Stock Up/Stock Down: Post Iowa Edition (Offense)

Oct 18, 2014; College Park, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Randy Edsall embraces wide receiver Stefon Diggs (1) after his touchdown catch and run against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Byrd Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

After Maryland’s big win on Saturday, TerrapinStationMD breaks down who surprised, disappointed and met expectations. The offense amassed 418 total  yards of offense in a balanced rushing and passing attack. While there were certainly positive takeaways, is all well in Mike Locksley’s offense? Will Deon Long bounce back next week?

Stock Up

• Stefon Diggs: 9 catches, 130 yards and a touchdown. Saturday’s performance gave him over 2,000 yards in his Maryland career, becoming the fifth player to do so in Maryland history, and Diggs did it in just two full seasons in. Rediggulous.
• Jacquille Veii: the sophomore running back only had two carries for 33 yards, but the more this young man plays, the more I come away impressed. When he committed to Maryland out of high school, many felt Iowa would be the choice over Maryland, but Veii’s decision to play for Maryland has since been impactful. He’s been a great change of pace for the offense, and his versatility even made the Maryland coaches feel comfortable with him at receiver. On Saturday, Ross stepped into a limited role and made the most of it, breaking out for a hard-earned 23-yard touchdown run to put Maryland on the board. A former two-star recruit, he’s a prime example that rankings and stars mean little once you step on the field. Maryland got a gem in Veii.
• Brandon Ross: Ross ran for 35 yards on nine carrier. However, Ross’s impact goes beyond the stats. What I saw from the junior running back was confidence and power in each run he took. While he did have some issues hitting the hole on a consistent basis, Ross has shown that he deserves to be Maryland’s top running back moving forward.

Stock Holding

• Wes Brown: this is this exact performance Brown needs to build his confidence moving forward. Getting two of his three touchdowns on Saturday, Brown showed Terp fans why he’s the gritty power back that this team had hoped for him. With a physical Wisconsin team coming up, Maryland will need to use that power and toughness. Expect Brown to be given an opportunity to build on his performance.
• CJ Brown: Before I bash Brown, he still led Maryland to victory, took some hard hits yet again and showed his leadership putting his team in a great position to win. He threw for 120 yards on 12/23 passing and also ran for 99 yards on 21 carries. On a big day, why is his stock not rising? Well, for a sixth-year senior, his first pass of the game was a true freshman mistake. For a quarterback that gets hurt a lot, Edsall needs to begin advising Brown to slide and take fewer hits. We saw what life without Brown and Rowe looks like, and there’s not many out there that would be comfortable with Hills moving forward.
• Offensive line: Iowa has notoriously been known for their big lines–on both sides of the ball–that lead them to victory. Iowa’s defense is currently ranked 30th in the nation in total defense, 23rd in passing yards allowed and 45th in rushing yards allowed. The offensive line held their own and gave CJ Brown and Hills solid protection and paved the way for 418 yards of total offense. However, they did give up four sacks in the game, which wil need to improve for next week’s matchup against Wisconsin. Nonetheless, this group has certainly made strides and played an impressive game on Saturday. They’ll have their hands full when they take on Wisconsin, who averages over three sacks per game and ranks tied for 18th in the nation in that category.

Stock Down

• Deon Long: it appears Long has entered Edsall’s doghouse–again. Long had just one target and zero catches on Saturday. Edsall is right, Maryland has other receivers that can step in and replace the starters if one is performing inadequately. Maryland relies on Long for the sideline catches and his strong hands to make plays. He’s dangerous in open space, not as much as Diggs, but his playmaking ability is what makes him special. Nonetheless, Saturday was the first time in Long’s career at Maryland he was held without a catch. Expect him to come out with some fire and prove the doubters wrong next week.
• Perry Hills: in his first action in over a year, Hills went 5/10 for 86 yards and a touchdown, including a 53-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. However, it was easy to see the rust on Hills’ game. He was wildly inaccurate on a number of throws and put himself into pressure at times, especially in his first drive which resulted in a quick three-and-out. He’s a younger version of CJ Brown and can get out of the pocket and run well. We saw a little bit of that on Saturday in his three rushes for 15 yards, but for a quarterback, he will need to continue to work on his mechanics in order to out-duel Rowe for the starting position next year.