In consecutive seasons, Trent Dilfer and Tom Brady won their first Super Bowls.
Neither was by any means expected to be a championship-level quarterback. One was a sixth-round pick and the other was let go by his former team and picked up on a replacement level contract.
Despite both going on surprising title runs, Brady went on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Dilfer, on the other hand, was let go and never started a full season for the rest of his career.
The Hoosiers just pulled off an unanticipated road upset of No. 18 Missouri.
The question will be, are the Hoosiers more Tom Brady or Trent Dilfer?
Will that Mizzou win be an anomaly, or an indication of things to come?
Saturday will start to reveal the answer. IU will play host to Maryland (3-1) in both schools’ Big Ten opener.
This Maryland team reminds me a lot of IU. Even more so, they remind me of last year’s IU.
I do not mean in terms of talent or production. I mean their habits.
Like last year’s Hoosiers, and sometimes this season’s, the Terrapins have a big play offense and a defense that can be marched on.
This Maryland team thrives off large plays.
Against West Virginia, the Terps scored on 75 and 77-yard plays as well as defensive back William Likely’s 69-yard punt return.
Last week at Syracuse, they converted on 90 and 46-yard passes. Likely also had an 88-yard interception return in this one.
Interestingly enough, Maryland’s ugliest offensive game was in a South Florida game in which Maryland was not able to put up big plays.
The Terrapins only had one big gain play, which was a 44-yard pass.
Not counting that play, South Florida held them to 273 yards and forced two ?interceptions.
It is not clear yet if the Terps simply rely on big plays for success or if they have just been so talented at the skill positions that they create big plays.
Regardless, this may not fair well for an IU defense that has done well in the trenches but keeps teams alive by allowing big plays.
The Hoosiers allowed passes of 27, 31 and 40 against a not-so-great Bowling Green squad.
Also, IU essentially outplayed Missouri’s offense all day but allowed a few massive plays that stemmed from a lack of discipline.
Maryland’s offense may be in the perfect situation against IU.
Defensive coordinator Brian Knorr tries to prevent big plays by sending constant pressure and not allowing quarterbacks to make the correct decision.
Like Missouri, Maryland has an athletic quarterback that can create plays and IU contained Maty Mauk pretty well.
The difference here is, Maryland’s quarterback C.J. Brown has an elite trio of receivers to toss the ball up to, unlike the previous three ?opponents.
No disrespect to Bowling Green or Missouri’s wide outs. Stefon Diggs, Deon Long and Marcus Leak are just elite playmakers when given the chance to do ?something.
From what I have seen, IU should be able to contain the run for the most part. There just has not been much precedent this year for IU stopping elite receivers.
It will be a very interesting matchup, especially as IU just lost some depth at cornerback with Kenny Mullen out for the season.
I think this game will be very similar to the past few games for Maryland — big plays and some mistakes.
It is such a hard game to predict because we never know which IU team will show up.
The Mizzou upset threw everyone off.
When it comes down to it, I think it will be a very close game. I predict another big running day for Coleman & Co.
I expect another game-managing game plan for Sudfeld due to Maryland mainly getting by on forcing some turnovers.
I say IU pulls through as I expect Memorial Stadium to have a slightly greater crowd energy due to the big upset last week. That should provide a boost.
My prediction: IU wins 31-27.
brodmill@indiana.edu
