Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1276571
with 79 and 54 tackles, respectively, last season. Also back is defensive tackle Sam Okuayinonu, who >nished with 4.5 tack- les for loss, and safety Nick Cross, who made >ve starts as a true freshman and >nished with 45 tackles and a team-high two interceptions and >ve pass breakups. One major o@-season priority will be to build a defensive line that is able to gen- erate pressure and throw opposing of- fenses o@-schedule once in a while. The Terps managed only 21 sacks last season. SPECIAL TEAMS Maryland attempted only >ve >eld goals last year. Even worse, they converted only two of those at- tempts. You read that right: In 12 games, the Terps made just two >eld goals. Kicker Joseph Petrino returns, and while his numbers last year were skimpy, he was very e@ective as a freshman in 2018, hitting 11 of 12 >eld goal attempts. The Terps used two punters last season – Colton Spangler and Anthony Pecorella – and both are back. In the return game, Maryland will de>nitely miss Leake, who averaged 26.8 yards and scored two kick-return TDs in his >nal season. OUTLOOK ABer a sizzling start last September, the Terrapins cooled o@ in a hurry and stayed cold for the rest of the season. Maryland averaged 25.3 points per game in 2019, but that number is de- ceiving. The Terps scored nearly half of their point total for the entire campaign in season-opening nonconference wins over Howard (79-0) and Syracuse (63- 20). Subtract those romps, and their av- erage dips to 16.1 points per game. That's barely better than Rutgers. Maryland will have to fare better in the red zone if it's going to improve on last year's dis- appointing >nish, and it will also have to make major strides on the opposite side of the ball and in the kicking game. The good news is that the Terps are starting to bring in outstanding prospects like Jarrett – no surprise given Locksley's prowess as a recruiter. The bad news is that most of them are probably a year or two away from having a major impact on the program's fortunes. ■ 2019 RECORD 2-10, 0-9 Big Ten COACH Greg Schiano (68-67 in 11 sea- sons at Rutgers; career collegiate record: same) OFFENSE Lots of holes here, starting at quarterback. Artur Sitkowski returns aBer choosing to redshirt four games into the 2019 season, and so does his replace- ment, Johnny Langan. Sitkowski has put together modest numbers to date, in- cluding a 5-20 touchdown-interception ratio, but he and Langan may bene>t from the arrival of new o@ensive coordi- nator Sean Gleeson, formerly of Okla- homa State. If they don't, the Scarlet Knights could turn to Nebraska transfer Noah Vedral. The Knights will de>nitely miss Raheem Blackshear, a do-it-all of- fensive threat who transferred to Virginia Tech. But Isaih Pacheco is back aBer rushing for 729 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. The receiver corps and of- fensive line both are question marks; Blackshear was Rutgers' second-leading receiver last year despite sitting out eight games. The Knights averaged 13.3 points per game and a dismal 5.7 points per game in Big Ten play, so there's nowhere to go but up on this side of the ball. DEFENSE Same goes for this side of the ball. In addition to >elding the Big Ten's worst o@ense, Rutgers also >elded its most porous defense, as opponents aver- aged 36.7 points per game. The Scarlet Knights were last in the conference and 107th in the Football Bowl Subdivision against the run, allowing 201.1 yards per game. It's hard to be competitive if you can't stop opponents from controlling the game on the ground, and Rutgers com- pounded its problems by failing to gener- ate turnovers, producing just four fumble recoveries and six interceptions. Eight starters return from that unit, including linebackers Tyshon Fogg and Okakunle Fatukasi, the Knights' top two tacklers last season with 104 and 85 stops, respec- tively. But there's a lot of work ahead. SPECIAL TEAMS Adam Korsak is one of the Big Ten's best punters. He was a sec- ond-team All-Big Ten choice and a Ray Guy Award semi>nalist aBer netting a school-record 41.5 yards per punt last year. Kicker Justin Davidovicz is also back aBer hitting 11 of 15 >eld goal at- tempts as a sophomore. OUTLOOK Rutgers got its man. Its on- again-o@-again courtship of Schiano ended with the former Scarlet Knights coach receiving an eight-year, $32 mil- lion contract to return to Piscataway. You can understand why alumni, boost- ers and even New Jersey Gov. Phil Mur- phy were so eager to bring him back. In 2001, he inherited a program that had posted eight consecutive losing seasons. ABer a few diAcult transitional years, he led it to six bowl appearances in seven seasons. He's inheriting a mess this time, too; Rutgers hasn't had a winning season since 2014. He's also inheriting a Big Ten schedule that will serve up an- nual games against Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, along with a rotating as- sortment of Midwestern bullies. That >gures to make his second act a little more diAcult than the >rst. But for the >rst time in a while, Rutgers has hope. We're not expecting miracles, but we are expecting improvement. ■ TOP RETURNEES PASSING Johnny Langan 80 of 159 | 840 yds. | 4 TD | 9 int. RUSHING Isaih Pacheco 169 att. | 729 yds. | 7 TD RECEIVING Bo Melton 30 rec. | 427 yds. | 2 TD TACKLING Tyshon Fogg 34 solo | 70 asst. | 104 total SACKS Rashawn Battle 3 sacks | 23 yds. Elorm Lumor 3 sacks | 9 yds. 7. RUTGERS P E N N S TAT E O P P O N E N T O C T. 3 @ S H I STA D I U M , P I S C ATAWAY, N . J .