Syracuse will try to move to stay undefeated when it hosts Maryland on Saturday afternoon. Here is a quick look at the game:
HOMECOMING: When Syracuse hosts Maryland on Saturday, it will be a homecoming for Terrapins head coach Randy Edsall. Edsall was a letterwinner as a quarterback for the Orangemen and went on to be an assistant on the coaching staff for more than a decade. The Maryland head coach has been back before, as head coach of the Connecticut Huskies when both UConn and SU were in the Big East, but this will be Edsall’s first trip back as coach of the Terps. Maryland figured to be an annual fixture in Syracuse’s schedule when the Orange joined the ACC, but this season marks Maryland’s first year in the Big 10. Still, the two teams agreed to meet in a home-and-home this season, and in 2019. “It’s business as usual,” Edsall said. “The first time when I went up there as an assistant at Boston College was special. But once you do it one time, and then I’ve been back as a head coach at Connecticut, it’s just old packing, so to speak. I value and appreciate the time that I spent there as a student, four years, and then as a coach for 11. I met my wife there so that was good, actually really good, I should say.”
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SCOUTING THE TERRAPINS: Maryland quarterback CJ Brown is the type of player that would seem to give the Orange defense fits. He’s already rushed for 219 yards and four touchdowns in three games. But while Brown has excelled on the ground, he has completed just 54 percent of his passes (47 for 87) and thrown four touchdowns to three interceptions. That has led to rumblings that Brown could be replaced by Caleb Rowe. The junior has appeared in two games this season, and in limited duty has completed nine of 14 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The drawback for the Terps is that Rowe is mostly just a pocket passer. Whoever is under center, he will be throwing to wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who leads Maryland with 230 yards and a touchdown this season.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: Syracuse and Maryland played last year as members of the ACC, with the Orange winning 20-3. Jerome Smith rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns, while the Orange defense held the Terps to just 292 total yards. Syracuse holds a 19-14-2 advantage in the series.
GAME INFORMATION: Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. TV: ACC Network/ESPN3.
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