If you’ve read this space or listened to me last few years, you know I’m a massive college football fan. I watched the entirety of Hawaii-Stanford on Saturday night, completely compelled by the story of Hawaii’s Japanese kicker who taught himself how to kick by watching YouTube.
I would do it again tomorrow if it were an option.
My interest in the return of college football is piqued by Maryland’s two FBS teams. I find both programs to be very compelling at the moment.
The conversation actually starts with Navy. The Midshipmen are particularly intriguing heading into the season because they have a genuine chance to reach the College Football Playoff. Navy is coming off a 10-win season that featured a huge home win against Memphis, emphatic wins against Air Force and Army to take back the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy and an Armed Forces Bowl win against Oklahoma. The Mids are perhaps primed to take another step forward.
Quarterback Blake Horvath showed himself to be a true dual-threat playmaker last year, responsible for more than 2,500 yards of offense and 30 touchdowns. Not only is Horvath entering his second season in offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s system, his top four playmakers from a year ago — snipes Eli Heidenreich and Brandon Chatman, fullback Alex Tecza and wide receiver Nathan Kent — are back. There are some offensive line questions (not All-AAC left guard Ben Purvis), but the unit should be outstanding as a whole.
The defense lost two of its top playmakers and leaders in linebacker Colin Ramos and safety Rayuan Lane (Gilman). That doesn’t leave the unit void of impact players. First-team All-AAC defensive lineman Landon Robinson and linebacker Luke Pirris are very much among the team’s “knowns.”
According to ESPN, the Mids have the fifth-best odds of any Group of Five team to make the CFP, but the path isn’t easy. Preseason AAC favorite Tulane isn’t on the regular-season schedule but could be an AAC championship game opponent. (Navy lost, 35-0, to Tulane last year, though Horvath got hurt early in the game.) The Mids’ November schedule could prove defining, with a primetime trip to Notre Dame, a home date with South Florida and a Thanksgiving night visit to Memphis on the slate.
Still, the path to the CFP is real. Navy is very much worth your attention.
In College Park, Maryland provides compelling storylines even if the Terps aren’t a CFP contender. Most notably, there’s the quarterback situation. Former Archbishop Spalding star Malik Washington is considered one of the more intriguing freshmen in the country. In fact, he was just named to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award watch list. Still, head coach Mike Locksley isn’t committing to him starting over UCLA transfer Justyn Martin or redshirt freshman Khristian Martin.
From the outside, it would seem as though Maryland “needs” to start Washington, who is considered the biggest talent of the group. The proverbial heat is on Locksley after a 4-8 season in 2024, and Washington playing and succeeding would show the fan base that the program is headed in the right direction. Plus, other programs might try to pursue Washington in the portal should he not see the playing time he expected as a freshman at Maryland.
I recently asked Locksley if he had the luxury of ignoring all of those factors and simply pick the quarterback that gave him the best chance to win in Week 1. He did not mince words in response:
Whether Locksley should actually be feeling any heat is a different subject. I’ve maintained that the difficulty of the Maryland job is unlike almost anywhere else in the country. I remain of the belief that he truly is the best fit for the job of anyone who might want it. Still, there’s a new athletic director (Jim Smith) and you never know when a new AD might look to make changes.
Maryland lost some significant offensive weapons in the offseason, starting with receivers Tai Felton and Kaden Prather. However, the Terps brought in receivers Jalil Farooq (Oklahoma) and Kaleb Webb (Tennessee) from the portal. Maryland has to be able to keep its quarterback on the field, especially considering the offensive line has traditionally been the biggest separator between Maryland and high-level Big Ten teams. The Terps have much to replace defensively, including draft picks Ruben Hyppolite II, Jordan Phillips, Dante Trader and Tommy Akingbesote. And that was from a group that finished 105th nationally in scoring defense a season ago.
New coordinators Pep Hamilton (best known as Andrew Luck’s offensive coordinator at Stanford and with the Colts) and Ted Monachino (the former Ravens outside linebackers coach) will be called upon to help make these upgrades on the fly. There is good news schedule-wise, though. The three highest-ranked Big Ten teams (Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon) are all off the schedule this year. But a trip to Illinois and home games against Indiana and Michigan will be plenty daunting in their place.
Both teams are quite worthy of your attention for different but still compelling reasons.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics and Kenya Allen/PressBox