Maryland football will face Towson on Saturday, Sept. 13, at noon in its final nonconference game.
The Terrapins aim to extend their 17-game nonconference winning streak before starting Big Ten play. Maryland is 3-0 all-time against Towson. The Terrapins dominated the Tigers, 38-6, in their last meeting on Sept 2, 2023.
Here are three things to look for in the fourth matchup:
Can the running game get going?
Maryland head coach Michael Locksley has been unimpressed with the run game, to say the least. However, he does believe the running back group has talent.
In Maryland’s 20-9 victory against Northern Illinois on Sept. 5, the Terrapins mustered just 86 total rushing yards compared to the Huskies’ 180.
“When you have a young quarterback and you face an eight-man front, it’s really a math issue,” Locksley said. “We had some issues in what I call the ‘C area,’ our tight ends, where when we want to run the outside zone at the point of attack, we’ve got to win or maintain it. That’s an area for us that we have to do a better job of. “
“But for the most part, it’s a matter of our backs,” Locksley added. “They’re going to have one guy they have to make miss. … It’s going to be important for us to give the complement of being able to run the football efficiently when we need to, whether it’s an eight-man box or not.”
Can Maryland extend drives?
Between the Terrapins’ inability to stop the run against the Huskies and their unsuccessful third-down attempts, Maryland’s offense did not see the field much.
NIU dominated time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for 21-plus minutes while Maryland barely had the ball for eight.
Maryland struggled on third down (4 of 12), meaning drives stalled before they could even get going.
“I think just capitalizing on every possession,” freshman quarterback Malik Washington said regarding where the offense needs to improve. “In this game, sometimes it gets hard. Those possessions become few and far between just with the way the game is played later in the season. A lot of teams [are] run-heavy, so the time of possession goes up for each team. Taking advantage of every possession we get and capitalizing in the red zone.”
Who will set the tone on defense?
Although Maryland had trouble stopping the run, the Terrapins shut down NIU’s passing game. The Huskies finished with only 91 yards passing.
Maryland’s young but impactful defensive line left NIU quarterback Josh Holst no time to throw the ball and finished with four sacks. Freshmen Sidney Stewart and Zahir Mathis both tallied a sack. Stewart is the first Maryland true freshman since at least 2007 to record a sack in each of his first two games.
“When you can rush the quarterback with a four-man rush, which we’re able to do now with young guys like Sidney Stewart, Zahir … to have those kinds of guys that are winning one-on-ones allows us to have a little more coverage, so that really helps,” Locksley said.
Junior linebacker Daniel Wingate has taken a leap this season as well. Wingate finished with a career-high 14 tackles against NIU and is third in the Big Ten in total tackles. Sophomore Trey Reddick also finished with a career-high 11 tackles against NIU. Reddick is seventh in total tackles in the Big Ten.
“He’s a guy that came in as a freshman and played really well for us and has developed like we’ve seen some of the other greats have,” Locksley said of Wingate. “We’re hopeful he stays healthy, continues to mature and gets better. I still think his best football is ahead of him, but it’s great to see him play at a high level.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics