Michigan Football has a (largely) finalized coaching staff for the upcoming 2024 season and today marks the closing of the transfer portal window that began when Jim Harbaugh exited to the NFL. Changes may continue to rosters after spring ball, but today marks the point at which Michigan joins the rest of college football in terms of staff and roster stability, the dust settling on the changes of the winter period. That reality allows us to turn our attention to the rest of college football to see what's been going on elsewhere in the B1G, as we did last offseason. Just like last year's series, over the course of the next three pieces (we now have 17 teams to cover!) I will recap what transfer portal and NFL declarations have wrought upon Michigan's conference foes, in addition to any staff turnover. Today we are covering the six teams in what used to be the B1G East: Ohio State EXITS Ohio State lost a handful of impact players, but as a whole came out relatively unsca
Previously: Maryland Offense Yesterday we looked at Maryland's offense, today we turn to the defensive side of the ball. The Terrapin defense has had an odd season, strong efforts against teams like Ohio State and Indiana but then getting ripped apart by the likes of Illinois and Northwestern. How to evaluate this confusing unit? That's our task today: The Film: Just as we did with the offense, we are selection Maryland vs. Ohio State. It's the best offense Maryland has faced and being one of their best outings, it is again upholding the rule of scouting an opponent at their best. Personnel: Click for big. Maryland rolls with a pair of defensive tackles and then a pair of lighter EDGEs in the 260-265 range as their base front. They typically put out two ILBs against passing formations but they can put out a 260 lb. SLB against two TE sets, which can mimic a five-man front, so expect that to feature against Michigan. Their starting tackles are Jordan Phillip
Previously: Maryland Offense The Terps' offense gets much of the focus. That's where the brand name players and the projectable NFL talents on this team are. But the defense? Eek. Last year Maryland surrendered 66 points to Ohio State, 59 points to Michigan, 35 points to Indiana, 31 points to Penn State, and 40 points to Michigan State. It was the weak spot of the team and in the offseason Mike Locksley changed things up, getting a new defensive coordinator, in addition to a decent amount of roster turnover. The result? It's unclear if things are any better. Maryland gave up 520 yards to SMU last week, 292 to an awful Charlotte team in Week 2, and 268 to an equally bad Buffalo team to start the season. It's only cost them 55 points in total so far, but now comes a real test in Michigan. The Film: Still the SMU tape for the reasons stated in the previous piece. Maryland's other two non-con opponents were almost as bad as Michigan's non-con slate,