Maryland football got back on track on Saturday after mounting a double-digit fourth quarter comeback to defeat USC, 29-28, and move to 4-3 (1-3). Takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Maryland’s passing attack finds success
Billy Edwards finished the day 39-of-50 for a career-high 373 yards, tossing a pair of touchdowns to one interception while adding another score on the ground in what proved to be the game-winning score. Head coach Mike Locksley admitted that Edwards “threw a little bit more than I would expect or want him to,” but the starting quarterback found his groove early in the game. After opening 4-for-6, Edwards completed 12 consecutive passes with his 16-yard touchdown to WR Octavian Smith sandwiched in between.
Part of that success was the multiple weapons that surfaced on Saturday afternoon. While Tai Felton and Kaden Prather finished tied with a team-high nine catches, it was Felton who drew one more target while Prather finished with a career-high 111 yards for his first 100-yard receiving game as a Terp. Prather was also the recipient for four of Maryland’s 11 third-down conversion attempts through the air, converting on a pair including a 33-yard reception to set the offense up in Trojan territory for the first time.
But while fans and teams have been made plenty aware of the veteran duo leading the way, Saturday brought out a different star: WR Octavian Smith. The third-year receiver also set new career highs in catches (8) and receiving yards (84), while his first score drew comparisons to his first career touchdown. “That touchdown catch early on, similar to the one he made in the NC State bowl game, if you think about it,” Locksley said postgame.
The offense worked to get the ball to their wideouts quickly, largely through the screen game, with all three benefitting to pick up chunk plays as the offense amassed nine plays with 15 or more yards through the air.
The balanced offense also helped for the Terps, averaging four yards per carry in the second half highlighted by RB Nolan Ray’s 33-yard run to set the Terps up in the redzone. RB Roman Hemby would prove himself to be an asset in the passing game as well, drawing six catches for 52 yards, but it was his motor on the opening drive of the fourth quarter that drew attention after picking up 14 yards through the air, then bullying his way for a ten-yard rushing touchdown to pull the Terps within one score.
After special teams forced a field goal block to give the offense one last chance with less than two minutes left, Edwards connected with Hemby, Smith and Felton while Felton drew a key defensive PI to position the offense inside the USC 30. After Felton’s 14-yard reception then pushed the offense inside the ten-yard line, Hemby pushed ahead inside the five before Billy Edwards Jr. took a three-yard QB keeper into the endzone before bringing the boom. Edwards ranks first in the Big Ten in completions.
USC finds holes in Maryland’s passing attack – but Terps fight back
USC QB Miller Moss led the way for the Trojans’ offense after throwing for 196 yards in the first half while completing nearly 80% of his passes to eight different players in the first half. Moss finished 6-of-11 for 82 yards while throwing against the middle of Maryland’s defense, including completing over 50% of his passes at least five yards, as the Trojan receivers routinely found their spots inside the field to pick up key conversions. Five of USC’s six third down conversion attempts came through the air despite averaging nearly eight yards to-go, while Moss finished 7-of-14 on passes 15 yards or more.
But in a season filled with growing pains in the secondary, the unit also stepped up to make key plays early: Glen Miller broke up a third-down deep pass intended for Duce Robinson, and on the next possession, it was CB Kevis Thomas who broke up another third-down pass attempt to Robinson. Thomas’s play wound up proving meaningless after a fourth-down penalty extended USC’s drive, only to score the game’s first points one play later. Miller matched his career-high and set a season-high with two pass breakups.
No play was bigger than Lavain Scruggs’s interception midway through the third quarter, halting a Trojan drive into Maryland territory to set the Terps’ offense up in the redzone. Moss finished the game 12-of-21 for 114 yards after the takeaway.
Third-down conversions
It wasn’t all sunshine for Maryland and a big part of that was third-down conversions on both sides of the ball.
USC finished 6-of-14 on Saturday, including 5-of-9 on attempts within eight yards. It wasn’t a shock the Trojans lead on the passing attack to pick up five of their six conversions, while the lone rush attempt went for 16 yards two plays before the Trojans’ final points of the game.
For Maryland, they didn’t have nearly close to the level of success that USC enjoyed after finishing just 2-of-13 on third downs, failing to pick up a first down for the final 41:52 of the game. WR Kaden Prather accounted for both conversions, first a 33-yard catch then 13-yard reception, to set the offense up with its first score of the game.
Maryland finished the day 3-of-6 on fourth down attempts, though, as head coach Mike Locksley wasn’t shy about being bold vs. USC.
Maryland proved it pushed “all of our chips to the middle of the table”
Saturday’s homecoming matchup was long circled as ‘the game’ on the 2024 schedule. Not because it’s the homecoming game – that’s an added perk. No, the Terps’ matchup against USC was the first test at home for the Terps to prove itself against what was expected to be one of the conference’s best teams.
The dynamics of Saturday’s game may not have come to fruition the way fans envisioned in the preseason but entering Saturday on a two-game losing streak with little pessimism among fans, Saturday still marked its chance for the Terps to earn validation among the fanbase while proving they’re the team they said they were.
It took all 60 minutes, and in the end, the Terps led for just 53 seconds. But it didn’t come without bold calls.
The first came on a 4th down at the MD 34, a play that was spotted nearly five yards off from the original spot, to give the Terps a closer look. After initially trotting out Bryce McFerson, it was QB Billy Edwards who took the field for the ‘Turtle Push’ to pick up the first down. On the same drive, three plays later, Edwards again lined up for the ‘Turtle Push’ before drawing USC offside and picking up another first down. The drive didn’t produce points as Jack Howes missed wide right from 52 yards, keeping the score at 14-7, but Maryland wouldn’t change its approach.
In fact, it’s how Maryland opened the second half, but this time for a different result after RB Roman Hemby picked up one of the two needed yards on fourth down at the USC 36.
Down 21-14 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter, arguably the boldest call of the day was the decision to go for it on fourth-and-3 at the USC 4 before Edwards was picked off in the endzone – a play result that even squandered field position.
Maryland’s final failed fourth down attempt came with just under three minutes left in the game when Edwards, trying to extend the play to find an open target, was sacked for an 18-yard loss in what appeared to be the game-sealing sack. But then, special teams stepped up.
Special teams highlights loom large
With the game on the line and staring at a 28-22 deficit, Maryland’s defense stood tall as Locksley used his final two timeouts coupled with the two-minute stoppage to force a 41-yard field goal attempt. Then chaos ensued.
LB Donnell Brown broke into the Trojans’ field goal unit to block the attempt before DL Quashon Fuller recovered – then pitched to SAF Glen Miller for a 16-yard return before fumbling for a recovery by LB Caleb Wheatland. While Scruggs’s play proved to be the momentum-changing play on Saturday, Brown’s field goal block was the game-changing play to set the stage for the eventual game-winning drive.
And of course, Bryce McFerson once again proved himself as a weapon in the third phase after his first punt sailed 58 yards to flip the field from the MD 31 to USC 11. He averaged 53 yards per punt in the win, while Howes’s lone attempt on the day was the missed 52-yard attempt.
Win gets Maryland’s 2024 season back on track
The most important game is always the next one, but Saturday’s game hit a bit different considering the first half of Maryland’s season.
Maryland entered Saturday still searching for its first conference win of the season as fan criticism grew louder after losses against Michigan State, then even louder after Northwestern. Despite a 3-3 team heading to College Park for the first time, Saturday marked a chance for Maryland to "cut down on some of the chatter a little bit and have action" – just like AD Damon Evans said heading into the homecoming game.
It ended with the fans – who stayed through the end – storming SECU Stadium to celebrate a 29-28 win after mounting a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback, the largest fourth-quarter comeback since 2020. While fans watching from home questioned the legitimacy of the field storm, it didn’t take long for the field to fill with both students and fans.
And for the fans who stayed, they cemented a lifelong memory. Saturday marked the first time fans stormed the field since 2007 when Maryland took down a Matt Ryan-led Boston College team. I remember – I was a freshman in high school who stormed the field with my best friend. That was what Saturday provided for some of its loyal fans, and for a program that routinely finds itself fighting an uphill battle with fan support, it was the exact type of experience needed after a much-needed result. And with the longest, most star-studded group of visitors on hand to watch, it was the exact performance to build momentum on the trail. And as Locksley closed out in the opening statement of his press conference, now it’s about building on it.
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