Big 33 Football Classic: Five Reasons Why Team Pennsylvania Will Beat Team Maryland
by J. Cleezy
Posted June 14, 2013 1:24 pm
big 33, brian lemelle, chris jones, Damion Terry, Delton Williams, Mack Leftwich, shane cokcerille, Tyler Boyd
1. Dangerous Quarterbacks
Mack Leftwich (UTEP) and Damion Terry (Michigan State) each threw for more than over 3,000 yards and over 40 touchdowns. In addition to that production, both players ran for over 500 yards on the ground. They both also have been pretty accurate this week in practice and Team Maryland’s defense will have to contain both players. It helps that Leftwich is already familiar with the system that was put into place for this game. The head coach of Pennsylvania, Art Walker, was his high school coach at North Allegheny High School.
2. Explosive Playmakers
Where should I start? You have probably the best player from both teams in Tyler Boyd. Then there’s Pennsylvania’s All-Time leading receiver in catches and yards in Brian Lemelle (UConn). Tyler Karpinski (Temple) and Chris Jones (Coastal Carolina) are underrated, but both can make big plays in their own right. They’ll have plenty of opportunities to make plays. Dorian Brown (Ohio) and Forrest Barnes (Citadel) are no slouches either.
3. Big and Strong Offensive Line
Pennsylvania probably has the best offensive lineman unit in this game. If Pennsylvania is to have success running the ball, it’ll come behind blocking from Andrew Nelson (Penn State), Aaron Reese (Pitt) and others. Tight End Nick Arcidiacono (Rutgers) should see a few balls thrown his way as well.
4. A Special Front-Seven
Team Pennsylvania’s front seven may give Team Maryland big problems come Sunday. For this dame, Jaryd Jones-Smith (Pitt) will be playing on the defensive line along with Junior Joseph (UConn), who is an absolute terror coming off the edge. The linebacker group is very impressive. Matt Galambos (Pitt), Zayd Issah, Jeremy Salmon (Maine) and Chris Britton (UConn) are all very athletic linebackers who can fly to the ball and make plays.
5. Secondary
In these games, it’s basically mandatory for you to be able to play man-to-man defense or risk getting exposed. Todd Jeter (Temple) and Delton Williams (Michigan State) have had great weeks of practice with Williams emerging as the leader on defense. Aaron Swinton (William and Mary) and Najee Goode (Rhode Island) have shown that they belong with Swinton showing that he has excellent closing speed.
Last year, Pennsylvania pretty much gave away the game to Ohio. I think that if Pennsylvania gets up on Maryland, they won’t let their foot off the pedal.
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big 33, brian lemelle, chris jones, Damion Terry, Delton Williams, Mack Leftwich, shane cokcerille, Tyler Boyd