Maryland begins the final and toughest month of its schedule with a historically-vexing top-10 opponent in No. 9 Penn State. Here’s this week’s Terps Top Three notebook ahead of Saturday’s matchup with the Nittany Lions (3:30 p.m., Fox).
Fall of an empire?: Roman Hemby was a breakout star for Maryland last season. The then-redshirt freshman proved to be a home-run hitter at running back, something the Terrapins’ offense had lacked for years. The Edgewater, Maryland, native finished just 11 yards shy of 1,000 rushing in 2022 (1,287 overall from scrimmage) and reached the end zone 10 times on the ground.
Juxtapose that with Hemby’s statistical struggles this season, and it will leave you puzzled. Through seven games, he’s only recorded 441 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns.
Maryland likes to deploy a multi-pronged running attack, with at least three different players each game splitting touches. That hinders the ability of one back to become the bell cow, as is the case across most of the Big Ten.
“Does usage change from game to game? For sure — dependent on a guy’s production, how many opportunities we want to get them. I’m one of those guys that typically going into a game I have an idea in my mind or on my call sheet like, hey, we’ve got to try to get this guy going,” Locksley said Thursday.
Hemby’s averaging 11 carries through eight games this season, a touch down from the 13.1 he averaged over the same period last year. His yards-per-carry numbers are also similar enough — 5.0 so far in 2023, compared to 5.6 for all of 2022. So why does Hemby seem to be less of a factor on the ground?
“It’s more how we game plan. It’s more the utilizing you all the different guys that we have that have the ability to make plays. And, you know, Roman is still certainly one of those guys,” Locksley said.
Locksley said previously that Hemby was nicked up after Maryland’s Sept. 23 win at Michigan State, which could have played a factor in his reps. Hemby also mentioned this week that Maryland’s offense under Josh Gattis favors the passing game a bit more than last year’s led by Dan Enos — including an increase in his own usage in the screen game.
“Right now in the run game and the passing game, we’re still trying to find that ability in terms of being efficient,” Locksley said. “There’s gonna be some games, if we line up in in certain formations and we get light boxes, that you’ll see more run opportunities and the production that we all want to get used to. But, we don’t make a point of emphasis to say, hey, we’re going to just line up and run it.”
The ‘rivalry’ that’s not?: Maryland and Penn State have a long history in football, first playing each other in 1917. While Terrapins fans get juiced up for what’s been an annual matchup since they joined the Big Ten in 2014, the view from Happy Valley is decidedly less enthusiastic.
“Penn State fans don’t get up for a Maryland game the way they would for Ohio State or Michigan,” Nittany Sports Now’s Joe Smeltzer told The Times’ District of Sports podcast. “It’s definitely more of a one-sided kind of deal.”
Maryland typically gives the game a theme treatment when it’s in College Park — this year, it’s gold jerseys. But the connotation of a rivalry usually means there’s some sort of competitive balance, which is not the case between UMD and PSU. The Nittany Lions have won all but four games in the series, leading it 42-3-1.
Maryland fans can be forgiven for trying to generate any kind of energy or hatred for any of their opponents on a conference schedule filled with mostly midwestern schools that they don’t have much history with. Aside from Penn State, Rutgers — Maryland’s “protected rival” moving forward — is the only other Big Ten program the Terrapins have played more than 14 times.
“It’s at the point where Penn State fans are so annoyed with how much Maryland fans hate Penn State that they almost consider it a rivalry kind of subconsciously,” Smeltzer said.
Providing warmth: Former Maryland star Shawne Merriman’s foundation will be collecting coats outside of SECU Stadium before Saturday’s game, an initiative that’s been going strong since Merriman was a student.
The “Lights On” Foundation Coat Drive started during the former NFL All-Pro’s time College Park in the early 2000s. Now in year 21, the drive has collected more than 40,000 coats in its history.
A play on Merriman’s “Lights Out” nickname and sack celebration from his time with the Terrapins, Chargers, and Bills, the donations benefit Helping Up Mission and the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training.
“The coat drive has always been special to me because I know how it feels to not have a coat during Maryland’s brutally cold winter weather,” Merriman said.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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