Maryland opened its season with a 50-7 home victory against Connecticut to begin the campaign 1-0.
The Terps controlled the game throughout and improved their nonconference winning streak to 13. It marked the Terps’ biggest win at home since a 62-0 victory against Howard in 2021.
The Terps will look to continue the momentum in their Big Ten opener against Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 7. But first, here are three standouts from the win against UConn:
The Entire Defense
Maryland’s defense took no prisoners and flew all over the field, holding UConn to only 11 first downs and forcing three turnovers.
The Terps pitched a shutout in the first half and did not look back. Their defense forced four straight UConn punts to begin the game.
“I thought our defense had a good plan going into how we wanted to defend [UConn despite] not knowing what they were going to be with a new quarterback, new system, new coordinator,” head coach Michael Locksley said.
The Huskies did have a chance to drive down the field before the end of the first half, but sophomore quarterback Nick Evers threw an interception to senior defensive back Glendon Miller to give the Terps more momentum entering the half. Maryland entered the locker room up 23-0.
“It was huge. Glen is always a guy that is going to make a play when you need it,” senior linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II said. “He got a crucial interception when we needed it. He helped us start the second half the right way.”
The Huskies only managed to make it to the red zone three times and struggled to produce any offense. Graduate kicker Chris Freeman missed a 43-yarder in the first half, and senior backup quarterback Joe Fagnano threw an interception in the third quarter before the Huskies finally scored with 16 seconds remaining in the stanza.
“We just wanted it more than them,” Hyppolite said. “I think we just played harder football than them. Credit to them, they came in and played hard, but we outplayed and out-hustled them.”
Tai Felton
Senior wideout Tai Felton was junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.’s favorite target this game, as the two showed an immediate connection.
Felton finished the game with a career-high 178 yards, seven catches and two touchdowns. This marked the most receiving yards in a game for a Terp since DJ Moore finished with 210 in 2017.
“We have a big connection,” Felton said of Edwards. “I’ve known Billy since high school. I picked him off one time freshman year, so we have had a connection since high school. We had the same trainer at Virginia, so we have a big connection. We always work together.”
Felton’s most impressive highlight was a 75-yard catch and run touchdown that gave the Terps a 36-7 lead.
“Coach said the ones had one more series left, so I was trying to end the series as quickly as possible,” Felton said. “I got the hitch and ended up making something. I juked one guy then made a spin move on the next then I saw a lot of green grass.”
Billy Edwards Jr.
The mystery of who will be the starting quarterback for the Terps this season was answered when Edwards shook hands with teammates and trotted onto the field.
“Coming out of camp, the metrics, the drive chart, winning on third down, protecting the football, doing a great job elevating the level of play with the players,” Locksley said of naming Edwards the starter.
“I’ve been here two seasons and had various roles throughout the two seasons,” Edwards said. “And I feel like the one thing that’s always been the same is I treated myself and trained myself to be the starter.”
Edwards opened the game 4-for-4 for 43 yards, capped off by an 18-yard touchdown to Felton. He finished the game 20-for-27 for 311 yards and two touchdowns even though he sat for the majority of the second half. He also rushed for 39 yards.
Edwards’ 311 passing yards were more than UConn’s total offensive yards for the game (310).
“I thought Billy did a really good job of controlling the offensive system,” Locksley said. “To me, he did a great job of distributing the ball and getting it to the playmakers.”
Edwards took a big hit in the second quarter, with his helmet flying off in the process. NC State transfer MJ Morris came in for a one drive after that, but Morris also took a late hit during the game.
“We’ve got to find ways to continue to teach our quarterback not to take those extra shots,” Locksley said.
“I think in a game that was my first time sliding,” Edwards said. “A lot to learn from. I’m hoping to play [a full season]. I’m not a backup coming in, so I have to do a better job protecting myself. And yeah, that one stung a little bit.”
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66d3969353334175b6f8469e6e53f257&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpressboxonline.com%2F2024%2F08%2F31%2Fthree-standouts-from-maryland-footballs-50-7-win-against-uconn%2F&c=16215447729876366373&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-31 11:07:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.