12/11/2020 football Edit

PREVIEW: Rutgers heads down south to take on the Maryland Terrapins

Anthony Siciliano

TheKnightReport.Net

The Rutgers Football team will head back head down south to take on the Maryland Terrapins football team to the Garden State for their eighth game of the 2020 season.

Here's what you need to know about the game.

WHEN: Saturday at Noon EST, B1G Network (BTN)

WHO: Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Maryland Terrapins

WHERE: Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium -- College Park, Maryland

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PLAYERS TO WATCH:

QUARTERBACK Taulia Tagovailoa

THE SKINNY: Alabama transfer Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa has had a solid season as a first-year starter for Maryland in throwing for 1,011 passing yards, completing 61.5 percent of his passes, 7 passing touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. He’s also accounted for the ground game in rushing for 44 rushing yards on 26 rushing attempts and 2 rushing touchdowns. Tagovailoa has a nice quick compact throwing release and is able to make every throw in the three levels of the passing game. Very accurate when throwing on the run and on off-platform movements as well. Taulia Tagovailoa is the younger brother of Miami Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

WIDE RECEIVER DONTAY DEMUS

THE SKINNY: Dontay Demus Jr. is the go-to target for the Maryland offense in the passing game. Demus Jr. has 23 receptions, 342 receiving yards, and 3 receiving touchdowns while averaging 14.9 yards per catch. Demus Jr. is an explosive receiver who has a nice catch radius to use his body against defenders in 1 on 1 situations to make difficult catches. Explosive with the football after the catch and is a reliable target for Maryland Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. Demus Jr awareness when approaching defenders is what allows him to be a threat after the catch. Very fluid route runner while being a sure handed pass catcher.

LINEBACKER CHANCE CAMPBELL

THE SKINNY: Junior Linebacker Chance Campbell is one of the veterans for the Maryland defense and has accounted 42 total tackles (23 solo, 19 assist) and 1.5 sacks. He currently leads the team in all tackling categories and that’s because of his sideline-to-sideline awareness to hunt down ball carriers. Campbell is a fundamentally sound tackler who will punish ball carriers in the open field. He’s very instinctive in reading RPO’s and dropping into pass coverage. On run plays, Campbell is patient enough to read the gaps developing while flowing to the football.

RECORD THIS SEASON: 2-2 / Wins versus Minnesota and Penn State

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 16th time the two schools have met on the gridiron, with the Terrapins leading the series 9-6. Rutgers hasn't won a game since 2017 when the Scarlet Knights earned a 31-24 victory led by then head coach Chris Ash.