Spring opponent review: Maryland

With spring practices now wrapped up around the country, HuskerOnline.com will take a look at where each of Nebraska’s 12 opponents in 2019 currently stands coming out of spring ball and heading into the summer.

Today we look at the Maryland Terrapins, as Nebraska will make their first-ever trip to College Park since joining the Big Ten. Maryland is the only Big Ten venue the Huskers have not visited since joining the league.

The Terps are also breaking in first-year head coach Mike Locksley, who returns to Maryland after a stint at Alabama working as Nick Saban's offensive coordinator.

HuskerOnline caught up Terrapin Sports Report's Scott Greene to get his thoughts and perspective on where things are at for Maryland coming out of the spring.

Related: South Alabama | Colorado | Northern Illinois | Illinois | Ohio State | Northwestern | Minnesota | Indiana | Purdue | Wisconsin

Mike Locksley takes over as Maryland's head coach after a successful stint under Nick Saban as his offensive coordinator at Alabama. However, before that, he was 3-31 as a head coach at New Mexico.

Since parting ways with Ralph Friedgen, Maryland has gone 38-61 over that period. Before that Friedgen took the Terps to bowl seven out of 10 seasons. It's Locksley's job now to bring it back to that level.

Locksley brings with him an entirely new coaching staff, as nobody was retained from the DJ Durkin/Matt Canada staff a year ago. One of Locksley's assistants is former Nebraska defensive coordinator John Papuchis.

The thought right now is it's going to take some time for Locksley to build things in College Park, but he has the knowledge of that area and the recruiting relationships to get things done.

It's hard to analyze returning starters when a coaching change takes place, but Maryland brings back three on offense and four on defense.

For the most part, you are going to see a lot of new faces on the field for the Terps, but they return some pretty big pieces to work with on offense. Running back Anthony McFarland Jr. returns after a stellar redshirt freshman year where he rushed for 1,034 yards. Many think he's a future high-round NFL draft pick.

They also added former Virginia Tech starting quarterback Josh Jackson, who will have two years of eligibility to learn under Locksley.

The biggest hit they took on offense was on the line, where they lose both starting tackles.

On defense, the return their starting nose tackle in Adam McLean, linebacker Isaiah Davis, nickel Antoine Brooks Jr. and cornerback Tino Ellis. Replacing first-round NFL draft pick safety Darnell Savage is the biggest shoes they have to fill this off-season.

Besides Jackson, the other big transfer pieces they brought in was Ohio State linebacker Keandre Jones, and he's been a good fit already at inside linebacker. Tight end Tyler Mabry is another impressive transfer they added from Buffalo. He was a first-team All-MAC selection a year ago that gives them another red zone threat and a good blocker on the edge.

As a redshirt freshman McFarland Jr. rushed for 1,034 yards and four touchdowns. His highlight moment was when he went for 298 yards against Ohio State. He's not the biggest guy, but he's got legit 4.3 speed.

They expect him to be once again a 1,000-yard guy this season, but they will not overwork him. Look for Javon Leake be the guy to compliment McFarland Jr., as the scouts think he too is a future NFL draft pick.

McFarland Jr. averaged 7.9 yards per carry in 2018, while Leake had seven touchdowns on 34 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per touch.

Maryland will start freshman Jaelyn Duncan out of Baltimore at left tackle, and they are very high on him coming out of the spring. They think he's somebody that can be a future star in the program after what he showed this spring.

Nickel back Antoine Brooks Jr. was a second-team All-Big Ten selection a year ago, leading Maryland with 9.5 tackles for loss and 68 tackles overall. Last year he was more of a hybrid defensive back, where this year he will play strictly safety.

When you look at this team overall, the success of this season is what can Jackson bring to the table in year one?

Jackson, who was 11-5 as a starter, threw for 3,566 yards as a Hokie with 25 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Locksley is regarded as an offensive guru, and many think he'll put up huge numbers in his system.

Greene: "When I look at Maryland and you look ahead that far in the season, I think the biggest factor as to where Maryland will be at that point is I think the Syracuse game in Week 2 will be the key game where we really see how good this team can be. It will let us know if this team can compete for a bowl game, or if maybe they are still a year or two away.

"You are going to see a lot of RPO on offense. That's what Locksley did at Alabama, that's what he wants to do here and he's definitely got the guys to do it.

"Defensively I think you are going to see a lot of different stuff. They will be pretty multiple. They will run a standard 3-4 though as their base. I think you will see a lot more pressure from Maryland this year on defense."

Greene: "As far as the expectations go, it's pretty simple at this point. The expectation is to get to 6 wins and to get to a bowl game. When you talk to local recruits, their wants are pretty simple. They want to see Maryland win and Maryland get to a bowl game. I think if they are able to do that in year one under Locksley, you are going to see a lot of momentum starting to build as far as recruiting. If they can do that, they will have a lot of momentum going into year two with Josh Jackson back at quarterback and some very good running backs. If they can just get to those 6 wins, and I think that's the expectation. If they do that, I think things will really take off next off-season."