The Pride of Maryland | Maryland CFB 25 Dynasty

[FuriousFudge]

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THE PRIDE

The University of Maryland is bringing in a new head coach for the school's football program. Ryan Fudge will be taking the reins for the historic program. Athletic Director Damon Evans, who has been with the school since 2018, made the announcement this morning.

“Maryland football has existed for almost 130 years. We have only have 1 national championship. That was nearly 70 years ago. The fans at Maryland deserve to have success. Coach Fudge represents what the rest of the Athletic Department wants to achieve and make the Maryland brand one of the best in sports.”

Maryland has been struggling with consistency over the past few seasons. The Terps tend to start strong with a few nonconference opponents, typically going 5-0 or 4-1, then hit the wall that is the B1G schedule and finish 7-5 regular season. They have been to 3 straight bowl games due to the early season wins, but have only beaten a struggling .500 Auburn program, a similar NC State team, and a .500 Virginia Tech team. The biggest issue with the Terps these past few years has been the level of play they bring to the field. They tend to play to their opponent's level. Despite having a 5-year starter at QB in Taulia Tagovailoa, the Terps were never able to turn the corner.

Historically the Terps have been to 30 bowl games, winning only 14 of those. The years of those bowl games reflect the inconsistency of the football program, showing multiple bowl games over 3-5 years, then 5 years without a bowl game.

Coach Fudge made a strong statement at the announcement.

“Maryland football is about to feel a change. The culture is going to change. There is going to be a new standard that the kids will know of on day 1. Everyone needs to be bought in here to compete. If a kid comes in thinking they are going to be handed a position or a starting job, they need to look at other programs to play. The staff that is coming in with me is hungry for success. Everyone is focused on one goal at the end of the season. That is hoisting the College Football Championship Trophy and bringing it back to College Park.”

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DYNASTY RULES

Sliders

I will be playing on Armor and Sword's Sliders with slight slider adjustments. I will also be playing on 10 Minute Quarters with 17 seconds rundown instead of his 11 minutes with 15 seconds. I found myself in multiple offensive games with 500+ yards per team consistently.

Playbooks

Playcalling will be realistic. I will find plays that work in certain situations and use them in those situations, but will not call the same play on every 3rd and short. Also, I am using Canse21's playbook tool. This gives a realistic scheme and playbook based off of the QB's awareness. Ex. Billy Edwards Jr has 86 AWR while MJ Morris has 74. Billy will have more plays and concepts in his playbook.


http://https://forums.operationsport...book-tool.html
Recruiting

• Players must come from the recommended tab, I will prioritize players interested in Maryland
• Once a player is on the board, he can not come off until he is committed somewhere
• The classes will consist of a max of 27 players including transfers, this will prevent massive classes to cut the bad players
• Only 27 Scholarship offers are allowed to be out at a time, must be selective with offers
• Everything else will be fair game
• Recruiting updates will be during Bye Weeks. Commitments will be in the weekly post

Scheduling

I will follow Maryland's Out of Conference games for future games. The only change will be no FCS opponents. I will replace them with a lower-prestige school.

I hope to be updating this dynasty a few times a week. My previous dynasty was an online team builder that became corrupted with top recruits disappearing. Took some time off from CFB 25 but got the itch again!

[FuriousFudge]

Reserved for History of Dynasty

[FuriousFudge]

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Season Preview

Coach Fudge has announced that Billy Edwards Jr will be the starter at QB for the Terps. MJ Morris had transferred in from NC State and was considered to be a top runner for the job. Edwards has only attempted 76 passes in his career but has the skills that Coach Fudge was looking for. Throughout all of camp, Edwards seemed to be the most accurate while having competitive speed from the QB room. Coach Fudge stated that Edwards has the best football IQ out of the QBs and hopes to teach and lead the younger QBs.

The rest of the starting lineup will be as expected. The offensive has numerous options that should allow Coach Fudge to play to mismatches every week. Two senior WRs in Tai Felton and Kaden Prather with JR slot Octavian Smith Jr should allow Edwards to have big experienced targets. Roman Hemby will be the main ball carrier. He will be the workhorse in the offense allowing play action to follow suit. HB Colby McDonald should also see touches throughout the season.

Defensively this team has a lot of question marks. The front 7 is below average for the Big 10. Despite Experience from senior DEs Donnell Brown and Quashon Fuller, the line will struggle to put pressure against teams with strong offensive lines. Coach Fudge runs a 3-3-5 defense, with the intention of his linebackers assisting with stopping the run and playing zone coverage. As of now, there is not a linebacker on the roster that excels at both. The middle of the field may be a weakness for this defense. The secondary has two leaders in CB Jalen Huskey and SS Dante Trader. If they can make enough plays, the secondary will have a chance.

Maryland Terrapins Depth Chart - 2024
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	Kaden Prather	Octavian Smith Jr	Leon Haughton Jr
TE	Preston Howard	Dylan Wade	Leron Husbands
LT	Isaiah Wright	Andre Roye Jr
LG	Aliou Bah	Isaac Bunyun
C	Josh Kaltenberger	Andre Roye Jr
RG	Kyle Long	Deandre Duffus
RT	Marcus Dumervil	Alan Herron
WR	Tai Felton	Shaleak Knotts	Sean Williams
QB	Billy Edwards Jr	MJ Morris	Cameron Edge
FB	Nick Story
HB	Roman Hemby	Colby McDonald	Nolan Ray	Dejuan Williams
Base 3-3-5 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	Donnell Brown	Neeo Avery
NT	Jordan Phillips	Tommy Akingbesote
RDE	Quashon FUller	Daniel Owens
LOLB	Ruben Hyppolite II	Daniel Wingate
MLB	Caleb Wheatland	Michael Harris
ROLB	Kellen Wyatt	Dylan Gooden
CB	Jalen Huskey	Perry Fisher	Chantz Harley
SS	Dante Trader Jr	Rex Fleming
FS	Brandon Jacob	Lavain Scruggs
SS	Glendon Miller	Tayvon Nelson
CB	Lionell Whitaker	Jonathan Akins
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	Jack Howes
P	Bryce McFerson	Colin Norman
PR	Octavian Smith Jr	Shaleak Knotts
KR	Octavian Smith Jr	Shaleak Knotts	Ricardo Cooper Jr

The Schedule

Maryland Terrapins 2024 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 31	vs UCONN
Sep 7	vs Michigan State
Sep 14	at Virginia
Sep 21	vs Kennesaw State
Sep 28	at Indiana
Oct 12	vs Northwestern
Oct 19	vs USC
Oct 26	at Minnesota
Nov 9	at Oregon
Nov 16	vs Rutgers
Nov 23	vs Iowa
Nov 30	at Penn State

The schedule consists of a ton of winnable games. With 7 home games and 2 of those are non-power conference opponents, the Terps should have a massive advantage early in the season. The back end of the schedule could end with 3 of 4 games against ranked teams, 2 of which are going to be in hostile environments. The history of the program is starting strong and ending poorly in conference play.

The Pride predicts the Terps to go 7-5 this season.

[redsox907]

Good luck man! Maryland is in a unique spot for recruiting, but they've given me trouble once or twice in my USC dynasty

[FuriousFudge]

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SO to WWF80sKid for the Pride Graphic!

MARYLAND WINS CLOSE CONTEST IN FUDGE DEBUT

Maryland wins Coach Fudge's debut 31-24 over UConn. UConn put the pressure on the Terps early as they scored on their opening drive after shutting down Maryland's drive. UConn freshman QB Tucker McDonald scrambled for a TD after the Terps blew up the pocket. Maryland responded on the first play of the 2nd quarter with a Roman Hemby TD run, capping off a 6-minute drive. Maryland would then follow up with a defensive stop and another TD on a pass from QB Billy Edwards Jr to TE Dylan Wade on the goalline.

Momentum would then swing in favor of the Huskies as Billy Edwards Jr threw an INT on a slant for Tai Felton. 2 plays later, McDonald would find WR Skylar Bell for a 54 yard TD Pass to even the score for the Huskies. On the First play of the next drive for the Terps, Edwards Jr would throw another INT on a route that seemed to be miscommunication on where the cut was. Star CB Jalen Huskey would bail out his QB with an INT of his own taking it to the house to make it a 21-14 game going into the half.

UConn would score on their opening drive in the second half with a TD run by Sr HB Cam Edwards. Maryland would answer quickly with another TD pass to Dylan Wade on the goalline. Maryland would not give up for the rest of the game controlling the clock and adding a field goal with 3 minutes left to play. UConn would add a field goal to make it a one possession game but could not recover the onside kick, allowing Maryland to run out the clock.

Connecticut Huskies at Maryland Terrapins
Aug 31, 2024 1 2 3 4 F CONN (0-0) 7 7 7 3 24 MD (0-0) 0 21 7 3 31 Top Performers PASS: Billy Edwards Jr (UMD) - 19-26 (73%) 194 Yards 2 TDs 2 INTs RUSH: Roman Hemby ( UMD) - 22 Carries 101 Yards 1 TD REC: Octavian Smith Jr (UMD) - 10 Rec 112 Yards	Team Stats Comparison CONN MD First Downs 13 2 3rd Down Efficiency 6-12 4-7 4th Down Efficiency 1-1 1-1 Total Yards 335 374 Passing Yards 203 194 Rushing Yards 86 141 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-15 2-20 Turnovers 1 2 Time of Possession 16:13 23:47
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING CONN MD (CONN) Tucker McDonald 12 Yard TD Run 7 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING CONN MD (MD) Roman Hemby 5 yard TD Run 7 7 (MD) Dylan Wade 1 yard TD Pass from Billy Edwards Jr 7 14 (CONN) Skylar Bell 51 Yard TD Pass from Tucker McDonald 14 14 (MD) Pick Six by Jalen Huskey 14 21 THIRD QUARTER SCORING CONN MD (CONN) Cam Edwards 9 Yard TD Run 21 21 (MD) Dylan Wade 2 Yard TD Pass from Billy Edwards Jr 21 28 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING CONN MD (MD) 38 Yard FG by Jack Howes 21 31 (CONN) 48 Yard FG by Chris Freeman 24 31
Connecticut Huskies PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Tucker McDonald 16/28 203 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Cam Edwards 10 46 4.6 1 Mel Brown 8 42 5.3 0 Tucker McDonald 3 -2 -0.7 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Skylar Bell 4 65 16.3 1 Brett Buckman 3 50 16.7 0 Jasaiah Gathings 1 36 36.0 0 Mel Brown 3 22 7.3 0 Nick Harris 1 17 17.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Lee Molette III 10 0 0 0 Jayden McDonald 9 0 0 0 Julien Simon 6 0 0 0 Liam Fuller 6 0 0 0 Jordan Wright 0 0 2 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Chris Freeman 1/1 3/3 6 48 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Connor Stutz 3 112 37.3 1 Maryland Terrapins PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Billy Edwards Jr 19-26 194 2 2 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Roman Hemby 22 101 4.6 1 Billy Edwards Jr 4 20 5.0 0 Colby McDonald 3 19 6.3 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Octavian Smith Jr 10 112 11.2 0 Dylan Wade 3 12 4.0 2 Kaden Prather 1 15 15.0 0 AJ Szymanski 1 17 17.0 0 Tai Felton 1 9 9.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Glendon Miller 9 0 0 0 Jalen Huskey 8 0 1 1 Lionell Whitaker 7 0 0 0 Caleb Wheatland 5 0 0 Donnell Brown 2 1.0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Jack Howes 1/1 4/4 7 38 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Bryce McFerson 1 47 47 0

THE PRIDE'S REACTION

Coach Fudge coached a solid game in his Maryland debut. It felt as if the run game consistently allowed the play action to thrive. The Huskies' defense was off-balanced most of the game.

The crowd was there in full support. The White Out was the first sell-out game since last season's blowout vs. Penn State. The excitement in the air could potentially allow Maryland to develop into a tough home environment.

HIGHLIGHTS

MICHIGAN STATE PREVIEW

Michigan State will come to College Park next weekend to take on the Terps at SECU Stadium. MSU is coming off a home-opening loss against the Florida Atlantic Owls. FAU ran the ball 32 times, only getting an abysmal 26 rushing yards against the Spartan defense. With Maryland having a run-first offense, the Spartan defense could be a problem early forcing Billy Edwards Jr to throw often.

The Spartans offense led by transfer sophomore QB Aidan Chiles will look for a bounce back game. Coach Fudge showed leadership in the Home opener but will it be enough for the B1G Conference.

The Pride of Maryland's prediction : 21-17 Maryland

Maryland Terrapins 2024 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 31	vs UCONN	Won, 31-24
Sep 7	vs Michigan State
Sep 14	at Virginia
Sep 21	vs Kennesaw State
Sep 28	at Indiana
Oct 12	vs Northwestern
Oct 19	vs USC
Oct 26	at Minnesota
Nov 9	at Oregon
Nov 16	vs Rutgers
Nov 23	vs Iowa
Nov 30	at Penn State

AROUND THE LEAGUE

#25 USC Beats #13 LSU 35-31
#17 Clemson Beats #1 Georgia 16-12 in a defensive battle
#23 Miami Blows out Florida 33-6 in rivalry game
Western Kentucky Upsets #6 Alabama 15-13 in Tuscaloosa
West Virginia Upsets #7 Penn State 6-3 in offensive struggle

[TheRBHitman]

Good first win!!! Maryland has always been my secret team to root for. Can't wait to see what you do with them!

[FuriousFudge]

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MARYLAND RUNS OVER THE SPARTANS IN CONFERENCE OPENER

Roman Hemby led the Terrapins' rushing game against Michigan State, having 119 yards on 18 carries with a score. The Maryland backfield ran for 172 yards against a defense that only allowed 25 yards the week before allowing Maryland to control the pace of the game and maintain control of the clock. Michigan State took an early 6-0 lead on back to back long field goals from Kicker Jonathan Kim.

Maryland responded with 24 points in the 2nd quarter, allowing them to control the clock in the second half. HB Roman Hemby scored on a 3 yard run to start the scoring for the Terps. Jack Howes drilled a 33 yarder to add to the lead to make it 10-6. QB Billy Edwards Jr scrambled for a 7 yard score on a well-covered play to extend the lead to 17-6. MSU added 7 with a TD pass to TE Jack Velling from Aidan Chiles. Maryland quickly responded with a 19 Yard TD Pass to WE Shaleak Knotts to go into halftime up 24-13.

The second half started hot for the Terps with a stuffed run, followed suit with a safety to make it 26-13. The defense played bend but don't break until the end of the third, where WR Nick Marsh took an end around for a Spartan score. The defense would come strong in the fourth quarter, holding MSU to only 24 yards. Jack Howes would hit from 29 to make it a two-possession game with under two minutes to play.

Michigan State Spartans at Maryland Terrapins
Sep 7, 2024 1 2 3 4 F MSU (0-1) 6 7 7 0 20 MD (1-0) 0 24 2 3 29 Top Performers PASS: Billy Edwards Jr (UMD) - 16-22 (72%) 224 Yards 1 TD RUSH: Roman Hemby (UMD) - 18 Carries 119 Yards 1 TD REC: Jack Velling (MSU) - 8 Rec 108 Yards 1 TD	Team Stats Comparison MSU MD First Downs 16 22 3rd Down Efficiency 7-13 3-8 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 0-0 Total Yards 432 424 Passing Yards 252 224 Rushing Yards 75 172 Penalties-Penalty Yards 6-54 4-37 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 18:14 21:46
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING MSU MD (MSU) 57 Yard FG by Jonathan Kim 3 0 (MSU) 46 yard FG by Jonathan Kim 6 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING MSU MD (MD) Roman Hemby 3 Yard TD Run 6 7 (MD) 33 Yard FG by Jack Howes 6 10 (MD) Billy Edwards Jr 7 Yard TD Run 6 17 (MSU) Jack Velling 3 Yard TD Pass from Aidan Chiles 13 17 (MD) Shaleak Knotts 19 Yard TD Pass from Billy Edwards Jr 13 24 THIRD QUARTER SCORING MSU MD (MD) Maryland Safety 13 26 (MSU) Nick Marsh 20 yard TD Run 20 26 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING MSU MD (MD) 29 Yard FG by Jack Howes 20 29
Michigan State Spartans PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Aidan Chiles 17-29 252 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Nate Carer 15 64 4.3 0 Kay'ron Lynch-Adams 6 28 4.7 0 Nick Marsh 1 20 20.0 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Jack Velling 8 108 13.5 1 Nick Marsh 2 52 26.0 0 Montoria Foster Jr 2 32 16.0 0 Brennan Parachek 2 29 14.5 0 Aziah Johnson 1 19 19.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Jordan Turner 9 0 0 0 Nikai Martinez 8 0 0 0 Jalen Thompson 5 0.5 0 0 Wayne Matthews III 4 1.0 0 0 Darius Snow 2 0.5 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Jonathan Kim 2/2 2/2 8 57 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Ryan Eckley 2 96 48.0 1 Maryland Terrapins PASSING C/A YDS TD INT Billy Edwards Jr 16/22 224 1 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Roman Hemby 18 119 6.6 1 Colby McDonald 4 41 10.3 0 Billy Edwards Jr 8 9 1.1 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Shaleak Knotts 6 92 15.3 1 Kaden Prather 2 33 16.5 0 Tai Felton 3 32 10.7 0 Octavian Smith Jr 1 32 32.0 0 Preston Howard 2 30 15.0 0 DEFENSE TACK SACK INT TD Brandon Jacob 10 0 1 0 Ruben Hyppolite II 9 2.5 0 0 Jalen Huskey 7 0 0 0 Dante Trader Jr 7 0 0 0 Caleb Wheatland 4 1.5 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Jack Howes 2/2 3/3 9 34 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Bryce McFerson 3 144 48.0 1

THE PRIDE'S REACTION

The Fear coming into this game was the front 7 from Michigan State would stuff the run game early, forcing the Terrapins to throw often with unproven QB Billy Edwards Jr. That did not happen. Roman Hemby proved that he is one of the top running backs in the conference by dominating almost every touch he got. Even Colby McDonald, who had a TD carry negated by a holding call, was able to set the tone for the running game.

The defense played well, but was it good enough for some of the bigger opponents in the B1G? Both Oregon and Penn State are on the schedule, both being away games later in the year. Dillion Gabriel is already an early favorite for the Heisman, and Penn State QB Drew Allar was 2nd Team All-Conference behind Gabriel.

Either way great win. Hopefully this can push momentum into practice this week with a road game against Rival Virginia next weekend.

HIGHLIGHTS

VIRGINIA PREVIEW

Maryland has held the Tydings Trophy for the past 12 years. With a current win streak of 3 on the line as the Terrapins will head to Charlottesville for the first time since 2012. Maryland beat the Cavaliers last season by a score of 42-14, but that was a different team compared to the one that Virginia is fielding this year.

The Cavs are 2-0 so far on the year. With a dominating win vs William and Mary, and a comeback win on the road vs Wake Forest, Virginia is showing to be one of the better teams in the ACC. The weakness for the Cavaliers is the run game, they are allowing over 140 yards a game, which is Marylands game plan early.

The Pride's Prediction: 31-17 Maryland

Maryland Terrapins 2024 Schedule
DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT
Aug 31	vs UCONN	Won, 31-24
Sep 7	vs Michigan State	Won, 29-20
Sep 14	at Virginia
Sep 21	vs Kennesaw State
Sep 28	at Indiana
Oct 12	vs Northwestern
Oct 19	vs USC
Oct 26	at Minnesota
Nov 9	at Oregon
Nov 16	vs Rutgers
Nov 23	vs Iowa
Nov 30	at Penn State

[redsox907]

Nice close wins to open the season. You get a pretty mid schedule for the 1st half of the season which should help you get your feet under you for that brutal 2nd half.

USC, Oregon, Iowa, and finishing with Penn is going to be a tough test to finish the 1st season