Maryland football entered the fourth quarter in its primetime matchup against SMU trailing 27-20. For the Terps to remain undefeated, a fourth quarter comeback was needed.
The Terps outscored the Mustangs 14-0 in the fourth, improving to 3-0, staring down the gauntlet of their Big Ten schedule.
“I got a lot of respect for the way our guys fought, the resiliency they showed being down,” coach Mike Locksley said. “These guys never flinched, never looked at the scoreboard.”
Two plays into the fourth, redshirt freshman Roman Hemby punched the rock in from one-yard out, tying the score at 27 and swinging momentum back to the Terps as their defense took the field.
At the start of the next drive, Maryland’s defense struggled to contain the Mustangs’ potent offense. Starting its drive at its own 15-yard line, SMU moved the ball 27 yards in five plays. On the sixth, Tanner Mordecai searched for his star wideout Rashee Rice, who entered top-three among all FBS wide receivers in receiving yards.
Rice was interfered with near the sideline, drawing the Terps’ 14th penalty of the game. Maryland finished with 15 penalties, 11 more than SMU.
“Don’t give up no matter what happens,” defensive back Beau Brade said. “We got some penalties throughout the game and we still bounced back.”
Two plays after the pass interference, Maryland’s defense forced a massive turnover — the third of the game from SMU. Before Saturday’s shootout, Maryland had not recorded a single takeaway in the first two weeks of the season.
Mordecai took the snap and searched the field, firing a ball intended for Gage Haskin. Haskin slipped, and excellent anticipation from Dante Trader Jr. allowed him to grab the pass, the first of the sophomore’s career.
Starting at SMU’s 46-yard line, signal caller Taulia Tagovailoa searched for a go-ahead score with time running down. To start, it seemed as if it was too late for the Terps to put something together.
Maryland moved the ball just one yard in two plays. On the third, Dontay Demus Jr. dropped a wide-open pass near the sidelines inside the redzone. After starting to jog to the spot of the drop assuming Demus would make the catch, Tagovailoa stopped and squatted in disbelief.
On fourth-and-nine, Locksley rolled the dice, going for it on SMU’s 45-yard line.
“We use analytics like everybody else does based on field position, time of game, the score,” Locksley said. “We had a good play, we went into it.”
On fourth down, Tagovailoa motioned tight end Corey Dyches from a bunch look on the right side of the field closer to the middle of the field. The redshirt sophomore stopped on a curl a yard shy of the first down mark and was met by a Mustang immediately.
Dyches looked to be short of the stick on first effort, but Dyches fought through the contact for a yard past SMU’s 36-yard line. Dyches got up and raised his right arm out in front of him, signaling a first down.
“Continue to win the fight because every battle was a one-on-one battle, 11-on-11,” Dyches said. “I’m glad we were able to [execute].”
Later in the drive, Maryland found itself with a third-and-one inside SMU’s 10-yard line. Tagovailoa took the snap, and avoiding pressure, again found Dyches, this time a few yards behind the line of scrimmage on a dump-off.
Dyches snagged the ball one-handed, turned his body around towards the end zone and dove in for a touchdown. Dyches recorded six catches in the game, none more important than his last two on the night.
The touchdown gave Maryland a 34-27 lead, its first since the second quarter. With a freshly established lead, The Terps’ defense stiffened to close things out.
SMU had just under eight minutes to work with to tie the game. After 13 plays and nearly five minutes, the Mustangs were presented with a fourth-and-seven inside the 10-yard line.
Mordecai took the snap and searched for his uber-talented No. 1 receiver. Rice leaped high into the air but couldn’t come down with the ball as it sailed over his head out of the endzone, prompting a turnover on downs.
The Mustangs received the ball back with 1:25 to work with and no timeouts after the Terps went three-and-out. After three plays, the Mustangs had to convert on fourth-and-one, with no more chances on the horizon.
Mordecai’s pass to Rice on a slant was low, and despite the diving attempt by Rice, the ball bounced in front of him incomplete. Maryland took over on downs, and the Terps secured the come-from-behind victory.
“It’s a tale of two halves,” Hemby said. “They had us in the first half, but I feel like we did our due diligence, we came back out and we got it done.”
The win marked Maryland’s first second-half comeback of at least a touchdown deficit since its 2021 Big Ten opener, when the Terps came from down 17-10 in the fourth to defeat Illinois, 20-17.
“We knew it was going to be a four quarter game … I think we took a step forward as a team,” Locksley said. “I thought we took a step forward in determination, it showed up in four quarters.”
