Game 4: Maryland vs. Villanova Preview

football
17.09.2024 10:30:00

Maryland (2-1, 0-1 B1G) Comparisons Villanova (3-0, 1-0 CAA)

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland will play its final nonconference game of the season when it hosts the Villanova Wildcats at SECU Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21. The game is scheduled to begin at noon and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and Maryland Sports Radio Network. Maryland will host Family Weekend and the Mental Health Awareness Game.

Success outside the conference

• The Terps have won 14 consecutive games against non-conference opponentsthe second longest series in the country (Georgia-24). Under head coach Michael LocksleyThe Terps are 16-1 in nonconference play with wins over Virginia Tech, West Virginia, #23 NC State, #21 Syracuse, Virginia (twice) and Auburn. This is the longest such streak for Maryland in the last 40 years.
• In the Locksley era (2019-present), Maryland ranks fifth in the nation in nonconference play, averaging 41.5 points per game, trailing only Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma and LSU. The Terps have scored over 30 points in 14 of 17 nonconference games under Locksley.
• Maryland's six consecutive wins by at least 14 points against non-conference opponents are also the second-longest active winning streak in the FBS (Tennessee-11). The Terps have not committed more than two turnovers in any of their last 23 non-conference games. The only FBS teams with longer active winning streaks of this kind are LSU (29) and Ohio State (26).
• Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Maryland has gone 7-0 against FCS teams, with each win coming by at least 29 points. In those seven games, the Terps averaged 56.6 points per game and allowed just 9.1 points per game.

Maryland's 43-point victory over UConn in the season opener was the school's largest win in a season opener against an FBS school since Division I earned two awards in 1978.

Series History – Villanova

• The Terps are 9-2 overall against Villanova and have won the last nine meetings. The teams have not met since 2007.
• In that 2007 game, Keon Lattimore ran for 106 yards and three touchdowns, Jordan Steffy played exceptionally well in his first start as Maryland's quarterback, and the Terrapins crushed Villanova with a 31-14 win on Saturday night.

Maryland has a 7-0 record against FCS teams since joining the Big Ten.

Great Tai

• Senior WR Tai Felton has had a brilliant start to this season, posting statistics of 7-178-2 (UConn), 11-152-1 (Michigan State) and 9-117-1 (Virginia) in the first three games.
• Felton is the First player in Maryland program history to gain over 100 yards in each of his team's first three games a season. Additionally, he is one of only eight Big Ten players since 1996 to accomplish the feat and one of three FBS players to do so this season (Colorado's Travis Hunter and Ole Miss' Tre Harris).
• Felton ranks in the top five nationally in several key statistical categories. He ranks third in receiving yards (447), fourth in receptions (27) and third in receiving touchdowns (four). All of these numbers rank first in the Big Ten.
• Felton scored his fourth touchdown of the season with a 19-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter against Virginia. With four touchdown receptions in three games, he has the most for a Terp during that span since DJ Moore also had four in 2017. He is also the first Terp to have at least one touchdown reception in each of the first three games of a season since Tyler Mabry did so in 2019.
• Felton is the second Big Ten player this century to record at least 25 pass catches, 400 receiving yards and four TD catches in his team's first three games of the season (Purdue's Charlie Jones in 2022).

The Ashburn, VA native ranks 10th all-time on Maryland's career touchdown list with 12 touchdowns.

Dominating the battle for sales

• Through three games, Maryland leads the nation in sales margin (+9). The Terps have recorded six interceptions and four fumble recoveries and have lost the ball only once. That number is the most for the Terps since 1995 (+11) and the most by a Big Ten team since 2016 (Ohio State, +10) through three games.
• Maryland has forced 3 or more turnovers in every game so far this season. This is the first time the team has done that since the first three games of the 1996 season. This is only the third time since 1996 that the Terps have had three or more consecutive games with multiple interceptions.
• Including the Music City Bowl, Maryland has forced at least three turnovers in four straight games, the longest such streak by an FBS team since Louisville had five straight turnovers during the 2022 season (Sept. 24-Oct. 29).
• Maryland's six interceptions came from Glendon Miller (two), Jalen Huskey (two), Dante Trader Jr. And Ruben Hyppolite II. That total is third-best among FBS teams and third-best in the Big Ten (Illinois). The six interceptions in three games are the most by a Maryland team since 2013.
• Maryland has multiple defensive interceptions in each of its first three games of a season for the first time since 1995. This is only the third time since 1996 that the Terps have had three or more consecutive games with multiple interceptions at any point in the season (2010, 2013). Maryland is one of three FBS teams with multiple defensive interceptions in all three games this season (San Jose State and California).
• The seven consecutive games in which the Terrapins have intercepted at least one pass is the third-longest active streak in the FBS (Oklahoma – 9, Charlotte – 8). The four consecutive games with multiple interceptions is the longest active streak of any FBS team.
• The Terps have also recovered four fumbles this season, one each by Glendon Miller, Quashon Fuller, Donnell Brown And Ricardo Cooper Jr. Kellan Wyatt is in the lead with two forced fumbles.
• With their six fumbles, the Terps ranked third in the nation and first in the Big Ten.
  

In total, 10 Several Terps have helped force a takeaway this season.

Billy Ball

• Redshirt Junior QB Billy Edwards Jr. has a 5-1 record in three seasons as a starter at Maryland, with wins over Northwestern, NC State, Auburn, UConn and Virginia. Virginia was Edwards' first road win as a starter.
• After three games, Edwards Jr. is the ninth-highest-rated quarterback in the nation, according to PFF. With an overall rating of 90.4, he is also the second-best quarterback in the Big Ten, behind only USC's Miller Moss.
• In 18 games as a Terp, he was responsible for a total of 20 touchdowns (10 rushing and 10 passing).
• Edwards Jr. is one of two FBS quarterbacks this season with a 70.0% or better completion rate on at least 100 passes, while also not throwing multiple interceptions. The other is Georgia Tech's Haynes King.
• The 2023 TransPerfect Music City Bowl MVP is the second Maryland QB in the last 30 seasons to record at least 500 passing yards and 50 net rushing yards in the team's first two games of the season. The other was CJ Brown in 2013.

Edwards Jr. has scored a total of eight touchdowns (six passing, two running) in two games this season.

Adjustments in the second half

• On Saturday, Maryland didn't allow Virginia in the second half, outscoring the Cavaliers 20-0. The Terps also dominated time of possession in the second half (21:39-8:21), outscoring the Cavaliers 250-82, allowing 168-58 and outscoring them 82-24. The Terrapins also scored 15 first downs in the half, 10 more than the Cavaliers' five. The Terps converted 50% of their third downs and even made 2 of 2 attempts on fourth down. Virginia converted just 14% of its third downs and made 0 of 1 attempts on fourth down.
• Defensive adjustments at halftime have become a trademark of the defensive coordinator Brian Williams. Since 2022, the Terps have allowed an average of just 9.38 points in the second half compared to 12.69 in the first. That 3.31-point difference ranks sixth among power conference teams.

The Terps held Virginia scoreless in the second half and won 27-13. It was the sixth time in the Locksley era that the Terps have held a second half against a power conference team.

Fast thugs

• RB Roman Hemby is one of only nine active FBS players to have over 1,000 scrimmage yards in each of the last two seasons. Only one other player from that group is in the Big Ten (Penn State's Nicholas Singleton).
• Notre Dame Transfer P Bryce McFerson has made an immediate impact for the Terps. His 46.7 punting average through three games ranks eighth among FBS punters and second best in the Big Ten (Purdue's Keelan Crimmins, 47.4). McFerson earned the Ray Guy Award as a Ray's 8 for his performances in all three weeks this season, making him the only punter in the nation to accomplish this.
• Redshirt senior defensive back Glendon Miller had an interception in each of the first two games of a season, giving him a streak of four consecutive games with an interception that stretches back to the final two games of the 2023 season. Miller is the first Terp with such a long streak since Lewis Sanders had interceptions in five consecutive games from September 2 to October 9, 1999.
  

With a win, the Terps would improve their record in September games over the past four seasons to 14-2.

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