Story By: Andrew Lang
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
Anytime you have a chance to shine under the Friday Night Lights, you certainly want to put possibly your best performance of the season on the field, that is the exact opposite of what the Terps did tonight in College Park with a deflating 37-10 loss to Northwestern.
Tonight was game of turnovers that really ended the Terps night early.
Billy Edwards Jr. rushed for a touchdown for Maryland (3-3, 0-3), which committed a season-high four turnovers. The Terrapins dropped their 10th consecutive game after an open date, a streak that dates to 2017 and includes a pair of defeats after pandemic cancellations in 2020.
While there were some videos that showed the stadium half empty by the second half, the Terps actually were still in this game until the fourth quarter and another turnover when Billy Edwards was hit by Northwestern DT Carmine Bastone, who scooped up the ball at the 2-yard line and ran in for another Northwestern touchdown.
The big question after the game is how can the Terps turn around a 0-3 start in the Big Ten with huge game against USC next weekend? This is the first time since 2015 that the Terps have started with a 0-3 record in the conference play and that was well before the remainder of the schedule looked as tough as it does.
“Really tough one for me to stomach,” Terps Head Coach Mike Locksley said. “We’re here to build this team to compete, to win championships. Nobody ever said it would be linear. Today, we took a step back, and we’re going to find a way to turn this frustration into something positive and productive.”
Prior to Friday’s game, the Terps led all power conference teams with a +11-turnover margin. Against Northwestern, they lost the turnover battle, 4-0.
Other notables from this game included Northwestern not putting up huge offensive numbers accumulating just 283 total yards, the mistakes cost the game.