Maryland football fans witnessed a shootout between two high-powered offenses on Sept. 17, as the Terps defeated Southern Methodist University, 34-27, to improve to 3-0.
The game was a back-and-forth affair between the two teams from start to finish. It wasn’t the prettiest game for the Terps, but head coach Michael Locksley is happy to remain undefeated.
Maryland will now look to carry the momentum into its Big Ten opener against Michigan (3-0) in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 24.
But first, here are four takeaways from the Terps’ home win:
1. Maryland’s running back group is legit.
The Terps’ running back group continued its early-season success against SMU. Led by redshirt freshman Roman Hemby, the Terps consistently moved the ball when it was in a running back’s hands.
Hemby finished with 151 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. Hemby averaged 9.4 yards per carry. It marked the second 100-yard rushing game for Hemby this season.
“He really did a good job on all three phases,” Locksley said. “Going into the season we made the decision to start him because of his ability in the run game, the passing game and he showed even more [in] the ability to protect our quarterback.”
Hemby made a key block to give redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa time to find junior receiver Rakim Jarrett for a 48-yard touchdown, which gave Maryland a 17-13 lead in the second quarter.
“Our receivers do a good job blocking on the edge and helping me make those big runs so I feel like it’s only right that I can try to do this the best as I can to help them succeed as well,” Hemby said.
The Terps’ first touchdown drive spanned 11 plays in the second quarter. Running backs Hemby, Antwain Littleton II and Colby McDonald all touched the ball on the drive. Hemby accounted for 42 yards on the drive. A Littleton touchdown capped it off.
Littleton’s four touchdowns are the most for a Terp in a three-game span since Anthony McFarland Jr. had five in 2019.
Hemby and Littleton have now accounted for seven touchdowns on the season.
2. Penalties, penalties and more penalties.
Locksley has stressed the importance of eliminating non-competitive penalties, which cropped up once more against SMU. The Terps hurt themselves on their own drives all through the night.
Maryland was on the doorstep of the end zone early in the third quarter before being called for four straight penalties in the SMU red zone — two pre-snap penalties, holding and unsportsmanlike conduct. The Terps settled for a field goal.
In another instance, the Terps’ first drive, which included a 42-yard run by Hemby, stalled after a false start penalty turned a third-and-3 into a third-and-8. In another drive, a third-and-1 turned into a third-and-6.
In the third quarter alone, the Terps had seven penalties for 76 yards. They finished the game with 15 penalties for 141 yards. The Mustangs only had four for 30 yards.
“We didn’t play to our standard for the entirety of the game, but it’s better to get it cleaned up with a win instead of a loss,” Hemby said.
3. Maryland’s defense bends but doesn’t break.
Led by senior wide receiver Rashee Rice, SMU was able to drive down the field on Maryland’s defense throughout the night. Rice finished the game with 193 yards and 11 receptions. Senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai finished with 369 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Though the Mustangs moved the ball well (520 total yards) and were helped by the defensive penalties that tacked on extra yardage, the Terps held the Mustangs to field-goal attempts three times and turned them over another three times.
“When we needed stops they got us stops,” Locksley said. “When we turned it over, our change-of-possession defense was phenomenal. We did a lot of bending but never broke. We didn’t flinch.”
A crucial defensive stand came in the third quarter, when SMU could have increased its lead to two touchdowns. But the Terps forced the Mustangs to attempt a 49-yard field goal, which was missed. Maryland then tied the game at 27 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The safety pairing of junior Beau Brade and sophomore Dante Trader Jr. forced three turnovers. Brade got his first career interception on an errant pass by Mordecai. He also forced a Mordecai red-zone fumble, which was recovered by senior linebacker Ahmad McCullough. Trader intercepted Mordecai as well.
“We’ve got two young leaders that really showed up for us big,” Locksley said. “It was good to see those guys are getting better with each game. And we’re going to need it as we head into [conference] play. The leadership those two guys showed helped settle down things.”
“It’s a tight-knit safety room in general,” Brade said. “We all practice hard and are in the film room all the time, so I feel like if any of us were out there at safety we could have made the plays.”
Maryland was able to keep SMU from tying the game late. Lockdown defense led to Mordecai sailing a fourth-down pass intended for Rice out of the end zone with 2:31 remaining in the game.
Then on SMU’s final drive, sophomore defensive back Corey Coley Jr. forced an incomplete pass intended for Rice to seal the game.
“I think it shows what our defense is capable of doing,” Brade said of the defense’s big stops. “First two games we didn’t have any takeaways. So it was a big game for us on takeaways and we’ve been practicing them.”
4. Taulia Tagovailoa had another efficient effort.
Redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa put together another efficient performance against the Mustangs, completing 17 of 23 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
Tagovailoa also scrambled a fair bit this game as well. He finished with 60 rushing yards.
Both of Tagovailoa’s touchdown passes were crucial, since each gave the Terps the lead. His first touchdown pass was the 48-yarder to junior wide receiver Rakim Jarrett to give the Terps a 17-13 lead.
The other gave the Terps the lead with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was a one-handed catch by redshirt sophomore tight end Corey Dyches that gave them a 34-27 lead.
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox