Maryland football expected to take the next step in 2022

Aug. 23—For the first time in the Mike Locksley era, Maryland enters a season with significant expectations.

The 2021 Terrapins erased a five-year bowl drought, capping a 7-6 season with a 54-10 drubbing of Virginia Tech in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Production returns across the board. Maryland brings back a Big Ten-best 15 starters, one more than Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue and Northwestern, and two more than Michigan and Minnesota.

No returner is bigger than quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who set school records with 328 completions for 3,860 yards. His 26 touchdowns tied the highest single-season Terrapins mark with Scott Milanovich (1983).

Tagovailoa was efficient at times with the football, completing 69.2% of his passes, but made far too many mistakes under pressure, particularly against stiff competition.

Following a 4-0 start to the season, which included a thrilling 30-24 victory over West Virginia to open the campaign, Tagovailoa laid an egg against No. 5 Iowa in front of a packed house at Maryland stadium.

The 'Ewa Beach, Hawaii, native tossed five interceptions in a 51-14 letdown, a loss that was compounded by the loss of star receiver Dontay Demus for the season with a knee injury. At the time, Demus was seen as a possible Day 1 or Day 2 NFL Draft selection before going down.

Demus is arguably Maryland's biggest question mark entering the season. If the explosive 6-foot-3, 217-pound target is healthy — he had 507 yards through four games and a quarter last year — the Terps may have the best wide receiver room in the nation.

Rakim Jarrett, a former five-star recruit from St. John's in Washington, D.C., caught 62 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns as a sophomore a season ago.

The electric wide-out group got even better during the offseason, as Florida transfer Jacob Copeland, who snagged 41 passes for 642 yards and four scores with the Gators in 2021, transferred to College Park.

A healthy Demus will make it nearly impossible for opposing defenses to keep pace.

"Dontay is ahead of schedule," Locksley said during Big Ten Media Day. "Really, really impressed with how he's returned. Our training staff, led by Brian Simerville, has done a tremendous job of getting Dontay back.

"We do expect him, barring any setbacks during training camp, which we'll do a good job of trying to protect him and get him to that opening game, but there is the expectation that we'll see Dontay Demus playing in the first game."

While Tagovailoa and company will get most of the headlines, the stability along the offensive line, which returns all five starters, will be just as important.

Senior left tackle Jaelyn Duncan (6'6", 320 pounds), junior left guard Mason Lunsford (6'7", 305), senior center Johari Branch (6'3", 330), senior right guard Spencer Anderson (6'5", 320) and sophomore right tackle Delmar Glaze (6'5", 305) are back.

"All five of our starting offensive linemen are back, and to me that's the most improved unit on our team, and I'm looking forward to seeing us take that next step," Locksley said.

The running back position has historically has been a pipeline to the NFL.

There are four Terps currently in the pros at the position: Anthony McFarland Jr. (Pittsburgh Steelers), Ty Johnson (New York Jets), Jake Funk (Los Angeles Rams) and last-seasons starter Tayon Fleet-Davis (Kansas City Chiefs).

Yet, with those names gone, Maryland may use a running back by committee approach, as its leading returning rusher is sophomore Colby McDonald at just 325 yards. He'll be joined by Challen Faamatau (235 yards), Antwain Littleton (74 yards) and highly touted four-star back Ramon Brown from Virginia.

Defensively, Maryland will rely All-Big Ten cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett and Tarheeb Still and a strong interior defensive line, which brings back contributors Ami Finau, Mosiah Nasili-Kite and Greg Rose.

The Terps did lose a lot on that side of the ball. Four-star Quince Orchard product Chop Robinson transferred to Penn State, and linebackers Terrence Lewis (five star recruit) and Branden Jennings (four star) returned to the Sunshine State to play for UCF.

Starting safeties Nick Cross and Jordan Mosley and interior lineman Sam Okuayinonu are also gone. Cross was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round (96th overall) of the draft, and Okuayinonu signed a free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans.

Linebacker was the weakest unit on Maryland's defense in 2021, and it doesn't help losing Lewis and Jennings to the portal. However, four-star recruit Jaishawn Barham and West Virginia transfer Vandarius Cowan have shown encouraging signs during camp.

Edge rusher Durell Nchami has the potential to be one of the conference's most disruptive players, but the senior has played in just seven games over the last three seasons due to injury, recording five sacks and seven tackles for loss over that span.

Even if the defense comes together, the offense does what everyone expects it to do and Tagovailoa becomes a dark horse Heisman contender, the schedule won't do Maryland any favors.

The Terps have five expected losses on the slate from the get-go in Michigan (away), Michigan State (home), Wisconsin (away), Penn State (away) and Ohio State (home).

Still, Locksley is expected to return Maryland to a bowl game in his fourth season at the helm.

Who knows, if the Terps can pull a couple upsets along the way, they may be in for a special season. The team certainly has the talent to do it.

Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.