Maryland vs. Indiana: Terps looking for first top-five win in over two decades in Saturday's homecoming game

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3 days ago
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Maryland (4-3, 1-3 B1G) vs No. 2 Indiana (8-0, 5-0 B1G)

When: Saturday, November 1 | 3:30 PM EST

Where: SECU Stadium

Watch: CBS Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, Jenny Dell

Listen: 105.7 FM (Balt) | 980 AM (DC) - Johnny Holliday, Steve Suter, LaMont Jordan

Betting: Maryland +21 | O/U: 50.5 (DraftKings)

The month of October was not kind to Maryland football after the team went 0-3, losing by a combined ten points. Coming off their second bye, the Terps welcome arguably their toughest opponent of the season: the second-ranked Indiana Hoosiers. An upset win would not only give head coach Mike Locksley his first win coming off a bye, but it would also give Maryland its first win against a top-five team since 2004 and its first against a ranked team since 2019 with a chance at a program-defining win. Maryland will also look to secure its fifth homecoming win in the last six years with ESPN analyst Dominique Foxworth set to return to College Park.

“I think when you look at the way the last three games have gone, it's been a lot more us than it has been the opponent. And those are the things that - that's why I feel pretty good about going into it because these are things that can be corrected, that we need to get corrected, and we'll get corrected this week,” said Locks at his weekly press conference.

Locksley used the same approach as the first bye week - with a tweak - after issuing 'prescription cards' to each unit rather than individual players.

“This bye week, we worked on our unit prescriptions as to things we as a unit need to improve upon and get corrected,” head coach Mike Locksley said during his weekly press conference. “It allowed us to really turn our focus onto those individual things as a unit, but also allowed us to focus and see what we're doing well and what we need to improve upon, which bye weeks tend to allow you to do.”

It'll be necessary for each unit to flip the switch and find its groove starting on Saturday with a "well-oiled machine" headed to College Park with Indiana still perfect in 2025 and suffering just two losses since Curt Cignetti took over ahead of the 2024 season.

One name familiar to Terp fans on Indiana’s offense is running back Roman Hemby, who spent his first four years at Maryland and rushed for 2347 yards and 22 touchdowns. He leads the Hoosiers in rushing yards with 513, just four ahead of Kaelon Black. The two have been the driving force behind a rushing attack that ranks second in the Big Ten and tenth nationally. While the two are dangerous on their own, being paired with quarterback Fernando Mendoza makes the Hooiser offense one of the best in all of college football. The Cal transfer leads the Big Ten in passing touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions. His performance has drawn everyone’s attention, making him a potential Heisman candidate and high NFL draft pick. The receiving core has its own two-headed monster in receivers Elijah Sarrett and Omar Cooper Jr. How the Terp defense responds to this challenge will be critical to determining if they can keep this game close.

As good as Indiana’s offense has been, its defense might be the better unit, ranking second in the nation in points given up and sixth in yards allowed. They have held opponents to under 20 points in all but their matchup against Oregon, with them allowing ten or fewer in four. The top two players for the Indiana defense are linebacker Aiden Fisher and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. Fisher was a first-team All-American last year and has teamed with Isaiah Jones this year to make what might be the best linebacker duo in all of college football. Ponds leads a secondary that has played a big role in the Hooisers’ defensive dominance every week. Joining him in that secondary are Louis Moore, Amare Ferrell, and Devan Boykin. Jones and Rolijah Hardy lead Indiana in sacks with five each. All of this adds to this game being the toughest matchup for Malik Washington and the Terp offense. Just as mentioned with the Terps’ defense, everyone must be at their best for the entire game if they want to do any damage.

One year after Maryland failed to turn four turnovers into points in an eventual 42-28 loss, Maryland will look to extend its nation-best turnover margin against an Indiana team that plays mistake-free football.

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