Maryland football showed it can battle adversity against Charlotte

Maryland football had an abysmal start in its game against Charlotte last Saturday. But the Terps proved they are capable of battling adversity.

The Terps defeated the 49ers, 38-20, but the final score didn’t capture Maryland’s first-half struggles. Busted coverages, dropped passes, turnovers and penalties limited the Terps from playing four quarters of clean football.

Coach Michael Locksley wasn’t happy with his team’s performance and expressed his dissatisfaction after the game. 

“Didn’t meet the standard today,” Locksley said. “You know, our standard is to start fast and finish strong. We didn’t do either one of those two things, and we’re still able to come away with a pretty good win. And so for us, nobody in the locker room was excited about how we played.”

Charlotte received the ball first and opted to keep the ball on the ground for the first four plays. Then on just the fifth play of the game, senior quarterback Jalon Jones rolled out left before uncorking a 48-yard strike down the sideline resulting in a touchdown.

The receiver was left wide open as defensive backs Ja’Quan Sheppard and Dante Trader Jr. appeared to have a miscommunication. But the worst was yet to come.

On the ensuing kickoff, the kick was muffed by the Terps on their own five yard line and nearly recovered by Charlotte. But now the offense had its chance to march down the field and tie the game up.

Redshirt senior quarterback Taulia Tagovalioa lined up in an empty formation for the offense’s first play at the 13-yard line. The quarterback took the snap and stared down his target without seeing the 49er linebacker floating in the underneath flat.

Tagovalioa fired a pass intended for redshirt sophomore running back Roman Hemby. It was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Charlotte led 14-0 just three minutes into the game.

Maryland’s next two offensive possessions resulted in three and outs. The Terps’ passing game didn’t record a positive play until the last play of the first quarter. 

Maryland’s offense managed three scoring drives in the second quarter each resulting in a field goal, but still entered halftime down 14-9. The Terps were playing down to their competition, but Locksley and his team remained unfazed. 

“I saw leadership on the sidelines,” Locksley said. “I didn’t see panic. We oftentimes talk about not playing to a scoreboard. I don’t think I saw anybody look at the scoreboard with the ‘oh, here we go again’ look that I’ve seen around here.” 

Maryland’s offense proceeded to score four straight touchdowns and 38 unanswered points. It scored 21 points in the fourth quarter alone. 

The biggest factor in Maryland’s comeback was Hemby and his career day. He was held to nine yards rushing and an inefficient 2.2 yards per carry in the first half. He finished the game with 163 yards on the ground and added a rushing touchdown.

Hemby was also the Terps’ second leading receiver on the night. He finished with 217 total yards, the most of his career. 

The Terps didn’t play four full quarters of clean football, but they proved they can battle adversity. 

“I think that’s when we need to be together the most,” Hemby said. “I feel like we were brought together by the adversity we faced. And I feel like, you know, those are the things that help us to build chemistry and how we work day and night to build that type of chemistry.”