Boston College at Maryland: 5 Big Questions with Terrapin Station
By Joe Micik
1. Here’s what Boston College fans want answered most: Do you think the Terps *can* stop Andre Williams? Do you think they *will*?
Side note: I got chills just thinking about this question.
Can Maryland stop Andre Williams? Of course! That of course comes with the assumption that Maryland’s defensive coordinators find a way to A) lay down an underground invisible electric dog fence in Byrd Stadium and B) attach the collar to Andre Williams leg.
In all seriousness, everyone is a casualty of Andre Williams right now, so no we will not stop him. He’s running better than any back in the nation and it’s not really close. His blend of power and vision, mixed with the way your offensive line gets that push early, is unstoppable at the time. By my estimation, he’s accounting for a hair under 50% of your offensive yardage right now, and asking anyone to shut that down is asking a lot. Especially on a team whose weakness is stopping guys once they get past our defensive front.
The good part is that Maryland has experience with Williams. This will be the third season Randy Esdall has seen the kid run, and we’ve held him in check before. Sure, he may get 75 yards, but I think his yards per carry will be down. If he gets into open field, we’re cooked, because our linebackers are depleted and can’t tackle all that well. But Marcus Whitfield has done a pretty admirable job of stopping runners from leaving the backfield, and I think that could happen against Williams.
The best way to beat Williams? Keep him off the field. Extended drives, proper clock management (read: a boring game with very few possessions because we run the play clock down to zero), and Williams will just sit idly on the sideline, letting those 288 carries his knees have seen this year get colder and older.
Bonus. Fashion me a game prediction por favor.
Maryland just beat Virginia Tech to become bowl eligible and we’re playing our last ACC game ever. If you think we’re not going to at least give you guys a fight during this one, you’re kidding yourself. I’ll go Terps on top 28-24.