Maryland takes care of Towson to end non-conference, now prepares for Big Ten schedule

Chase King
Sep 13
5 min read

The Terps left SECU Stadium with a 44-17 win to complete their fifth straight undefeated non-conference schedule. The Tigers entered the game 2-0 with wins against FCS opponents Norfolk St. and Morgan St., but Maryland proved quickly the Tigers were no match as head coach Mike Locksley was able to "play a lot of guys."

"Probably the best thing that comes out of a game like this is we got to play a lot of players and we got to put some good and bad on the tape. We saw some explosive plays there in the second half where we've got some young players in the game, them understanding that the standard doesn't change for us when we play a bunch of players. You need to have this stuff on tape," Locksley added.

Locksley expressed, he has been working with the team through these games to help get them ready for the Big Ten schedule. In the past, the Terps have struggled to start strong in Big Ten play, something they are looking to change with the new talent on the squad. Where depth has been a concern heading into the season, Saturday's game allowed the staff to tweak rotations and pairings to give different players new looks.

"Our depth will come from a guy like Isaiah Wright, who can play left guard playing some left tackle when we need to take a few plays off of Rahtrel Perry. It will come from moving Kerm [Humes] from the nickel slot to playing outside corner because Jamare Glaser is out. And so today we were able to mix and match some personnel groupings. We got Trey [Reddick] doing a little more pass rusher, which got us putting 23 [Keyshawn Flowers] on the field. There was a lot of Rubik's Cubes movements with trying to play enough players at the right time in the right positions so that we can create depth and when in fact, we do need it."

Now comes conference play as Maryland looks for its first season above .500 under Locksley. Last year, the Terps lost their first three games of Big Ten play before losing out and ending the season with a 1-8 in-conference record, the worst since 2019.

The Terps haven’t had a conference record above .500 since 2010, when they were still in the ACC. The best conference record the Terps had in the Big Ten was in 2014, their inaugural year, when they went 4-4 in conference play.

One of the biggest questions the Terps faced coming into the week was their run game and how it would translate to Big Ten play. The Terps made it a bigger priority against the weaker Towson defense, having 23 rushing attempts for 98 yards in the first half alone.

The Terps took a 34-0 lead in the first half, which allowed them to stick to the run game in the second half. However, in the second half, the offense slowed as the Terps weren’t consistently moving the sticks. The Terps ended with 152 yards on the ground on 42 attempts with 3 TDs.

Locksley and company have been trying to jumpstart the rushing attack through the non-conference schedule and get it to a place where it is a consistent product. Locksley said, “Today again, we kept pushing the run game. We’re really intentional about trying to get the touches with the run game.”

Locksley stressed the importance of having a good run game going into the Big Ten. He said, “The run game in the Big Ten, it’s really important that we have the ability to have balance.”

“We got a freshman quarterback that every game is a learning experience for him, and there's no better compliment than being able to line up and knock people off the line of scrimmage and hand it off and get positive yardage to stay in those advantageous third down situations.”

The question that still lingers, however, is how the run game will actually look when they line up against Big Ten-level opponents. So far, the Terps have yet to have a game with four or more yards per carry.

Through the air, the Terps' true-freshman Malik Washington continued to shine, having his best game of the season. Washington went into the half going 13-for-16 with 226 yards, a passing TD, along with 3 rushes for 29 yards and a TD on the ground.

He was able to stretch the field with three passes of 30+ yards, including a 53-yard pass to Octavian Smith Jr. and a 32-yard touchdown pass to Shaleak Knotts that he made with pressure in his face.

He would only come out for two drives in the second half, on the first of which he threw his first collegiate interception after a ball thrown behind RB Nolan Ray was tipped and ended up in the hands of a Towson defensive lineman. Nonetheless, Washington is going into Big Ten play with the momentum of his best collegiate start.

Washington may also see his name called at an increased rate in the Big Ten play, as the Terps have found the best offensive success so far through the air in their first three weeks.

Maryland's defense had only allowed 16 points and forced 6 turnovers in the first two games of the season against FAU and NIU. The defense kept Towson scoreless through the first half, where they allowed less than 100 total yards, but would surrender 17 points and 281 total yards by the end of the game.

Maryland’s secondary had its worst half of the year in the second half against Towson. Allowed two quick touchdown-scoring drives through the air, including one where Towson scored an 84-yard touchdown up the seam on the first play of the drive.

Locksley said after the game that he was trying out different packages and getting different guys on tape, which he hoped would help down the line when it comes to depth in the Big Ten schedule.

Besides that, the Terps' secondary has looked solid, even ending their week one game against FAU with six interceptions. The Terps' defense will have its first Power-Four test at the start of Big Ten play next Saturday.

“What I liked about the defense is that when we had our top guys on the field, they got off the field, and that was what we needed to get accomplished on third down,” Locksley said.

The one part of the Terps' defense that they improved the most at the end of the non-conference schedule was third-down defense. Terps allowed NIU to go 7-for-20 on third down in week two, and improved that number heavily, only allowing Towson to go 1-for-13 on third down.

The Terps will start their Big Ten schedule on the road against the Wisconsin Badgers next Saturday. The Terps have yet to beat the Badgers since joining the Big Ten, with their most recent loss coming in 2022.

Locksley prefaced next week's game in his press conference, “We learn a lot about who we are as a team on the road against Wisconsin, a really good team who has been a blue blood in the Big Ten for a long time.”

Wisconsin allowed 382 passing yards and 4 passing TDs in their week three match-up against No. 19 Alabama, which they lost 38-14.

On the ground, however, the Badgers were much stronger against the preseason number eight team in the nation. They allowed 3.3 yards per carry against Alabama, only allowing 72 yards in total.

Whether Billy Edwards, former Maryland starting quarterback, returns for the week four matchup remains to be seen.

"We haven't really been thinking about only Billy Edwards. We're just looking at the as a whole team and thinking about what we have to do to stop them," cornerback La'Khi Roland added.

This means the Terps will likely be looking at a pass-heavy offense against Wisconsin, as that is where they found the most success in their non-conference matchups.

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