The excitement is starting to build in College Park with the Purdue Boilermakers coming to town on Saturday afternoon to take on Maryland in a critical Big Ten matchup.
With each early-season victory, the stakes get higher for head coach Mike Locksley’s crew, as he continues to lead them toward respectability and what will hopefully be national relevance in the days and years ahead.
The Terrapins are looking to get out to their first 5-1 start since 2013 when Drake dropped, “Started From the Bottom.”
And I think Locksley would like nothing better than a string of victories in the upcoming games against Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern and Wisconsin, allowing the Terps to have an 8-1 record walking into the Nov. 12 matchup against 10th ranked Penn State. Then he could really scream, “Started from the bottom now we’re here!”
The mood right now is markedly different from last year, when the Terps got out to a 4-0 start before Iowa and Ohio State obliterated them by a combined 86 points.
The reason for the present optimism appeared on Sept. 24, in their 34-27 loss to No. 4 Michigan at The Big House in Ann Arbor.
The Terps trailed 17-14 at halftime and looked to have a legitimate shot at beating a Top 5 team for the first time since Jamie Foxx channeled Ray Charles back in 2004.
If it weren’t for Wolverines running back Blake Corum — who played his high school ball at St. Frances here in Baltimore — and his career-high 243 rushing yards, and Terps quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa struggling through knee and rib injuries while throwing two interceptions, the Terps could be sitting pretty right now with an undefeated record.
“I think we took a step forward in terms of getting it to where we said we needed to get the game — into a fourth-quarter opportunity for us,” Locksley said after the loss. “And we did that. But we didn’t make the plays when the plays were there to be made.”
The Terps won’t say so, but it was a moral victory that proved that the construction of the football program is moving forward and the wide gap that once separated them from the Big Ten’s elite is narrowing.
But there’s still a lot to prove in the days ahead, starting on Saturday against the Boilermakers.
Tagovailoa looked crisp once again last week in the 27-13 win over Michigan State, completing 32 of his 41 passing attempts for 314 yards and a touchdown. He’s off to a sizzling start, completing 75.5% of his passes for 1,416 yards and eight touchdowns, and moved past Boomer Esiason for third place on Maryland’s career list in passing yards.
And he’s spreading the ball around in ways that keeps defenses on their heels, with five players in the double-digit reception category.
Jacob Copeland, Jeshaun Jones, Rakim Jarrett and tight end Corey Dyches all have more than 200 receiving yards and the redshirt freshman running back, John Carroll alum Roman Hemby, has been a dual-threat revelation with 369 rushing yards and 137 receiving yards. His backfield partner Antwain Littleton II is no slouch either; he leads the nation with having a rushing touchdown in six consecutive games.
Purdue turned some heads last week with their upset of No. 21 Minnesota, which had beaten its previous four opponents by a combined score of 183-24. Last year, the Boilermakers took down No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Michigan State.
Their main offensive weapon is senior receiver Charlie Jones. A minor role player in previous seasons, Jones leads the team with 47 receptions for 588 yards and seven touchdowns. The running back twosome of Devin Mockobee and Dylan Downing, who have combined to rush for 485 yards and six scores, must also be accounted for.
Look for the offensive fireworks to be on full display in this matchup. Last week, the Maryland defense looked formidable, holding Michigan State scoreless and limiting them to a mere 75 yards of offense in the second half.
And as we all know, the Terps boast the most explosive Big Ten offense this side of Ohio State. In addition to the aerial firepower, Maryland exerted some pronounced muscularity on the ground last week, punishing Michigan State to the tune of 175 rushing yards.
Maryland walks into this game with a swagger. The Terps are averaging 35 points per game and close to 500 yards of offense.
If the defense, led by defensive back Beau Brade, the 2019 Howard County defensive player of the year out of River Hill, and linebackers Jaishawn Barham (of St. Frances in Baltimore) and Ahmad McCullough can look as good as they did last week in the second half against Michigan State, Locksley’s fourth season in College Park could be off to the breakthrough year that Terps fans have been waiting for.
