Notre Dame Football: 10 Things to Know About Maryland

Notre Dame makes their first visit to the nation's capital since 1998 on Saturday night, when they face Maryland at FedEx Field. The Irish blanked Navy 30-0 in their only previous game at the home of the Washington Redskins.

The Irish and Terrapins last met in 2002, which resulted in a 22-0 Notre Dame shutout victory in the final Kickoff Classic at Giants Stadium.

Maryland has struggled for most of the season, and are currently 2-7 and out of bowl contention. They are on a five-game losing streak, and their only wins have come over an FCS team and Miami (FL), who was missing a number of key players due to suspension.

As Notre Dame and Maryland prepare to do battle, here are 10 things to know about coach Randy Edsall's Terrapins.

Musical Quarterbacks

Coming into the season, Maryland had the most stable quarterback position in the ACC. Danny O'Brien had an excellent freshman season under former coach Ralph Friedgen, but has failed to grasp Gary Crowton's new offense.

O'Brien and C.J. Brown have rotated under center, and each has seen playing time in six of the Terps' last seven games.

Brown is more of a running threat, while O'Brien is a pro-style passer. O'Brien started last week against Virginia after Brown took the first snap in the prior three games.

While it's unknown who will start against the Irish, both will play.

Davin Meggett

Bill Parcells' Giants had a weapon in third-down back/kick returner David Meggett. His son, Davin, is now the feature running back at Maryland, and is one of the best in the ACC.

The senior has rushed for 677 yards this season, with three touchdowns.

Randy Edsall's Connecticut teams were known for their conservative offenses, so it's no surprise that the Terrapins are fifth in the ACC in rushing and 10th in passing.

Notre Dame held Wake Forest to only 3.0 yards per rush last week, and Meggett will provide another good test for the young Irish defensive front.

No Deep Threat

Those who saw ex-Terrapin and current Raven Torrey Smith consistently get behind the Steelers' secondary on Sunday night can understand why Maryland's passing attack has been somewhat lifeless this season.

The Terps do not have a receiver who has reached 400 yards this season.

Adrian Coxson was expected to pick up much of the slack for Smith, but the redshirt freshman has missed three games and only has three catches.

Kevin Dorsey started out well with 203 yards in the first two games, but he has failed to reach 50 yards in any of the past five games.

Time of Possession

The Terps are dead last in the ACC in possessing the football, and are barely averaging over 25 minutes per game on offense.

Miami, who is next-to-last in the conference, is averaging almost 29 minutes of possession per game—almost 3.5 minutes longer than Maryland.

One of the contributing factors to this problem is the Terrapins' ineffectiveness on third down, where they have converted on only 36 percent of their opportunities.

While Brian Kelly's teams are also not known for clock control, the success of the Notre Dame running game this season should cause this trend to continue.  

The Terps Force Turnovers

Despite their 2-7 record, the Terps do have one thing going for them: turnovers.

Maryland has forced 23 turnovers, which is good for second in the ACC. Their 13 fumble recoveries are five more than any other ACC team.

Turnovers have been a major factor in all three Notre Dame losses, so if the Irish find themselves in a closer-than-expected game, past demons are likely haunting them again.

Kenny Tate's Injury

Tate was supposed to thrive in his new hybrid linebacker/safety role in Maryland defensive coordinator Todd Bradford's 3-4 defense.

His season, unfortunately, was cut short after four games, due to injury. He'll seek a redshirt for this season.

The absence of Tate takes away a major presence in the middle of the field that Tommy Rees does not have to worry about. Maryland has struggled to replace its All-ACC safety, which has never been more evident than in a 56-45 loss to Clemson last month. 

Opposing Running Backs Find the End Zone

Maryland has given up a staggering 25 rushing touchdowns this season. Five of those were scored by Temple's Bernard Pierce in a 38-7 Owls' rout in September.

Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray have emerged as a two-headed monster in the Notre Dame backfield. Two weeks ago against Navy, the two combined for five touchdowns.

If they can match that number again this season, this will likely be the week.

Eric Franklin's Tackles

Franklin, who was not even projected to start coming out of the spring, has been a pleasant surprise for the Terrapins, and leads the team in tackles.

The problem: He's a defensive back.

It's always good to have defensive backs who can tackle, but many of those come either after long runs or completed passes. The Irish will be hoping that Franklin's tackle totals continue to rise.

Special Teams Problems

While Notre Dame's kick returning has been a strength with the emergence of George Atkinson III, Maryland has struggled in both returns and coverage of kickoffs.

The Terrapins are last in the ACC, with opponents starting at the 34 yard line on average after kickoffs.

They are 10th in the league in kick returns, as they average less than 20 yards per return.

Kelly vs. Edsall

The two coaches met three times during their time in the Big East, when Edsall coached at Connecticut and Kelly at Cincinnati.

Kelly took two of the three meetings as the home team held serve in all three years. Edsall is 1-0 against Notre Dame, while Kelly will face Maryland for the first time.

Their most memorable game was a 47-45 shootout in 2009, which the Bearcats won on their way to a perfect regular season.

Cincinnati also won 27-3 in 2007, but the Huskies handed the Bearcats their only Big East loss in 2008, beating them 40-16 in Hartford.