Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Andrew Lang
College Park, MD–
Just when you thought the Terps were almost dead when they were down 28-14, one of the biggest rallies in years at SECU field found the Terps on the right side of a 29-28 comeback victory.
Maryland cut the lead to six with just under 10 minutes to go, but USC had a great chance to close the game out when Terrapins QB Billy Edwards was sacked on a fourth down with less than three minutes to go.
Edwards finished the game 39-of-50 for a career-high 373 yards and three total touchdowns. It was his second career 300-yard passing performance, and he also set a career-high for completions, the third-most in a game in Maryland history. His 12 straight pass completions in the first half also marked the longest streak of his career.
The Terps showed some of their best defense of the game with less than 1:00 remaining when USC threatened to score and they came up big again.
USC still had 53 seconds remaining for a game-winning field-goal attempt and quickly got across midfield. But the drive stalled after that and Miller Moss’ fourth-down pass to Woody Marks was broken up when Marks got hit as he caught the ball.
The victory tonight sends the Terps to 4-3 on the season and keeps them heading toward bowl eligible and giving them some confidence about the remainder of their Big Ten schedule.
“This team just kept believing and stuck together, really proud of the group,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “They played through adversity. I tell people around here. … We either earn it or take it, and this was one of those take it games. We came in saying we’re going to be aggressive. We came in saying that we were pushing all of our chips to the middle of the table to get a win. … Wins like this have become our expectation.”
Looking forward… The Terps will have another huge test on the road in a few weeks when they take on what could be the No. 1 Oregon Ducks on the road. Proving that the Big Ten is no joke this season.