Maryland football rides complete team effort to second bowl in as many years

To start 2022, Maryland had an embarrassment of riches at the wide receiver position. Led by  Rakim Jarrett, Dontay Demus Jr., Jacob Copeland and Jeshaun Jones, the Terps’ wideouts were expected to be a major strength for an offense looking to take another step forward.

That foursome combined for 1558 total yards and ten touchdowns in the regular season, as quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa often relied on a combination of the group — along with tight ends Corey Dyches and CJ Dippre — to move the ball through the air.

But, entering the Duke’s Mayo Bowl matchup with NC State, Jarrett, Demus and Copeland all declared for the 2023 NFL Draft and elected to forgo the game. Dippre also departed, entering the transfer portal, opting to join Alabama in 2023. That left a relatively unproven trio — Tai Felton, Octavian Smith Jr. and Shaleak Knotts — to make up for the loss in production alongside Jones and Dyches. 

Coming into the bowl game, the trio had accounted for 37 career catches and 421 yards, as a crowded depth chart kept opportunities few and far between. When it finally came time to contribute in a larger fashion, they were up to the call.

Felton led the way amongst the group yardage-wise, hauling in four catches, good for 69 yards. Meanwhile, Smith made a highlight-worthy grab in the corner of the end zone to score the first touchdown of the day for the Terps. He finished with three total catches to go with 34 yards. Smith also handled kickoff return duties, chalking up 73 yards on three returns. Knotts even contributed in the contest, recording one catch for 18 yards.

“I just love to see the young guys get their opportunity,” Jones said. “I was kind of a little nervous about it, just cause it’s a big moment and if you haven’t played and you get thrown into a bowl game and you’re riding eight wins; eight wins is on the line, it’s huge. They played their hearts out, that’s what kind of guys we have in our room.”

Meanwhile, Jones paced the entire receiver group, catching four passes for 79 yards alongside mainly handling punt return duties. With eligibility remaining in his college career, there is a possibility Jones could return to lead this now less-experienced position group. Dyches also returns as the top option at tight end, and with four grabs for 45 yards against NC State, should fill that role with relative ease. 

While the Terps will deal with a lot of overturn when it comes to familiar faces on the starting offense, Friday’s bowl appearance provides a look into just how Maryland’s younger receivers could pick up the slack and not miss a beat.

Defensive Command

As Maryland battled through what was a slugfest for most of the game, its defense kept the Wolfpack at bay seemingly every time they tried to get something going. NC State mustered just 296 total yards of offense and never found the end zone — for just the second time this season.

Leading the charge was the linebacking duo of Jaishawn Barham and Ruben Hypolitte, who combined for 10 total tackles while policing the middle of the field all day. The Terps’ defensive front kept Wolfpack quarterback Ben Finley off-balance all day, often hurrying throws and forcing quick decisions.

Maryland’s secondary also helped to stifle NC State, holding Finley to just a 46% completion percentage, as well as a pair of interceptions that bookened his performance. Jakorian Bennett took home MVP honors with his game-sealing interception, as the Terps’ defense answered the call time-and-time again to bring home the victory.

“Those dudes played their butts off,” coach Mike Locksley said. “We put them in some tough situations today with short fields and we oftentimes talk about holding them to field goals; holding them to field goals saved the day because we weren’t as clean as we needed to be on offense.”

Extra Points

When Chad Ryland transferred to Maryland from Eastern Michigan in February, he was tasked with improving the Terps ability to score on special teams. Replacing Joseph Petrino, who converted just 65% of his field goals in 2021. Ryland made 19-23 field goals, including half of his attempts from longer than 50 yards. 

In a tight, defensive affair, Ryland came up more important than ever, making three kicks to keep NC State from regaining the lead after they opened the game with a field goal.

Ryland’s last make — a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter — pulled the Terps back ahead by four and ultimately made the lead insurmountable. When Ryland joined Locksley and the Terps after his time as an Eagle, he came for moments like that one.

 “At the end of the day, I’m always in the mindset that I’m going to have to hit a ball at the end of the game to seal the deal,” Ryland said. “I’m more than prepared to do that with the guys we have. Special teams was a strong point of our game today and I think it certainly impacted the final result.”