Maryland football outlasts Northwestern, 31-24, becomes bowl-eligible

Roman Hemby stood in the backfield, awaiting the snap. 

Freshly tied at 24, the Terps’ running back took the first down handoff and avoided traffic until he found open space. Hemby ran until he reached the goal line, breaking off a 75-yard touchdown run to pull the Terps back in front late.

It was one of three touchdowns Hemby scored in the contest, as he rattled off 179 yards rushing and served as the lifeblood of a depleted Maryland offense. Edwards finished the game 18-28 passing for 166 yards and a touchdown toss, while also adding 66 yards on the ground.

“It was just a simple play that we worked all week in practice and it was the perfect time to run it in the game,” Hemby said. “I just came through the mesh and the lineman got their blocks, the wide receivers worked to the secondary to get their blocks and I just had to run and beat two people and I was able to outrun their angles.”

Hosting Northwestern for its homecoming game Maryland football did just enough to keep its winning ways going — securing bowl eligibility in the process —  dropping the Wildcats, 31-24.

Billy Edwards started in place of Taulia Tagovailoa, who exited Maryland’s win over Indiana with a knee injury. Tagovailoa was just one of the many Terps who did not suit up for the contest, as Maryland played without Jaishawn Barham, Ruben Hyppolite, Vandarius Cowan, Amelio Moran and Gavin Gibson.

“When I walked out there on the first snap and they announced I was starting, my back was to the student section,” Edwards said. “To feel all the energy of the fans, it was definitely a cool experience.”

Following five total punts to open the game, Northwestern found a jolt. On 1st-and-10 from the 50, Sullivan connected with Malik Washington for a gain of 46, setting up the Wildcats with first-and-goal from the four. Sullivan kept it himself two plays later and crossed the chalk, putting his squad up 7-0 after one.

Maryland responded with a touchdown drive of its own. With the drive starting inside their own 20 for the fourth time in the game, the Terps clung together a 12-play, 87-yard scoring drive. Edwards finally got rolling, completing four passes to receivers, accounting for 57 of the 87 yards. Hemby capped off the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run, knotting the game at 7.

The Wildcats responded with a field goal drive — gaining 30 yards in a hurry after back-to-back 15-yard penalties by the Terps — jumping back out in front 10-7.

They didn’t stop there. 

Holding the slim advantage, the Wildcats sacked Edwards on third down to end Maryland’s drive, before embarking on another lengthy drive. Spanning 12 plays, Northwestern marched 83 yards, with Evan Hull finishing it off with a 10-yard catch-and-run into the end zone. With halftime closing in, the Wildcats led 17-7.

The Terps constructed a 16-play scoring drive to end the half, but couldn’t reach paydirt. Despite seven plays inside the ten, Edwards was unable to connect with any of his receivers, with his last attempt of the half coming up short for Corey Dyches. Chad Ryland connected on a 20-yarder to cut it to a one score game. At the break, Northwestern led 17-10. 

The Wildcats received the ball to open the third quarter, but they didn’t have it long. Just five plays into its drive — one in which Northwestern had already picked up two first downs — Dante Trader Jr. stepped in front of a Sullivan pass intended for Thomas Gordon and returned it to Maryland’s 46.

“It was just everybody doing their job,” Trader Jr. said. “I made the play but you didn’t see the D line getting the pass rush, the corner doing his job. One player gets the credit but it’s a team effort.”

Edwards and company took over, and needed just eight plays to tie the game. After Edwards scrambled for 11 yards to move the ball into Northwestern territory, the Terps picked away at the Wildcats defense. Hemby finished it off, bursting for 18 yards up the middle — his second touchdown of the day — to make the score 17-all.

On their next drive, the Terps claimed their first lead of the game. 

Taking over at its own 35, Maryland again relied on the legs of both Hemby and Edwards for the majority of the drive. Edwards was sacked on what would have forced a three-and-out, but a defensive holding penalty kept the drive going. Just five plays later, Edwards took his shot.

He dropped back from Northwestern’s 30, and unloaded a deep ball to a wide open Rakim Jarrett, who trotted past a defender into the end zone for six. Entering the half trailing by a touchdown, Maryland now led 24-17 with 1:07 to play in the third quarter. 

Northwestern got the ball back and moved towards Maryland territory, but stalled out near midfield. Facing fourth-and-four, Sullivan and the offense stayed out and attempted to go for it. A play-action drop into the flat was blanketed by Jakorian Bennett, who shut the play down and gave Maryland the ball back.

Faced with a chance to put the game out of reach, the Terps looked to be well on their way to doing so, setting up with a second-and-one at Northwestern’s five. The next two plays resulted in a loss of 23 and on fourth down, Ryland swung the ensuing 46-yard attempt wide to keep Maryland’s lead at a touchdown with 6:24 to play.

The Wildcats took advantage of the change in momentum, ripping off 72 yards in just 2:50 of game time. Facing first-and-goal from the nine, Andrew Clair rolled around the left side, strutting into the corner of the end zone and bringing Northwestern even, at 24-24.

Hemby made his run on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, breaking the tie mere moments after Northwestern knotted it up.

“I wouldn’t say that the plan was to just line up and run the ball,” coach Mike Locksley said. “Roman Hemby came through big. Big runs, big time plays, he showed exactly what we’re talking about in his ability to hit the home run and it couldn’t have happened at a better time for us.”

Trailing in pretty much the blink of an eye, Sullivan tried to move the ball through the air. His first pass fell incomplete, while the second one was caught — only it was caught by Beau Brade for the Terps’ second interception of the contest.

With the ball back and the lead in hand, Maryland finished the game out on the legs of Edwards and Hemby, and Edwards iced the game with a 32-yard scamper into Wildcats territory. A couple of kneel downs ran the clock to zero, and the Terps sent the homecoming crowd home happy.

Maryland now moves to 6-2 with an open week ahead on the schedule. With four games to play, the Terps are facing the prospects of a potential ten-win season, which would be the first since 2003 when they defeated West Virginia 41-7 in the Gator Bowl.

“[becoming bowl eligible] is significant for our psyche to get that part, it is one of the first goals that we create year in and year out,” Locksley said. Hopefully that’s the foundation of what we do, is every year to be a bowl eligible team.”