Maryland football suffered one of its worst losses of the Michael Locksley era Friday night in College Park.
The Terps were outclassed all night long, quickly incurring a 17-0 deficit and never truly creating any momentum. The contest ended in Maryland’s worst offensive output in two years, as it lost, 37-10, to the Wildcats.
The Terps now sit at 3-3 and 0-3 in Big Ten play.
Here’s how Maryland’s position groups fared against Northwestern.
Quarterback
Billy Edwards Jr. wasn’t outright terrible, but he certainly wasn’t the player that Maryland fans had grown accustomed to seeing the first few weeks of the season.
He was 28-of-51 passing for 296 yards and an interception, and added a rushing touchdown. But Edwards’ play was marred by the inability to consistently move the ball and find ways to score in the red zone. On one occasion, it took the Terps four straight attempts from Northwestern’s 1-yard line before Edwards was barely able to sneak into the end zone. On another occasion, Maryland’s offense was operating inside the 5-yard line before a sack pushed them back and forced a field goal attempt.
Edwards was also inaccurate on a few shots to the corner of the end zone, to running back Roman Hemby and wide receiver Tai Felton. His lone interception was the result of trying to carelessly push the ball downfield at a time where the Terps desperately needed points. His fumble was the result of a blindside sack, and it led to a scoop-and-score for the Wildcats.
Grade: C-
Running back
Friday was another subpar performance on the ground for the Terps, as Hemby and Nolan Ray struggled to get anything going. While the offensive line’s performance didn’t help, the running back room only sparingly created any plays for themselves.
Hemby did have a nice sequence, though, when the Terps were backed up on their own 1-yard line. He managed to save a safety by churning back out of the end zone and ran for 20 yards on the very next play to give the team cushion.
The running back room had just 54 yards total on the ground, though, and neither of the two running backs that saw playing time had a serious impact in the passing game.
Grade: C
Wide receiver
With both starting wide receivers — Felton and Kaden Prather — coming back from injury, there was no telling how the group would fare.
Felton was targeted 19 times in the game, but only had nine receptions for 77 yards. This came along with two drops, his first two of the season. Prather had 14 targets but caught only eight of them for 81 yards.
Ultimately, the issue with the receiving game wasn’t necessarily Felton and Prather, but rather the fact that the Terps don’t really have a seriously viable option behind them. Octavian Smith Jr. was the only other wide receiver to record a reception.
Grade: B-
Tight end
There was nothing great to be had from the tight end room Friday. Preston Howard got himself involved in the offense, raking in five catches for 59 yards. Dylan Wade had just one reception for 17 yards.
But any positive plays the tight end room had were wiped away by Howard’s fourth-quarter fumble when the Terps were down 17 points. In some ways, the performance from this group was more of the same — not too much to be excited about.
Grade: D-
Offensive line
While the offensive line has been a work in progress for the entire season, Friday night’s game just might have been the worst performance this season.
Time and time again, the Terps’ running backs were unable to find holes to run through — and that was because there really weren’t any. It took Maryland four attempts from the 1-yard line to punch the football in for a score.
The offensive line wasn’t just dominated by Northwestern’s defensive front in the run game. Pass blocking issues were made evident, as the Wildcats sacked Edwards three times. Of these was a strip-sack that led to a demoralizing scoop-and-score.
Grade: F
Defensive line
While the defensive line wasn’t stout rushing the passer — failing to record a sack — it was relatively impressive in the run game, holding the Wildcats to just 85 yards on the ground in what was seen as a strength in Northwestern’s game.
The performance may not show up completely in the stat sheet, as Tommy Akingbesote had just 0.5 tackles for loss and Jordan Phillips had only one tackle, but it was their clogging of run holes that stymied the Wildcats’ running back tandem.
Grade: B
Linebacker
There were some flashes from this group, notably from Kellan Wyatt. Wyatt had a sack and two tackles for loss on the day. Ruben Hyppolite II also contributed with three tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup. Caleb Wheatland had a solid showing too, registering a tackle for loss and a sack. Even Neeo Avery made his mark with a tackle for loss.
Overall, there was nothing negative about the performance of the linebacker unit. The outcome of the game and the amount of points let up is what ultimately held it back from a higher grade.
Grade: A-
Secondary
It almost doesn’t even matter that Maryland only allowed 203 passing yards. For a Northwestern offense that was bottom-five through the air in the Big Ten, it was a dismal output by the Terps’ secondary.
Even understanding that safety Dante Trader Jr. was out with an injury, Maryland’s defensive backs did not offer much resistance to Wildcats quarterback Jack Lausch. He had multiple completions of at least 40 yards that instantly sparked Northwestern’s offense. On those completions, the Terps’ defensive backs did little to affect the pass.
On Lausch’s first big shot, a 40-yard completion to A.J. Henning, the closest defender, Kevis Thomas, was not close from the streaking receiver. If Henning didn’t have to stop to reel in the pass, he probably would have taken it in for a score.
Overall, Maryland’s secondary continues to let opposing quarterbacks walk over it.
Grade: F
Special teams
It doesn’t take a lot to get a good mark as special teams. Play to the fundamentals, field the ball cleanly and don’t incur flags. The Terps did almost none of that Friday night.
There were a litany of mistakes to point to, but Jack Howes’ missed field goal and kick returner Ricardo Cooper Jr.’s fumble on a return loomed large. The fumble came at an extremely inopportune time, too, as the Terps were down 14-0 and needed a drive to get themselves back into the game.
Grade: F
Coaching
This was close to being an F. The only reason it isn’t is because Friday night’s game was the first game that Locksley was calling the offensive plays, so he gets some consolation.
But in the same vein, the Terps had two weeks to prepare for this game, and should have been far more ready than the product that was put out on the field showed. Rhythm was nowhere to be found on offense, and miscues on the defensive end sullied the performance.
A rough night all around.
Grade: D-
