Clemson Football: 5 Reasons Maryland Will Upset the Tigers in Week 7

Maryland comes into its homecoming game against the Clemson Tigers as eight-point underdogs, but that will not scare the Terrapins Saturday.

Clemson is currently the No. 8-ranked team in all of college football. The Tigers had to go through a brutal schedule where they faced three straight ranked teams and still came out undefeated. Auburn and Florida State could not stop this team, and neither could Virginia Tech in its own building.

The Terrapins, on the other hand, are coming off their third defeat of the season and are in the middle of a quarterback controversy.

Only in college football could these two teams create a great matchup, with the home team possibly coming out on top.

Inconsistent Run Game

Andre Ellington had a great game last week against Boston College. He finished with 117 rushing yards with a touchdown, reaching the century mark for the second time this season.

Unfortunately, he has not been able to keep up these kind of numbers against quality teams this year. In the three games against ranked teams, Ellington only averaged 52 yards per game.

As a team, the Tigers only averaged 3.4 yards per carry against Virginia Tech. In their win over Florida State, they were only able to rush for 2.0 yards per attempt.

Maryland has a tough pass defense and a terrible run defense. Clemson will need to take advantage of its opponent's deficiencies in order to win this game.

It also will need to run the ball if it is winning in the second half. Maryland has a knack for scoring late in games this season, so if Clemson cannot hold onto the ball it will be sorry when the game ends. 

Getting the Best out of Maryland's Quarterbacks

Last season, Danny O'Brien was a star freshman for the surprising Terrapins.

A year later O'Brien is a shell of the player he once was. After finishing with 22 touchdowns to only eight interceptions in 2010, he already has thrown six picks in five games this year compared to his four touchdown passes. 

The reason Maryland has reason to be encouraged is that he was not challenged for his position until now. He obviously has the talent, but O'Brien might have gotten complacent at the top of the depth chart.

Enter C.J. Brown, who has impressed coaches with his legs this season. A 77-yard touchdown run against Georgia Tech last week showed a dimension that the Terps can add if they play this new quarterback.

Coach Randy Edsall has not named a starter this week, so each quarterback will have to play his best or he will be riding the bench. If one of them steps up to the challenge, it could mean bad news for Clemson.

Injured Tajh Boyd

While Clemson's star quarterback will be in action, Tajh Boyd was injured in the team's last game and will not be at full strength.

Boyd sat out of practice earlier in the week with a strained hip, but he has since been cleared to play. He still experiences stiffness at times, but he will play through the discomfort.

The sophomore from Virginia has good size and often uses his legs to beat the defense. With this injury, he might be somewhat limited on Saturday.

Byrd Stadium at Night

While Maryland has started out the season at 2-3, all three loses were games that started at noon.

In each game, the players have had a hard time getting started. It almost seems that they do not wake up until the second half.

Including the 3:30 p.m. start against Towson, the Terps have only scored 20 points in the first half compared to 62 in the second half. In their night game against Miami, the team came out ready to go and drove down the field with ease. They tallied almost 500 yards in the game as they defeated the talented Hurricanes.

Maryland has also had a problem with attendance for the less-notable games. However, in a night game against a Top-10 team, the student body and fans will be there in full force.

The crowd will be loud and the team will be pumped up. Clemson might not be able to match the intensity on Saturday.

Overlooking Maryland

There is no reasonable explanation, but it seems Maryland has had Clemson's number over the year. 

Maryland has won three of the last five games against Clemson and two of the past three. Surprisingly, the wins have come when Maryland was at its worst.

Last season, the Terps won nine games but were unable to defeat the Tigers on the road. A year before that, Ralph Freidgen's team only beat one FBS team. That team was Clemson, which hit a speed bump on its way to an appearance in the ACC Championship Game.

This might be an issue with overlooking an inferior team.

After defeated three ranked teams in a row, Clemson avoided a let-down game against Boston College. Still, it has to take one game at a time to avoid blowing a perfect season on a road game against a conference rival.