NC State football opponent scouting report: Maryland

The NC State football team will play a familiar opponent in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Friday. Former ACC rival Maryland, now with the Big 10, has played the Wolfpack 70 times in program history. The series is tied at 33-33-4.

NC State is 8-4 overall this season and went 4-4 in the ACC, while the Terps are 7-5 and went 4-5 in league action.

Kickoff is at noon, and the game can be seen on ESPN.

Here is a full scouting report on Maryland:

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Five Maryland Players To Watch

Freshman linebacker Jaishawn Barham (No. 1)

Barham was a significant recruiting pickup for Maryland, and he has lived up the hype thus far. Barham may be the most disruptive Terrapin defender that NC State has to account for Friday.

Barham had 53 tackles, including team-highs 6.5 for loss and 4 sacks, while being the only Terrapins defender to have multiple quarterback hurries (2). He also had a forced fumble and recorded a fumble recovery.

He led all Big Ten freshmen in tackles and was named to the College Football News Freshman All-American Team. Barham was also honorable mention All-Big Ten and had the top grade on the Maryland defense by Pro Football Focus (PFF) at 78.7 (about 64.0 is considered average).

Junior safety Beau Brade (No. 25)

Brade led Maryland in tackles with 78, 20 more than the next nearest Terrapin defender. He also had a pair of interceptions, 5 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. Brade impressed enough to be named honorable mention All-Big Ten.

Among the defensive backs that NC State will face against Maryland, Brade had the best coverage grade by PFF (82.7).

Redshirt freshman running back Roman Hemby (No. 24)

Hemby was a NC State football recruiting target in the 2021 class, and he has proven that he was worthy of the Pack scholarship.

This season, Hemby rushed 164 times for 937 yards, or 5.6 yards per carry, and 10 touchdowns. That is nearly three times as many rushing yards and twice the amount of running scores as the next nearest Maryland player.

He also caught 31 passes for 276 yards and a score. Hemby was third among all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) freshmen in yards from scrimmage and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten. He also was a third-team freshman All-American by CFN.

Fifth-year senior receiver Jeshaun Jones (No. 6)

After missing all of 2019 and half of 2021 with season-ending injuries, Jones had his most productive season yet. He showed his potential as a true freshman in 2018, when he caught 22 passes for 288 yards.

The 2022 season was Jones’ best chance to show what he was capable of, and he led Maryland with 478 receiving yards and 4 TD receptions on 40 catches, which tied for team-high. Given that three other prominent Maryland receiving options have opted out of the bowl, Jones will loom even larger against NC State.

Redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa (No. 3)

Tagovailoa is the headliner that the NC State defense will have to contain. The former Alabama quarterback and younger brother of Miami Dolphins starting QB Tua Tagovailoa completed 243 of 354 passes (68.6 percent) for 2,787 yards and 17 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions while accumulating a 147.23 passer rating.

He is also a capable runner, rushing for 4 scores during the regular season.

Tagovailoa was named second-team All-Big Ten after being honorable mention a season ago. His 82.3 PFF grade was tops on the Maryland offense.

After the season, Tagovailoa will have to decide his next step, but he is already Maryland’s career leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, completion percentage, 300-yard passing games, total offense and passing efficiency rating.

What To Watch For From Maryland Against NC State Football

1. A high-level quarterback. NC State has faced its fair share of good quarterbacks this season, including North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Florida State’s Jordan Travis and Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman, among others. Tagovailoa ranks among the best signal callers that the Wolfpack will have defended this year.

He is a playmaker that takes care of the football. Maryland has just 13 turnovers this season, tied for 21st fewest in the country. His 68.1 career completion percentage is seventh among all active FBS quarterbacks.

Tagovailoa also has a strong supporting cast to work with, even with a few key receiving targets opting out of the bowl. This could be one of the better group of skill players that the Wolfpack will have to contain.

2. Suspect line play: Maryland, even with a mobile quarterback, ranked tied for 114th out of 131 teams at the FBS level in sacks per game allowed at 3.25— despite returning all five starters on the offensive line.

Conversely, Maryland tied for 76th in sacks per game at 2.00.

The Terps have only had 10 quarterback hurries while allowing 20.

3. Strong kicking game. Both NC State and Maryland have good specialists. Maryland’s Chad Ryland has made a trio of field goals in his career of at least 50 yards and was second-team all-conference this season.

Punter Colton Spangler is averaging 45.1 yards per punt, 15th best in the conference. He has pinned 15 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Three Keys To The Game For NC State Football

1. Contain Maryland’s run game. In Maryland’s five losses, the Terrapins did not gain more than 128 yards on the ground. Those also happen to be the five lowest rushing totals during the season for Maryland. In three of those defeats, the Terps had under 100 yards on the ground.

NC State ranks 11th in the FBS in rushing yards per game allowed at 102.3.

2. Protect the quarterback. NC State has not said yet if the Pack will start third-year redshirt freshman Ben Finley or freshman MJ Morris, the latter being back in practice after missing the final two weeks of the regular season.

Both have proven they can win against quality teams, Morris leading the Pack to a win over Wake Forest (who defeated Missouri in the Gasparilla Bowl) and Finley over UNC.

Typically, the key to beating Maryland lies in running the football. In four of their five losses, the opponent ran for at least 160 yards. In three of them, the teams exceeded 200 yards. During Maryland’s close call to 1-win Northwestern, the Wildcats ran for 215 yards on the Terps.

But NC State is not a running team. The Pack ranks 105th in rushing yards per game— one spot ahead of them is Purdue, who beat the Terps despite running for just 13 yards. The Boilermakers, however, threw for 360 yards.

That may be the recipe that NC State needs to follow.

3. Win the turnover margin and on special teams. In a game that looks fairly evenly matched, the winner could very well be the team that makes fewer mistakes, capitalizes on opportunities and wins field position.

Both teams boast good kicking specialists. Each squad tends to take care of the football. Who blinks first?

Three Numbers Of Note For NC State Football Vs. Maryland

0-1 — NC State head coach Dave Doeren’s record vs. Maryland. The last ACC game played by the Terps was a 41-21 Maryland win at NC State in 2013.

1 — The betting line favoring NC State after opening with Maryland a 1.5-point favorite.

5-5 — The record between the two teams the last 10 times they met.