Penn State Travels to Maryland

Four Things to Look for: Penn State vs. Maryland

1. Penn State finishes the regular season with a win

Look for the Nittany Lions to finish the regular season with a win as Penn State travels to Maryland on Saturday. The Terps are currently 4-7 and 2-6 in the Big Ten, whereas the Nittany Lions have lost just two games all season by a margin of four points. After Maryland lost both their starting quarterback and back up quarterback in the beginning of the season, they have moved to sophomore Max Bortenschlager to fill the position. Furthermore, the Terps only scored one touchdown on 204 total yards of offense last week at Michigan State. The Nittany Lions offense will be too much for Maryland to handle. Penn State will head into Bowl Season 10-2.

2. Saquon Barkley dismantles the Terps defense

Last week against Nebraska junior running back Saquon Barkley had a senior day send-off. He had 224 yards from scrimmage, 20 more than the entire Maryland offense a week ago, and rushed for three touchdowns. In addition, Barkley had 66 receiving yards. The Terps gave up 271 rushing yards to Michigan State last Saturday and that was against five different rushers. Maryland head coach, D.J. Durkin, praised Barkley in his weekly press conference, stating, “offensively speaking, I think they have probably the best player in the country in the backfield…” Look for Barkley to add to his already impressive resume and get back into Heisman Trophy contention.

3. The Nittany Lion defense finishing strong going into Bowl Season

Earlier this season, the Penn State defense was the number one scoring defense in the country. Look for the Nittany Lions to finish strong when Penn State travels to Maryland on Saturday. Jason Cabinda will have his hands full with Maryland running back Ty Johnson, who scored a long touchdown against the Nittany Lions last season. Maryland native Marcus Allen, a safety, will have to contend with Terps receiver D.J. Moore. Moore is the leading receiver in the Big Ten with 933 receiving yards. If the Nittany Lion defense can shut down these two players, there is no reason that Penn State won’t leave Maryland with a win.

4. A big Penn State crowd in Maryland

With many students traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, look for a pro blue and white crowd when Penn State travels to Maryland on Saturday. There is a big Maryland presence at Penn State, including 13 Nittany Lions and head coach James Franklin. Franklin spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at Maryland. With many Nittany Lions from Maryland and even more Penn State students in Maryland for the holidays, look for the Penn State faithful to be loud and proud on Saturday.

Takeaways

Penn State travels to Maryland on Saturday to finish the regular season. The Nittany Lions look to enter Bowl Season 10-2. Trace McSorley is nine yards away from posting the fourth 3,000-yard passing season in Penn State history. He will be the only player to achieve this twice. Kick off is set for 3:30 pm EDT on Big Ten Network.