Desperate situations call for risky gambles. Maryland football’s venture paid off in Saturday evening’s 29-28 victory over visiting Southern California at SECU Stadium.
After redshirt junior Roman Hemby’s 10-yard touchdown run drew the Terps within 28-20 with 10:02 left in the fourth quarter, coach Mike Locksley opted to attempt a 2-point conversion rather than settle for an extra point. The offense validated his decision when redshirt junior quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. found senior wide receiver Kaden Prather on a quick slant for the conversion.
That choice proved fateful as Maryland (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) needed only a 3-yard touchdown run by Edwards Jr. and an extra point by redshirt junior Jack Howes to assume the 29-28 lead with 53 seconds remaining that would end up being the final score. After the game, Locksley said going for the 2-point conversion was part of a strategy to win the game in regulation.
“I told my team that we were pushing our chips into the middle of the table,” he said. “We weren’t going to earn it, we were going to take it. The analytics tell you to go for two, but you also have to look at where you are and look at the momentum of it. We had a good play called. It’s a play we thought had an opportunity, and we knew that if we got that play, we could win the game in regulation, which was what the plan was. It executed itself out.”
Here are three observations from Saturday night’s win against the Trojans (3-4, 1-4).
Billy Edwards Jr.’s psychological gifts match his physical ones
While throwing for a career-high 373 yards and two touchdowns and scoring the game-winning touchdown on the ground, Edwards Jr. was also responsible for one fumble and one interception.
The fumble might have been particularly grating because the offense had marched to the Trojans’ 27-yard line before the usually sure-handed quarterback let the shotgun snap bounce off his hands and redshirt senior defensive end Solomon Tuliaupupu recovered the loose ball at the 40 with five seconds left before halftime. That miscue killed an opportunity to make a dent in USC’s 21-7 advantage, but Edwards Jr. was hardly flustered.
“I really try to do a good job of being in the middle ground as I say,” he said. “I try not to have too much emotion on the drive until we score or I know that I’m getting off the field for that drive. Once we got to the fourth quarter and the stadium was loud and people were standing up and the defense was making plays and blocking a field goal, the biggest thing for me as the leader of the offense was just trying to stay mentally in that middle ground.”
Edwards Jr. was a catalyst in the second half, launching 25 of his 50 throws to combat a Trojans defense that primarily showed man coverage. That outing included getting intercepted by senior cornerback Jaylin Smith in the end zone with 2:51 left in the third quarter, but Locksley praised the quarterback for remaining even-keeled.
“I told Billy when he threw the interception in the end zone, I said, ‘They’re going to give us this ball back, and we’re going to get another shot. I need you to release that play and get yourself ready to make the next play,’” Locksley said. “So it was great to see him finish the [game-winning] drive. Hell of a job on that last play with that zone-read pull. Billy did a great job. Threw it a little bit more than I would expect or would want him to, but really played at a high level today.”
The oft-criticized defense showed life in the second half
In its three previous losses to Big Ten opponents, Maryland had surrendered an average of 35.3 points and 425.7 yards. By halftime, the defense appeared to be generous once again.
At the intermission, USC had produced 239 yards en route to building a 21-7 advantage. That offense had seven pass plays of at least 15 yards and two rush plays of 10 yards or more.
Everything flipped in the second half. The Terps gave up only 178 yards and 11 first downs, and the Trojans were limited to a total of three big plays (two passes and one run).
And redshirt sophomore safety Lavain Scruggs, a Baltimore resident and Archbishop Spalding graduate making his second consecutive start for injured senior Dante Trader Jr. (McDonogh), intercepted redshirt junior quarterback Miller Moss’ pass and returned it 51 yards to USC’s 18. On the next play, Maryland capitalized with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Edwards Jr. to senior wide receiver Tai Felton.
Junior inside linebacker Caleb Wheatland, who tied fifth-year senior inside linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II for the team lead in tackles with seven, summarized the defensive performance as simple execution.
“We were working on that all week,” said Wheatland, who also had the key breakup that ended the Trojans’ final drive. “We’re trying to build our confidence throughout the week and just understanding that we’re working out there together and staying poised to just go out there and execute.”
Senior outside linebacker Donnell Brown, who blocked a 41-yard field-goal attempt that led to the Terps’ game-winning touchdown, didn’t consider the notion that the showing against USC was vindication for the defense.
“I think for us, it’s just about being stout and executing,” he said. “Some plays in the first half, we didn’t really execute that well, and I think we revisited those plays in the second half, and we did learn from our mistakes. That’s just executing. It’s about, are their players better than ours, and can they execute better than we can? We executed better than they did in the second half. So give it up to the guys for that and the coaches.”
Could this be the kick-start Maryland needs?
When students and fans stormed the field inside SECU Stadium to celebrate the victory, it almost seemed like overkill. The Trojans were unranked and had lost three of their last four games prior to Saturday. So the outcome wasn’t on par with Vanderbilt taking down Alabama or Northern Illinois stunning Notre Dame.
But Edwards Jr. said the players view the win as a potential turning point.
“For some of the older guys on the team, that’s what we want it to be,” he said. “We obviously did a lot of good things, but there’s so much stuff offensively, especially with my play and my role in the game, that I can learn from. We all think of it as that, and now we’ve got to do the work.”
The result elicited an unapologetic tone from Locksley, who has been the target of considerable disapproval when the Terps dropped winnable games against Michigan State on Sept. 7 and Northwestern on Oct. 11. He defended himself and his team again after the game.
“I’ve got the support of my bosses that understand what we’re doing,” he said. “Not everybody understands what we’re doing and what we’re building. And everybody’s transactional. It’s disappointing that every week, you’ve got to come up here and defend yourself or defend your team. Understand this: we’ve got a good team. We recruited well, and our fanbase and our supporters can understand that we’re really close. Now ain’t the time to jump off. Now is the time to double down on Maryland football. It’s not just talk. I’m not saying we’ve arrived. I’m saying it’s time [to], let’s get out of the negative business about it and let’s buy in that we can win around here and we can win big, and I think today was a step in the right direction.”
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.