The Maryland rushing attack stomped all over the Northwestern defense when needed.
Down by seven entering the second half, Maryland used the ground game — specifically redshirt freshman Roman Hemby — to pull away from the Wildcats and secure the 31-24 win.
The Terps ran for 257 yards — 179 from Hemby. Hemby scored all three rushing touchdowns, as he led the rushing charge every which way.
Hemby’s yardage and touchdown totals, alongside his 24 carries, all set career-highs.
It was Hemby’s 75-yard rush with just over three minutes left in the fourth quarter that capped off the scoring, but Hemby left his imprint on the game well beforehand.
The first half was quiet for the Maryland offense in general, but especially for Hemby and the rest of the rushing attack. Hemby ran for just 25 yards — 14 of which came on one play, his first touchdown of the day — and the Terps as a unit ran for 69.
Part of that could be chalked to the fact that Maryland played without its usual cohesion on the offensive line.
Normal starter at left guard, Mason Lunsford, did not start. As a result, Spencer Anderson shifted over to left guard from his regular right guard position. Johari Branch started at right guard, despite spending most of the season at center. Freshman Coltin Deery made his first career start at center, instead of Branch.
“They bust their butt every day in practice to make sure that they block as well as they can for us,” Hemby said. “They worked really hard to make sure they opened up holes for us and get to that second level.”
In the second half is when everything clicked on the ground for the Terps.
“I feel we [got] in the swing of things and found our groove and we knew that running the ball was going to be very important to get the win,” Hemby said.
After Dante Trader came away with a timely interception on the opening drive of the half, Maryland drove down methodically, trailing by a touchdown. The Terps ran the ball five out of eight times on the drive that ended with Hemby once again.
All but 13 of Maryland’s yards on that drive came on the ground, and it was capped off with a Hemby 18-yard score as he ran right through the heart of the Northwestern defense.
Maryland ended the third with 133 yards on the ground — 67 from Hemby. The Maryland passing attack racked up only 157 yards, as the Terps’ offense displayed a true balance through the first three quarters.
Then, Hemby took over when needed in the fourth.
Hemby ran for 30 yards alone on the Terps’ opening drive of the quarter, putting his yardage total three yards shy of 100.
When Maryland missed a field goal on that drive, Northwestern scored in just three minutes on its ensuing chance, tying the score at 24 with 3:34 left.
Maryland’s offense had to go on a game-winning drive, and that’s exactly what happened.
On the very first play, Hemby got good blocking from his offensive line as he found a hole to his left. Hemby hit the hole sharply, made a defender miss near the first down mark, and all he saw was green grass in front of him.
A good block from wideout Jeshaun Jones gave Hemby an open field to run with, and he outran two defenders before diving into the endzone for a 75-yard touchdown — the longest rush of his career.
Instantly, Maryland was back on top, 31-24.
Defensive back Beau Brade sealed the win with an interception, as the Terps found themselves victorious in their Homecoming game.
Hemby ran for 112 of Maryland’s 124 yards when it mattered in the biggest quarter of the game. In the fourth, all but two of the designed run calls went to Hemby.
Even though Hemby had the game of his life, he wasn’t alone in the rushing crew.
Quarterback Billy Edwards ran for 66 yards himself, performing admirably in the spot of usual starter Taulia Tagovailoa, who did not suit up with a knee injury.
“[On] a lot of RPOs they just sat there and it didn’t really give me many throw reads, and it obviously makes your job a lot easier when you[‘ve] got the offensive line and Roman today, feeding the hot hand, he was on fire,” Edwards said.
Fellow backfield-mates Colby McDonald and Roman Brown combined for 19 yards.
But at the end of the day, Hemby led the rushing attack that controlled the Maryland offense — especially in the fourth quarter — and marked a new season-high in yards on the ground.
“It wasn’t pretty, but down the stretch when we needed a big play we were able to get it done, and that’s something we can’t look past as an offense and as a team,” Hemby said.
