Preparing OTE’s loyal readers for Purdue’s road trip at Maryland

OTE’s favorite team, the unranked Purdue Boilermakers, take on the SP+ 24th ranked Maryland Terrapins. Yes, that’s right Maryland is ranked in the top 25*. I’m not really sure why Purdue is playing a non-conference game this late in the season or why they scheduled two road non-conference games this year against ACC schools but sometimes things just are the way they are.

*of SP+

Noe Padilla/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK

A Q&A Session Quicker Than The Weekly Mailbag

Who?

Purdue Boilermakers vs. RANKED Maryland Terrapins

What?

Collegiate football. Yes, I would prefer that it was basketball season too. Don’t worry, we are getting close guys. Practice started last week.

When?

Saturday, October 8, 2022 CE at noon (eastern time - the best time*)

*That’s right, I said it.

Where?

SECU stadium (I think that stands for Southeastern Conference University). Hold on - I think I have a photo here of the Maryland football field - ah yes, here it is.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Why?

Because I’ve been told the first week of October is too early to begin basketball previews. Also, the abilities of Purdue’s engineers was questioned by a turtle that learned how to speak.

How?

About $25 on Stubhub - cheapest ticket in the conference this weekend because Maryland - or turn your favorite streaming service to Big Ten Network - or do people still do radio? Maybe read about it in your favorite Sunday morning newspaper.

Series history

Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier, Lafayette Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Purdue is undefeated against Maryland since at least 2017. Maybe they played before then. Maybe they didn’t. Who is to say? Not me.

Maryland’s season so far

Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Turtles won their 3 non-con games against Buffalo (31-10), Charlotte (56-21) and the cocaine ponies (34-27) without being tested too strenuously. Sure, SMU was a little close for comfort and they actually outgained the turtles 520 yards to 439, but Maryland got the victory. Against Michigan, Maryland made a game of things despite fumbling the opening kickoff in the most hilarious way possible and spotting the Brutus’s Bane 7 points. Last week, both Sparty and Maryland refused to play defense in the secondary. Tualia’s accuracy is good enough to make Sparty pay, while whomever is MSU’s QB this year isn’t that good. So, Maryland sits at 4-1 now with dreams of 10 wins dancing in their heads.

The Maryland offense

Set Number: X163024 TK1

Senior QB Tualia Tagovailoa - the younger brother of concussed Tua - is the star of the turtle offense. He’s mobile enough to extend passing plays and has an accurate arm that he uses to spread the ball out to all of his receivers. Tualia does have some issues with INTs and while he has more mobility than the statuesque QBs of Iowa, he doesn’t look to gain many first downs with his legs.

The part of the Turtle offense that surprises me is their run game which has averaged a solid 5.4 yards/carry. Sure, some of that is that they’ve played Charlotte, Buffalo, and Michigan State, but they were still at a decent 3.8 yards/carry against Michigan and have more rushing TDs than passing TDs on the season. The RB room has a good one-two punch. There are plenty of capable receivers, but none of them are stars.

The Maryland defense

Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Turtles are fat, happy creatures that lack speed. Watching part of their game last week, these traits may have transferred to the Turtle secondary as Spartan receivers had no issues running away from them to get open in space.

The advanced stats say they are an average defense. Beau Brade, a cornerback, is leading the team in tackles – which I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen a cornerback lead a team in tackles. He also has the most pass deflections in the secondary and an interception.

Seven “fun” facts about the 7th state

Photo by EyesWideOpen/Getty Images

• The University of Maryland used to have school colors of black and “gold”. Then - because they have no morals - they ruined their spectacular first choice by adding red and white to these pure, unblemished colors. A terrible, terrible mistake.
• James Booth fled to Maryland after murdering President Abraham Lincoln. Ask yourself why someone would think it would be safe to hideout in Maryland after assassinating America’s President? Probably because Maryland was founded by the British.
• Maryland was once in the Southern Conference. Are they undercover spies against the North? Disloyal members of the Union? Is that why they’ve named their stadium after the SEC?
• Maryland’s turtle mascot is named “Testudo” which is Latin for “turtle”. Yep, their mascot is Turtle the turtle. I have no words to describe how unoriginal this is. Even us boiler bots are more creative than that (we have numbers to distinguish ourselves).
• Maryland football is so terrible, they have only beaten rival Penn State in football three times. What type of a terrible football program do you have to be to have only beat the Nittany Lions three times?
• Maryland has less Big Ten championships than Purdue.
• Maryland has a flag that allegedly causes eye cancer. Research by OTE’s PhD candidates are ongoing. I’m sure we will inform you guys of the results of our research.

Prediction

You don’t really want me to spoil my prediction before reading tomorrow’s picks article, do you? Hopefully, it will be an easy win for the Boilermakers. A great day for Purdue and therefore the world.

For you math nerds out there though, I give you this:

Purdue - Minnesota = 10

Minnesota - Michigan State = 27

Maryland - Michigan State = 14

Purdue - Maryland = x

Solve for x