Maryland football fell to Michigan State, 27-24, after a game-winning field goal with one second remaining, dropping to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten.
In a blink of an eye, the opportunity to “play the damn song,” as head coach Michael Locksley says in the locker room after victories, was gone. Three plays defined this loss toward the end of the game.
Maryland led, 24-17, with 4:26 remaining when the Terps faced a fourth-and-1 from the Spartans’ 23-yard line. After a tough drive, Locksley elected to send out junior kicker Jack Howes for a 41-yard field goal. Howes’ kick drifted right, leaving Maryland only up a touchdown.
Michigan State sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles responded by finding freshman receiver Nick Marsh for a 77-yard catch-and-run touchdown to tie the game with 4:11 remaining.
“We had the chance to go up two scores,” Locksley said of his decision to not go for it. “If I do kick it, you’re going to be saying, ‘Why didn’t you go for it?’ If I kick it and make it … damned if I do, damned if I don’t from that standpoint, but the smart play is to go up two possessions.”
Maryland went three-and-out on the following possession, failing to convert a third-and-1. As such, the Terps allowed the Spartans take over with 2:12 to play. A pass interference call on sophomore defensive back Jalen Husky on third-and-10 led to Michigan State driving down the field, running the clock down and kicking the game-winning field goal to go up 27-24 with one second left.
“We had our offense on the field with a chance to win it, our defense on the field for a drive to win and our special teams on the field to give us a chance to go up two scores,” Locksley said. “Three phases and neither of those phases were able to take the victory.”
It was a back-and-forth affair at SECU Stadium that saw Marsh (194) and Maryland senior receiver Tai Felton (154) both eclipse 100 yards receiving. Felton now has 100-plus yards receiving in the first two games of season, the first time a Terps receiver has done that since Dontay Demus Jr. in 2021.
“He’s been a playmaker for us for the last couple of years,” Locksley said of Felton. “He’s waited his turn. … There’s no doubt when we need a play, Tai has been one of those guys that consistently come through.”
The defense had three takeaways, but that was not enough for the Terps to open up 1-0 in Big Ten play. Defensive backs senior Glen Miller (two) and Husky (one) both had interceptions.
This year marks the first time since 2001 that Maryland has had multiple interceptions in the first two games of a season.
“Jalen’s interception, it was good to see him,” Locksley said. “It was one of the times where we had played deep safety coverage and [Chiles] threw it to us and Jalen made a play.”
Junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. came into the game 4-0 as a starter but now leaves 4-1 after a tough loss. He finished 26-for-34 for 253 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, but the Terps ran for just 86 yards on 31 carries.
“Disappointing,” Edwards said of his first loss. “We had a lot of opportunities as an offense. A lot of things we need to learn from, we’ll be able to learn from. We’ve got a lot of things to clean up and got to get it corrected fast.”
Maryland receivers again found a lot of yards after the catch, as Locksley and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis got the quick game going early and often.
On Maryland’s first drive, Edwards went 6-for-8 for 50 yards. A good chunk of those yards came from Felton managing 26 yards after the catch — and hauling in a catch in the corner of the end zone to give the Terps a 7-0 lead.
However, that momentum was short-lived. After stifling Connecticut last week, Maryland struggled to stop Michigan State on its opening drive.
A late hit by senior Miller pushed the Spartans into Maryland territory, and the visitors capitalized with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Chiles to senior receiver Montorie Foster Jr.
Miller made up for his mistake with an interception in a fourth straight game, setting up Maryland on the Spartans’ 17-yard line. Miller’s four-game streak with a takeaway is the most since Lewis Sanders had five straight games with an interception in 1999.
“Glendon is one of those special players that always has a knack for being around the ball,” Locksley said. “When it comes to being a ball hawk, making plays and affecting the game on defense, Glendon is one of those guys.”
The Terps were able to capitalize on the short field with a 7-yard touchdown run by Edwards to go up 14-7 but didn’t put any points on the board the rest of the half.
Michigan State, on the other hand, outscored Maryland 10-0 in the second quarter to go into the break with a 17-14 lead. The Spartans took the lead after a 12-play, 56-yard drive put them in field goal range at the end of the half, with the help of an offsides penalty on Husky.
Each team scored 10 points in the second half but Michigan State’s field goals at the end of each half proved to be the difference.
The Terps will look to correct their mistakes and hit on all cylinders on Sept. 14 when they face Virginia in Charlottesville at 8 p.m. They’ll look to bounce back after the early-season test against Michigan State.
“This is probably the earliest we faced a [Big Ten opponent] but we weren’t surprised,” Locksley said. “Big Ten games are hard, tough battles, and today was just that.”
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