Neal Brown Previews Maryland

The West Virginia Mountaineers will open the season on the road versus the Maryland Terrapins Saturday at 3:30 and broadcasting on ESPN. It’s the first true road game to open the season since the Mountaineers beat Syracuse 15-7 in 2005.

Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley is entering his third season at the helm and holds a 5-12 record at Maryland in a rebuild following the tumultuous tenure of DJ Durkin.

“Coach Locksley and his staff have done a great job recruiting,” said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. “They had a top 20 class last year, and you can see that talent being displayed on all three phases.”

Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has appeared in nine games during his two years at the collegiate level As a freshman, he had mop-up duty behind his brother Tua, who is now the starting quarterback with the Miami Dolphins, before transferring to Maryland. Last season, he started four of the five games the Terrapins were able to play, going 75-122 for 1011 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions as a sophomore.

“I saw him play multiple times in high school. He’s a winner,” said Brown. He’s a dual-threat. He can run the football. He throws it intermediary and deep – has nice touch, and I know that from seeing him live.”

“He throws guys open a lot, especially in the intermediate, middle parts of the field,” added West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley. “For his size, I think has a big arm, and he can hit some tight windows.”

The Terrapins have a pair of talented receivers in senior Dontay Demus Jr and sophomore Rakim Jarrett. Demus Jr. is a two-time All-Big Ten Honoree with a career average of 16.3 yards per reception and 10 touchdowns. Jarrett had a solid freshman season with 17 receptions for 252 yards and two touchdowns on the year.

“Receiver-wise, very talented. Maybe as talented as we’re going to play this year,” said Brown. There are probably four to six quality guys at the receiver position. It starts for them at receiver with Demus and Jarrett, and I think those guys are NFL players – explosive. It's going to be a great challenge for us.”

Rakim Jarrett was a coveted receiver in the class of 2020, ranking as one of the top receivers in the country coming out of high school. He showcased his explosiveness with 144 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions in the win over Penn State last season.

“We got to locate him,” said Brown. “We know they’re going to try and get him the ball a bunch of different ways. They lined him up multiple positions last year, and I think he’ll be even more of a focal point for them this year.”

Brown also noted senior tight end Chigoziem Okonkwo as an “NFL prospect.” He sat out last season for medical reasons. However, he is on the 2022 Reeses Senior Bowl and John Mackey Watch Lists.

“Defensively, I thought they played extremely well at the end of last season,” said Brown. Also adding, “They’re very good in the back end,” citing 2020 All-Big Ten Honoree and Freshman All-American by the Athletic, sophomore Tarheeb Still.

The West Virginia coaching staff recognizes the Maryland secondary as their strength, and quarterback coach Sean Reagan stated he expects a lot of man-to-man coverage, and at some point in the game, they will play cover one. However, the staff is also expecting the unexpected, and going up against one of the top defenses in the country every day in practice, has the offense prepared for anything thrown their way.

“You use fall camp to prepare for all those wrinkles,” said quarterbacks coach Sean Regan. "When we go against our defense every day, we’ve seen every zone coverage that you can draw up. So, if they go to zone coverage, we’ll be ready.”

West Virginia is 28-22-2 all-time versus Maryland. The Mountaineers have won nine of the last ten meetings between the two programs after four straight Terrapin wins from 2001-2004 during the Ralph Friedgen era.

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