Story By: Andrew Lang
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
They always say that Week 1 of a NCAA Football is about finding out who your team really is made of… knock off the rust and jitters and find what you are working with for the long term. Well, then what is Week 2?
This week might have as well been Week 1 for the Terps, as their offense really failed to wake up the entire game. Had NIU actually had some sort of a passing game, the Terps could have very easily been on the opposite side of a 20-9 victory over NIU tonight in College Park.
“We faced a good team tonight, but we didn’t make plays in critical moments,” said NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock following the game. “We went toe-to-toe with them as long as we could go. We have to learn keep our composure in those critical moments and make plays. I’m proud of how our guys competed and played. They fought for four quarters against a Big Ten opponent with a lot more resources and we showed we had a lot of heart. It’s something we can build off of.”
For the Terps, they really continued to struggle to find their identity behind Malik Washington. Sure, Malik has lots of potential as true freshman, but will he help this Terps team win in the Big Ten this season? If it is more of what we saw tonight, it could very well be a long season for Mike Locksley and his squad.
Maryland extended its non-conference winning streak to 17 games. The Terrapins had 340 yards of total offense to NIU’s 271. The Huskies were 7-for-20 on third down and 4-for-6 on fourth down. Washington threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Daniel Wingate led all players with 14 tackles.
Maryland basically ended this game late with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Knotts opened a 20-9 Maryland lead midway through the 4th quarter.
NIU missed a 59-yard field goal in the closing seconds to end the game. Prior to this kick, NIU’s kickers longest career field goal stood at 39 yards. The kick was way short.
Next up for the Terps.. Towson on September 12th at NOON. Let’s hope they can improve to 3-0 before Big Ten play opens in just over 2 weeks.
