managed to take the starting job as a sophomore, and put up good numbers.

Despite being new to the role, his 2,432 yards came in at number seven in the conference. That’s not bad, considering that some of the names just above him in the rankings are much more well-known: Alex Hornibrook, Brian Lewerke, and J.T. Barrett. Of course, Barrett has graduated by now, and another name from the list, Tanner Lee, can be removed because of the NFL Draft.

In Stanley’s junior season, he should be expected to step up and perform like one of the conference’s best four or five quarterbacks. More accurately, he needs to perform like a top five quarterback for Iowa to sneak past their rivals in Wisconsin and make it back to a Big Ten title game. The Wisconsin team this year is just too good for Iowa to get by otherwise.

When you look at Stanley’s game, accuracy stands out as an area to improve. It’s based off of a couple of things. The first is his completion percentage, which was only 55.8% last year. Good enough to get him in the top ten of the conference, but poor enough that he ended up at number nine in completion percentage rather than in the top five.

The second thing to look at is his throwing mechanics. Stanley has power in his arm, but strangely enough, doesn’t seem to generate as much velocity as some of the other top quarterbacks. His passes sometimes use more of a lobbing style, and while this is useful in some situations, it also gives defenders more time to get in position and break up or intercept the pass.

His short and medium accuracy, though, is better than his deep accuracy. It’s also worth considering his pocket presence. While Stanley is fully capable of rolling out, something that’s useful on play action passes, most of his throws come from within the pocket. Even when playing defenses such as Penn State and Ohio State, who broke through the offensive line on some occasions, Stanley played smart enough to not take unnecessary sacks.

Against the Buckeyes, for example, a couple of Stanley’s touchdowns were thrown with defenders all around him. Most notably, he had one of the best highlight reel plays of the game when he threw a touchdown while Sam Hubbard was still holding onto his leg. It wasn’t the only big play he made under pressure, in either the win over Ohio State or the close game with Penn State.

So what should Hawkeyes fans expect this year from Stanley? He probably won’t be the top quarterback in the conference, but he has the tools to be among the best when he makes some improvements entering his junior year. The difference between a first and second year starter can be huge depending on the player, and at least some of Stanley’s weak spots should show less this season.

Iowa isn’t the Big Ten school that most fans associate with quarterback play, but this year, their fans can rest knowing that their signal caller isn’t intimidated in the slightest by the tough defenses that Iowa will have to face in their hunt for the conference crown.

Michigan State Football: Spartans Have Their Leader With Lewerke

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In the past articles in the Big Ten quarterbacks series, we’ve talked about the competitions between returning veterans and the new arrivals gunning to take their spots. That’s not going to be the case here. Michigan State under Mark Dantonio is perhaps known for making something out of nothing, but they won’t have to do that this year. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and that’s already been proven before the start of the season.

A look at Michigan State’s Brian Lewerke

Brian Lewerke was a 13 game starter during his sophomore year, and threw for 2,793 yards. He added 20 passing touchdowns and five rushing scores on top of that, compared to seven interceptions. Another thing that Michigan State is famous for is their running game. After all, this is the school that gave us Le’Veon Bell, only fairly recently. But Lewerke isn’t the type of quarterback that you usually see on a stereotypically run heavy team.

If the coaches need him to be, Lewerke can be an effective gunslinger. He threw 51 passes against Notre Dame and ended the game with 31 completions and two touchdowns to one interception. Against Northwestern and Penn State, he attempted 57 and 56 passes respectively.

Calling Lewerke a gunslinger just because he attempts a lot of passes would only be a surface level way of looking at it. A quarterback can rack up pass attempts and completions by throwing the ball into the flat over and over, or picking up short gains from slant routes early and often. Lewerke isn’t doing that.

Against Northwestern, he was willing to rifle the ball into coverage, even doing so a bit too much and nearly turning it over more times than his four touchdowns and one interception stat line would indicate. His deep accuracy also needed work in that game, and he missed several open receivers downfield after the receivers had beaten their defenders. Still, more times than not, Lewerke’s gunslinging play style worked out for the better.

In a tough division that’s part of a tough conference, dodging the pass rush is also a good skill for a quarterback to learn. While Lewerke is a pocket passer, he’s able to move around and prolong the pass rush while still finding targets down the field. You could make a strong case that his vision is his best trait, as this vision is just as good even when Lewerke is on the move.

A rough NFL comparison in terms of play style might be Russell Wilson, although at 6’3″ and 212 pounds, Lewerke is the QB with the larger frame. He’s also a bit more willing to use his legs as a regular part of his game plan, even if he’s not crossing the line of scrimmage with a scramble.

When his judgement improves in his junior year, Lewerke should have a better idea of when to gun the ball towards a covered area and when to hold onto it. That decision-making was dodgy at times this year, but it’s expected for a player in his first full season as the starter.

This year, though? MSU is out to capitalize on the off the field chaos happening in Columbus, and make it back to the conference title game. If they complete that feat, you can already be sure of which player will be at the forefront of the offense.

Maryland Football: Will The Terrapins Clean House Following McNair Death?

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When Maryland Terrapins offensive lineman Jordan McNair died in June, most assumed that it was a tragically random incident, the kind of thing that can be chalked up to bad luck. Maybe McNair had hidden medical problems that the team wasn’t aware of. Maybe it was an honest mistake and the medical staff didn’t take enough precautions for practicing in the heat.

Diving into the Maryland Terrapins’ Jordan McNair situation:

Now, however, we know more about the situation. The story is still developing, and there may be more twists and turns before a full conclusion is reached, but it looks like the real answers are darker than those alternative theories. An ESPN article recently shed much more light on what things may be like inside the University of Maryland football program, and if everything in the article is true, it’s quite damning for a number of people within the program.

Strength and conditioning coach Rick Court will stand out as one of the figures that will likely be axed, but head coach D.J. Durkin played just as much of a role in what happened and was placed on administrative leave by the school shortly after the article was released. Usually, administrative leave is only used when a coach is in danger of imminent firing.

It’s a complex situation, because tough coaching is something that happens all over football. In a violent game, aggressive coaching is expected. But the Maryland football staff under D.J. Durkin went above and beyond strict coaching, conducting psychological warfare against their own players as well as pushing players to continue training up to and beyond the point of injury.

Durkin’s no-nonsense approach was one of the reasons why Maryland fans were initially excited about the hire. But not many could have predicted the dark side that would come with that. “They’re joined at the hip. They’re the same. They use the same language and the same classification,” a source told ESPN, speaking about strength coach Rick Court and head coach D.J. Durkin.

Court, as well as trainers Wes Robinson and Steve Nordwall were placed on administrative leave not long before Durkin himself was. Assuming no new details come up to exonerate anyone, all of them are as good as fired. However, it’s less than a month before the season, so who should the Terrapins turn to now?

Matt Canada was on Durkin’s staff, but only arrived as offensive coordinator this year and likely didn’t have the time to pick up many habits from Durkin. He was named the interim head coach, but like all interim coaches, it’s not a guarantee that he keeps the job permanently.

Previously working as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at LSU, Pittsburgh, NC State, Wisconsin, and other schools, Canada has had mixed results but performed especially well in Pittsburgh. In contrast, he struggled more at LSU and appeared to not be a great fit for the preexisting scheme.

Most importantly for Maryland, though, Canada is already on the staff and can serve as head coach this season if the athletics department can’t bring in someone more experienced before the start of the season. However, he lacks ties to the state and that doesn’t spell good results in local recruiting going forward. It’s not easy to talk local families into sending their sons to Maryland, after everything that’s happened.

Another potential option is Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo, who already coaches in the state of Maryland and has found success with one of the toughest jobs in all of college football. Navy went 11-2 under Niumatalolo in 2015, and had a winning record in each of the last two seasons, winning the Military Bowl in 2017 after going .500 in the American conference.

It also seems that Niumatalolo isn’t averse to looking for a bigger job, as he was in the running to become the coach of the Arizona Wildcats before player protests shot that idea down. His triple option would work better at Maryland than it would at Arizona, though, and would take advantage of the athleticism of the Terrapins’ two top quarterbacks this year, Tyrrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill.

Will Maryland even make a coaching change, though? The investigation is still ongoing, and while the report from ESPN looks like the nail in the coffin for the current staff, everyone doesn’t see things the same way as the article does. A number of fans within the Maryland fanbase have accused ESPN writer Heather Dinich of having a bias against the team, and even if those claims are dismissed, there’s a statement from Will Muschamp that counters the testimonies from the article.

“There is no credibility in anonymous sources. If that former staffer had any guts, why didn’t he put his name on that? I think that’s gutless. In any football team, especially right here in August, you can find a disgruntled player that’s probably not playing. I think it’s a lack of journalistic integrity to print things with anonymous sources. I know D.J. Durkin personally. I know what kind of man he is,” said Muschamp, who was the head coach at Florida back when Durkin was the defensive coordinator.

It’s also worth looking beyond the coaching staff and examining the people who hired Durkin in the first place, regardless of if Durkin is fired or not. Durkin has coached Maryland since 2016, and Jordan McNair’s death came in June. But it’s only just now that the school is doing something. If the allegations against the coaching staff are true, it’s hard to believe that Athletic Director Damon Evans as well as others in the upper ranks of the university knew nothing about what was going on.

“The athletics director and the head coach are ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety of our student athletes. For there to be reports of purposefully unsafe conditioning practices built on the foundation of verbal abuse, fear, and humiliation, even after the death of a teenager in their care, is the definition of inexcusable,” said Ben Jealous, who is currently in the running to become the Governor of Maryland.

Whether the full coaching staff is axed over the findings of the ongoing investigation into McNair’s death or not, the entire situation isn’t a good look for Maryland football. It’s unlikely that the statements from former players are entirely fabricated, even if it turns out that some details were exaggerated. Additionally, recruiting will be much harder following the death of a player.

It seems impossible that every loose end will be tied up in this case before the season starts next month, and one can only hope that those in charge at the University of Maryland can bring about the best outcome for the ones that are the most affected by it all, the players.

Rutgers Football: Scarlet Knights Lose Linebacker To Credit Fraud Investigation

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Training camp has started for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, but all of the news out of New Brunswick isn’t the good kind. It’s hard to have a controversy free offseason, and the Rutgers team isn’t free from controversy after six players were left out of training camp because of an investigation into credit card fraud.

Diving into the details of the Rutgers’ linebacker Investigation:

Two Rutgers players, K.J. Gray and Brandon DeVera, were dismissed last month for a violation of team rules. While the specific violation isn’t known, it may be related to the investigation, which is being conducted by the university police department. Both players have the intention to transfer and continue their football careers elsewhere.

They aren’t the only ones leaving the team. More recently, linebacker Syhiem Simmons announced on Twitter that Rutgers has given him permission to contact other teams, and his plans to transfer elsewhere. An outside linebacker from Atlantic City, New Jersey, Simmons is a redshirt freshman and hasn’t yet received game time with the Scarlet Knights.

“I would like to thank Rutgers University for the opportunity this past year and thank the coaches for helping me progress as an individual on and off the field,” Simmons said in his post. “But at this point in time, I am re-opening my recruitment so that I can keep growing as an individual on and off the field to progress my skills and knowledge with the sport of football.”

Five other players are under investigation right now, but Simmons is the only one to be suspended. The players that will be suspended for training camp because of the investigation are secondary members Malik Dixon, Kobe Marfo, Edwin Lopez, and Naijee Jones, as well as defensive end C.J. Onyechi.

According to NJ Advanced Media, head coach Chris Ash can’t comment on the ongoing investigation and the training camp absence of the investigated players. It wouldn’t be a stretch, however, to predict that all or most of the players may end up leaving the program because of the incident. After all, Simmons is the third player to announce his intention to transfer since the investigation began.

Ohio State: Nick Bosa Leads The Way For Big Ten In ESPN Player Rankings

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College football has always been more of a team sport than an individual one, but that doesn’t mean player rankings aren’t one of the most debated subjects for fans. ESPN released their list of the top 50 players heading into the 2018 season, and interestingly, there’s no Big Ten players in the top five. Leading the list is Houston’s star defensive tackle, Ed Oliver. Then there’s Bryce Love, Will Grier, and two separate members of Clemson’s talented defensive line.

Where does Ohio States’ Nick Bosa rank?

The first Big Ten player, Nick Bosa, comes in at number six. A junior with big potential ahead of him, Ohio State fans will gladly tell you that Bosa isn’t just on the team because of his last name. He has the talent to stand alone, and would probably be at the same spot on this list even without the famous brother.

That’s not to say that it doesn’t help to have some name recognition. His play style definitely reminds people of Joey Bosa, who also starred at Ohio State during his college football days. With Ohio State losing some talent to the draft, most notably defensive end Sam Hubbard, Bosa will get more snaps and more chances to back up his ranking this season.

While he was the first Big Ten player to show up in the top ten, he wasn’t the only one. Wisconsin’s top running back, Jonathan Taylor, is next on the list. There’s no surprise there, as one could make an argument that Taylor, who is only a sophomore, is the best back in the country. During his freshman season, he rushed for almost 2,000 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, while averaging 6.6 yards per carry. The entire nation will be watching to see if he can improve on that in 2018.

There’s two more Big Ten players in the top 20: Michigan defensive lineman Rashan Gary, and Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley. One of the favorites to win the Heisman Trophy this year, McSorley is the second highest rated QB on the list behind West Virginia’s gunslinger Will Grier. Of course, these are just preseason picks. One of the interesting parts of college football is looking back each season and seeing which seemingly safe predictions turned out to be wildly wrong.

With most college football teams opening their seasons during the first week of September, we’ll soon get to see which players rise and which ones just can’t keep up with the expectations.

Big Ten: The Maryland Quarterback Race Will Resume Where It Left Off Last Year

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Maryland was in an interesting place last year. They finished with a 2-7 record in the Big Ten, but they didn’t have any help from luck. Things actually started off good for them, and devolved as the season continued for a bit. The first game of the season was a 51-41 victory over the Texas Longhorns, in Austin nonetheless.

However, the Terrapins only went three quarters before they lost their starting quarterback. After completing nine out of his twelve passes and throwing for a 75% completion percentage, along with 175 yards and two touchdowns, Tyrell Pigrome tore his ACL and ended up out for the season with that injury.

A quarterback that could change the narrative for Maryland football:

Enter Kasim Hill, the backup that would help Maryland hold onto the win despite only throwing three passes. It looked like the starting job had fallen into his lap, and Hill did good enough in the Texas game and scored a rushing touchdown to help ensure the win, but he didn’t have the best of fates either.

Hill completed 13 of 16 passes and threw for two touchdowns against in state opponent Towson in the second game of the season, but would only have a chance to complete two passes in the Terrapins’ loss to UCF. It looked like a routine hit, but it turns out Hill had torn his ACL after being flushed out of the pocket and brought down by a couple of UCF defenders.

Now, both quarterbacks that played in the upset against Texas are in the same position, rehabbing from the same injury and competing for a starting spot once again. Hill is the favorite to win the job, according to the odds from BetsDSI. While Pigrome was the starter coming into the season, he’s not necessarily the more experienced player. The Texas game was his second career start, after all.

Neither QB is going to win by just throwing the ball, even though Pigrome did get two passing touchdowns in the Texas game. He’s an option quarterback at heart and only attempted one more pass than rush. However, his use of his legs means that for him to be most effective, he needs a good offensive line opening up lanes and keeping linebackers out of the backfield. That’s something that Maryland doesn’t have, at least not when they’re facing high level opponents within the conference.

Kasim Hill is the bigger and heavier of the two, and if Maryland uses an offense this year that features designed running plays for the quarterback, it looks like he’s the better option. There’s not much reason to prefer Pigrome over the larger Hill in that kind of offense, especially when Maryland doesn’t have the blocking to keep their quarterbacks from being hit early on running plays.

Throwing the ball is what you think of when you rank quarterbacks, but they’re about even on that front. If anything, Hill showed his willingness during the Towson game to throw the ball at a variety of ranges rather than running as a first option. But Towson isn’t an FBS defense, let alone one of the better ones in the Big Ten East.

It looks like Maryland’s quarterback this year will be Hill, just because he can likely do a bit more in the kind of offense that the Terrapins might run this year. But unlike some of the other teams in the conference, Maryland isn’t one that’s ready to have a huge jump after finding their man at QB.

No, they’re on a journey rather than a sprint. This is just one piece of that larger puzzle.

Penn State Football: Linebacker Manny Bowen Offers Big Addition For Defense

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The Penn State Nittany Lions have a big addition for 2018, as linerbacker Manny Bowen will return after previously being kicked off of the team.

What happened to Penn State Football’s Manny Bowen in 2017?

Bowen was suspended last season as Penn State prepared to face Washington in the Fiesta Bowl, and was then dismissed entirely without a specific reason being released publicly. Bowen “violated team rules,” and unlike some other cases in college football, the details of those violations didn’t manage to reach the press. The popular rumor is that either academics or drugs were involved.

However, Bowen is back on the team and was listed on the roster during Penn State’s media day, which was held at Beaver Stadium last week. His addition will be important for a Penn State team that loses linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Smith to graduation. With those leaders gone, much of the pressure to lead the position unit will fall on Bowen, who is a senior this season.

“I don’t want any decisions that we make to be need based… I want to do things because they’re the right things to do,” said head coach James Franklin, on the topic of Bowen being allowed back into the team. “We didn’t make it easy on him. I was surprised when he said he wanted to grind this thing out. The easy thing would have been to transfer.”

Franklin also stated that Bowen’s role on the team hasn’t been decided just yet. “I can’t tell what his role on the team is going to be like… I don’t know how this whole thing is going to play out,” he said.

Whatever his role is, Penn State fans will find out on September 1st, when the Nittany Lions host Appalachian State for a mid-afternoon game on college football’s opening weekend. With past 21 starts and plenty of experience, Bowen will surely fit right into a 2018 defense that needs the veteran leadership.