B1G 2020, Maryland Potluck Pt. II: Thin Quarterbacks and Stiff Drinks?

We’re having some technical/formatting issues—more on Maryland football’s transfer situation later this afternoon! Instead, we’ll skip right to the potluck.

So...uh...we started yesterday by talking about how Maryland’s “Perfectly Average” designation obscured its historic whipsawing. And in that oeuvre, let’s take a look at Maryland’s 2019 offensive output and—oh god why.

The Football

You know the story by now: 142 points in 79-0 and 63-20 pastings of Howard and then-#21 Syracuse. 161 points the rest of the season (48 of which came against Rutgers). The departure of playmakers Anthony McFarland in the NFL Draft and Javon Leake as a UDFA.

And the offensive meeting room only got thinner. After Tyrrell Pigrome transferred to Western Kentucky, Max Bortenschlager left for Florida International, and Tyler DeSue retired from football, the Terps were left with two scholarship quarterbacks: Returning fifth-year senior Josh Jackson and redshirt freshman Lance Legendre.

Enter, though, what Maryland does well under Mike Locksley: RECRUUUUUUUIT.

Five-star WR Rakim Jarrett from DC. An offensive line transfer from Nebraska in 22-year old Mitchell Balenger. JUCO RB transfer Challen Fa’amatau. Road-grader Ja’Khi Green from Baltimore. A four-star RB from Detroit in Peny Boone to go with Oklahoma speedster Isaiah Jacobs. Oh yeah, and Tua Tagovailoa’s brother Taulia Tagovailoa. Did we forget about the Alabama 4* transfer QB? Paul Finebaum was down on Taulia’s ability, and his eligibility remains in question for the 2020 season (more on that later today).

Got all that? (Me neither.) But with as Maryland moves into Year One of the Locks Pt. II Era, do you just play this year out with Josh Jackson and hope for the best, getting the ball to the speedsters and letting Legendre and Tagovailoa learn the ropes under co-offensive coordinators Scottie Montgomery and Joker Phillips?

Tell us (1) your answer to the above, and (2) the last senior who took one for the team in a less-than-stellar final season.

Jesse: Yes, you 100% play it safe because (a) NOBODY CAN PRACTICE RIGHT NOW, and (b) Don’t ruin the life of one of your potential stars.

I have no idea how to answer the second part as to taking one for the team, but easily the most memorable has got to be my man, Ron. Kellogg. III. Dude was filler for the inevitability of Tommy Armstrong getting hurt, and he earned his damn Senior scholarship, wore some huge pads, and definitely did this.

BMan31: Gotta go with experience for now and give the talent time to round into form, especially as Jesse said, NO ONE CAN PRACTICE RIGHT NOW. As for that last one, don’t do that to me. There isn’t enough booze in the world right now.

pkloa: As I said yesterday, Mike Locksley is bad, and he should feel bad, as should all you Maryland fans. Because Locksley is bad, he probably can’t afford to sit better options in favor of a more seasoned QB. You let dog droppings stay in your backyard all summer and, sure, it’ll be seasoned, but it’s still crap and now you have a brown spot of grass.

Beez: As a Wisconsin fan, I’m genetically programmed to say “play it safe and play the veteran.” Paul Chryst would never dream of starting anyone other than Jackson in this scenario!

But...what in the world does Maryland have to lose. They play in an impossible division and aren’t very good, but seem to have a LOT of pretty dang (are you reading this, Chryst?!?) good talent, at least on paper. Why not give some new guys a shot and show your recruits for the next few seasons that yes, if our team sucks hard enough, you will get a shot to play basically right away?

Alex Hornibrook was in his 4th year at Wisconsin before he transferred, so I’m calling him a senior. He took what sure looked like two concussions in the span of a few weeks, all so the team could lose nearly every other game all season. That seems rough.

MNW: Feels like Maryland 2020 is hoping that one of their playmakers—say, perhaps, back-from-injury Jeshaun Jones or LSU flip Rakim Jarrett—has a Rondale Moore-esque breakout season. Like, let whatever Josh Jackson does be gravy, let Legendre get a couple chances in Big Ten play to prove himself (not just when it’s 42-0 Penn State or whatever), and hope you find some optimism for the future.

I am still super bummed at how the 2019 season wound up for Northwestern DE Joe Gaziano. Broke the school sack record, was constantly out there spinning his wheels...good dude. Hoping he catches on with the Chargers.

WSR: The worst part about letting other people answer these before you is that everyone will shit all over Mike Locksley first and eventually it just gets redundant.

Take whoever you want as QB, Maryland. Go out there and score 100 points against whomever your opener is this year. Use your entire playbook and just go nuts. By the midpoint of the B1G season, no one will care. And if you want a guy who had went out there and gave everything they had for the program only for there to not be much at all left in the end...hey there, Rodney Smith.

Thanks for everything, and I hope you get new legs someday. Mo Ibrahim should have had your carries last year.

The Food

Right. Food.

Or drinks—whatever. Did YOU know the Preakness had a signature drink? (To be honest, I kind of tune out after the Kentucky Derby, not that I’ve ever really tuned in to begin with.) But with the Preakness delayed to October, we’ve got time to play for next season on that one, too.

Anywho, here’s the Black-Eyed Susan:

Vodka and St-Germain, plus OJ, pineapple, and lime juice. That do it for you? Let us know:

(1) If the Black-Eyed Susan has changed anything in your life, and
(2) If there’s an event-specific drink where you’re from.

BMan31: 1. No, a Black-Eyed Susan is nothing more than some flowers alongside my pole barn that my late grandma-in-law planted so Heaven forbid I accidentally chop them off too early or I’ll hear nothing but grief from my in-laws. Wait, what was the question again?

Yeah, it’s called a Boilermaker. Don’t need a specific event, just drop the shot and let’s get this over with.

Beez: I thought the black eyed susan were those sugar cookies with a hershey’s kiss in the middle. What am I thinking of?

In Wisconsin you drink beer at events (yes I’m ignoring the gross tradition of liking Old Fashioneds, particularly BRANDY Old Fashioneds. Awful). In Boone, NC you drink...beer. Cheerwine is big in North Carolina, does that count?

MNW: Goddamn, do I love me some Cheerwine. (Beez, you’re thinking of peanut blossoms.)

And sure, I’d give a Black-Eyed Susan a try, though like a mint julep I’ll skip anything expensive and just make something approaching it with what I can find at home.

It’s not Midwestern or Minnesotan, more just dependent on wherever Germans settled or people wanted to approximate German culture, but I enjoy a hot cup of mulled Gluhwein in the winter or when I’m at a Christkindlmarkt.

Also, I mean, Malort is a cocktail by itself. Yum.

BrianB2: I have never had a black-eyed susan, I’ve never really even been presented with the opportunity to order one, and I am certainly not motivated enough to make my own. My brother, in his college years, used to go to Preakness, and apparently in its hay-day it was one big shit show. I unfortunately have heard things have been dialed back though.

The brewery I work at recently brewed a beer with some black eyed susan on the can art. Everyone thinks it is a sunflower though, and the beer kinda sucks, so there is that!

WSR: Yeah, that’s a no from me dawg. I’ll leave more Black-eyed Susans for everyone else. If there’s a specialty cocktail from my area growing up, it’s a beer that’s slowly approaching room temperature that’s consumed with increasing surliness and a sullen mood.

What would be the OTE signature cocktail? What do you make of the Maryland offense? Sound off in the comments.