Maryland football defeated Wisconsin, 24-21, on Nov. 14 to improve to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten.
The Terrapins will travel west to face USC at 6:15 p.m. EST next week, needing another victory to keep their postseason bowl hopes intact.
Redshirt senior quarterback Cardell Williams drew the start against Wisconsin. Sophomore quarterback Malik Washington was active but did not start after suffering a knee injury against Purdue. Washington was seen on the sideline wearing a knee brace throughout the game.
“Malik got banged up last week, low body injury. So we were really cautious with him during the week,” Maryland interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim said. “He did some things during the week. He was able to move the ball, move around. So it’s not a long-term injury. But I’m never going to waver from taking care of my kids. If he’s not all the way healthy, it could put him in harm’s way as a quarterback.”
Williams completed 21 of 23 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown. A 91.3 percent completion rate is a new single-game program record. Nineteen consecutive completions also marked a new program record. He had two rushing touchdowns as well.
“It’s a testament to how we prepare as a full staff and how we infuse confidence in an individual,” Abdul-Rahim said. “It is the next person up. We’re not going to sit there and lay down just because Malik can’t play.”
Wisconsin junior running back Junior Depree scored his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon early in the fourth quarter to give the Badgers a 21-14 lead, but Maryland had the last laugh.
Trailing by seven as the game approached the two-minute warning, the Terrapins faced a must-score possession. Williams recorded his third total touchdown of the day when he connected with tight end Preston Howard on a 39-yard touchdown pass, knotting the score at 21 and injecting life into the Maryland sideline.
The defense followed with arguably its biggest play of the season.
On Wisconsin’s ensuing possession, defensive lineman Trey Reddick delivered a crushing hit on freshman quarterback Ryan Hopkins, knocking the ball loose and setting up a Maryland fumble recovery at the Wisconsin 33-yard line.
“Trey is such a great athlete. He routinely makes those types of plays in practice [with] the way he runs,” Abdul-Rahim said. “He can brush, he can cover. He’s a very valuable piece of our defense. I wasn’t expecting it, but I’ll definitely take the turnover. I thought we put ourselves in a position to win the game with that turnover.”
Given a short field and a chance to complete the comeback, Maryland drained the clock and forced Wisconsin to burn its remaining timeouts while moving into field-goal range.
Although the Terrapins were unable to gain the first down needed to run out the clock entirely, redshirt sophomore kicker Sean O’Haire delivered under pressure, drilling a 30-yard field goal to put Maryland ahead, 24-21, and secure Abdul-Rahim’s second consecutive victory.
Aside from the fourth quarter, neither offense generated much momentum throughout the afternoon, resulting in a defensive battle for most of the contest.
Wisconsin’s defense came up with a pivotal takeaway late in the first half. With just 20 seconds remaining and Maryland threatening at the Badgers’ 2-yard line, Williams struggled with a handoff, resulting in a fumble. The empty possession prevented the Terrapins from potentially taking a 14-10 lead into halftime.
Maryland’s defense delivered several game-changing plays of its own. The Terrapins forced two fumbles and converted one of those takeaways into points, helping them build a 14-10 lead in the third quarter.
“We have talent on defense. But they’re totally bought in,” Abdul-Rahim said. “The success in the game is a byproduct of what we see every day when we’re at practice. … This is one of the first games I can say this is the defense we envisioned. First, second, third quarter and fourth quarter.”
Abdul-Rahim’s biggest concern was the self-inflicted mistakes that mounted throughout the afternoon.
The Terrapins repeatedly put themselves behind the chains with costly penalties, including false starts, unsportsmanlike conduct infractions and pass interference calls. At one point, Maryland committed four penalties in a two-minute span, derailing any chance of establishing offensive consistency.
The struggles were reflected in the stat sheet. Maryland finished the game with more penalty yards (111) than rushing yards (107).
“Unacceptable,” Abdul-Rahim said. “It will not be tolerated. Unacceptable, and to be quite honest, I think teachable moments are always better when you have a win behind it. So all of it is teachable moments. We don’t accept that. Build on discipline.”
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics