Keys to the Game: Michigan football vs. Maryland

Michigan is 3-0 and riding high after waxing three nonconference opponents among the worst teams in FBS. So bad was the competition that none of them scored in the first halves of games, and the Wolverines enter conference play as the nation’s top scoring team.

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The Michigan offense is averaging 55.3 points per game, and it could have been much more had head coach Jim Harbaugh not played just about everyone on his team from the starters to the water boy (and no, not The Waterboy). He took his foot off the gas early in all three games, and the Wolverines still cruised.

So … it’s hard to tell exactly what Michigan is at this point.

We do know there’s talent. UConn coach Jim Mora Jr. said he’d “never seen anything like it” when he looked down to the other end of the field in last week’s pregame and saw “140 warriors” ready to strike.

We also know there are playmakers, and a young quarterback with an extremely high ceiling. There’s a veteran offensive line (that has to get a bit better), two really good running backs, a deep receiver room … all the makings of a Big Ten contender.

But now it gets real. Maryland has a potent offense, and the Big Ten starts with a big challenge for the Michigan defense. Head coach Mike Locksley hasn’t had much success against the Wolverines, going 0-2 and getting hammered 59-18 last season. He’ll get his third shot Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Here are keys to a Michigan win over the Terps:

Key No. 1: Pressure Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa

Give Tagovailoa time to throw, and he’ll pick you apart. He’s completed 77.3 percent of his passes this year for 895 yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 picks, but he’s prone to mistakes if you pressure him. He threw 11 picks a year ago, including one against Michigan that seemed to break his spirit.

The various Michigan looks and pressures frustrated him last year — he completed only 57.6 percent of his passes for 178 yards — in one of his worst performances of the season.

But U-M, of course, had a pair of pass rushers on the edges last year in Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo who helped make his life miserable. We think there are some capable guys on this team — we know there are athletes — but can they apply the same pressure and make Tagovailoa uncomfortable?

We’re about to find out.

The Terps have capable receivers, too, so this is going to be the first challenge of the year for a Michigan secondary ranked third nationally so far by Pro Football Focus. The Wolverines are first nationally in pass efficiency defense, too — but this is the first big test.

Key No. 2: Let the Michigan receivers eat

Michigan sophomore J.J. McCarthy has been outstanding in his first three games, completing 85 percent of his passes. Maryland is 35th in pass efficiency defense despite playing a soft schedule. The Terps are 49th nationally in run defense, allowing 118.3 yards per game, but they’re giving up only 3.29 yards per carry on the ground.

SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai … well, sounds like a Harry Potter villain. But he can also sling it, and he threw for 369 yards against Maryland on the road last week. He also notched 3 touchdown passes and was sacked only twice on 54 attempts.

This is a game in which the deep and talented Michigan receiver corps should have a field day. The Terrapins have better athletes than anyone U-M has seen, so the offensive line will be challenged — and it needs to be better. You know they’ll come after senior right tackle Trente Jones given his early-season pass protection struggles.

Michigan is a play away from playing a quarterback with no experience with senior Cade McNamara out. McCarthy needs to be smart, too, when he takes off to run. Get down once he’s got the first down.

Key No. 3: Own special teams (again) and play disciplined football

Michigan has returned a kick for touchdown in the last two meetings against the Terrapins, both on the road. Giles Jackson returned the opening kick for a score in 2019, and last year, special teams guru Jay Harbaugh set up a pass across the field, on a kick, from Michael Barrett to A.J. Henning. He took it 79 yards for a score.

Harbaugh is the best in the business here, and he seems to find weaknesses against the Terps. Maybe we see a punt return set-up or a punt block … it’s often something. And it’s clear the Wolverines have an advantage with their kicking game and coverage, as well. Kicker Jake Moody and punter Brad Robbins are one of the best tandems in football. If Michigan does have to punt, odds are Tagovailoa isn’t going to be getting a short field to work with.

Michigan is one of the most disciplined teams in football through three games, too, averaging just two penalties and change a game. Maryland … well, is not. The Terps had 15 penalties in the win over SMU.

This is an undisciplined football team.

The Breakdown: Michigan vs. Maryland

Michigan has stomped the Terps in the two games in which Locksley has coached them. The Wolverines hammered them, 38-7, in 2019, and poured it on last year in a 59-18 victory.

Every year, it seems, we talk about how “dangerous” the Terrapins’ offense is, only to watch Michigan throttle them. The coordinators change … the results don’t. This time, Jesse Minter will get his first opportunity against Locksley’s team, and we think he’ll do okay.

Harbaugh is 6-0 against Maryland, and none of the games have been close. The spread is only 16 points or so, but it wouldn’t surprise to see Michigan cover again.