2023 Maryland Terrapins Football Schedule, Games, Record Predictions

Good morning! It’s time to talk Maryland Terrapins football.

Specifically, today, we’ll project how they’ll finish in 2023:

FBSchedules

larry31: “September Maryland” continues to be a very real thing as they roll through their OOC schedule (Towson, Charlotte, and Virginia). And they have enough momentum (and it’s still September) to take down MSU in their first away game. Five games in September!?! Oooooh.

Last one against Indiana? Sign me up for 5-0 only because “September Maryland.”

Then shit gets real. Cinderella Maryland and their magical carriage breaks down and turns into a pumpkin as the calendar turns to October and cold, rainy November. Three losses to Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State. Then 1-2 losses against Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska. Maryland finishes their season with a win against Rutgers.

Likelihood of finishes:

1. 7-5 - Injuries take their toll along the way.
2. 8-4 - O-line is spared injuries and improved coaching tandem if Kevin Sumlin and Josh Gattis reap rewards.
3. 6-6 - See (1), except worse.
4. 9-3 - Realistically doable, but when does everything go right?
5. 5-7 - wow. With this favorable crossover schedule? That would be depressing.

87townie: Oh wow, with all world Tua Tagovailoa back, and that defense, well surely they have a shot at.../checks schedule...ah, let’s see.../rustles papers...well they’ll start 3-0, for sure... um...Oh look Nebraska and Rutgers...so, what’s that...um...5 and 7?

Sure, we’ll go with that...5 and 7.

BoilerUp89: Maryland gets off to a fast start with the Charmin soft September and sits at 5-0 and in the also receiving votes portion of the top 25 poll. Then Ohio State crushes their hopes and dreams. The staff isn’t able to refocus the players and rally around their hideous flag the following week so the Terps fall to the Illini. After the bye week it will have been a month since Maryland won a game. Confidence may be low. Thankfully, Northwestern will be there to provide a soft landing and make the turtles bowl eligible.

Maryland loses to Michigan and Penn State in November and the Nebraska game determines whether Maryland goes 8-4 or 7-5.

RUReady4Brazil: As much as I hate to say it, in theory they could go 10-2 if absolutely everything breaks right with Ohio State the only team they have no shot against on paper. Maryland absolutely shredded the Buckeyes through the air last year and had the ball on possessions down just three and only six in the final minutes, they couldn’t have possibly played any better and still lost. The Terps had as good of success as anybody against Michigan in 2022.

Maryland had the skill position players to threaten Penn State in 2021 after beating them in 2020, though they simply could not block the Nittany Lions in a drubbing a season ago. Everybody else on the schedule, if Maryland plays well they control their own destiny with their strong passing game.

Barring injuries with the talent they have, they should go 9-3 or at worst 8-4, quarterback play definitely matters that much and they have a good one in Taulia Tagovailoa. Can he stay healthy like he did in 2022? Probably not. The one game he didn’t start was one play away from overtime against Northwestern, ouch. Since every football team lays an egg or at least a “dud” once per year with theirs last year being at Wisconsin, I’ll bring that down a peg to 7-5 with a bowl victory on top.

MNW: My distrust of Maryland in a B1G spotlight—not necessarily a bowl game, where they’ve been adequate—suggests to me that same 7-5 narrative peddled above. In particular, given struggles on the line and their inability to put away the worst Northwestern team in three decades, I’m not as bullish on the crossovers as many Terps probably should be.

Enjoy the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Turtles.

misdreavus79: Unless Michigan State is trying to take the mantle from Northwestern to become “odd year MSU,” Maryland has a clear path to 5-0. From there, it’s about actually beating one of the Big Three when they’re, well, big. Maryland has yet to beat Ohio State as a Big Ten member, and its wins against Michigan and Penn State, while wins nonetheless, have come against sub optimal outfits.

This year, all three of those teams are expected to be in top 10 form. Can Maryland take one of them down? That’ll be the difference between “the next step” and establishing yourself as a contender in the conference.

I don’t think Maryland is there just yet, but I think they’re good enough to improve on their 7-5 year. So I’m going 8-4

RU in VA: Ugh.

I agree with 8-4 above.

I’ve been to College Park no less than 50 times. I can’t fathom HOW Maryland gets so many good recruits for all sports in there.

A Penn State playcalling article and a nice bowl record for Maryland all in one week.

Kind of...: I tend to be really negative on Maryland, but reading the predictions above, I feel like I’m irrelevant. I don’t know if I’ve seen greater ambivalence about a team that is almost unanimously projected to go bowling. And why not? The non-conference is embarrassing. FCS team? Check. One of the worst FBS teams? Check. One of the worst P5 teams? Check. So that’s 3-0. If vs. Indiana, @Rutgers, and @NW result in any losses, then the season is already a disappointment. Nobody in the B1G has 6 wins on more of a silver platter than Maryland does.

You can point to close games last year with Michigan (the week before @Iowa) and Ohio State (the week before Michigan) all you want, but I’m noticing nobody is predicting a Terp win against any of the big three in the Big East. So, the Terps are looking at 6-6, 7-5, 8-4, or 9-3, and the three game season is @MSU, vs. Illinois, and @Nebraska. On paper Maryland is better than all three, but 9-3 would be stunning. Let’s say they split the two road games and the 7-5/8-4 difference hinges on how well Illinois replaces their losses in the secondary.

WSR: You don’t often get to say things like this about teams in the east, but that’s a really friendly schedule. Just taking a glance at it, they should be able to go 8-4 in a perfect world. I don’t really think they have a shot against tOSU, Michigan, PSU, or Illinois. But the rest of that slate? Goodness. Make hay while the sun shines, Turtles.

Thumpasaurus: Michigan State continues to be a massively unknown quantity, but it’s not hard to see Maryland doing typical Maryland things and starting off 5-0 before facing the Buckeyes in their first real test of the season. The main goal of that game should be no injuries.

Illinois has never beaten Maryland and if the Illini don’t take a big step back, that could be a hell of a game. Maryland has an outside shot at 9 wins, but they have to either get through all of their Sub-Elite opponents with no damage or take one from OSU, Michigan or Penn State.