Maryland Football: Terps topple Towson

The Maryland football team picked up right where they left off on Saturday afternoon.

Quarterback Kasim Hill did not miss a beat after finishing the game in Austin last weekend, as he completed his first eight throws for 94 yards and two scores in the just the first quarter. He finished with 163 passing yards and 41 rushing during Maryland’s 63-17 win over Towson.

“He was 13-for-16,” coach D.J. Durkin said. “Very efficient. 163 yards [passing] I thought was really good. How the game was going got us out of some few things in terms of throwing the ball, but I thought he was really good.”

Running back Ty Johnson also showed no signs of slowing down as he recorded his fourth straight game with over 100 yards on the ground. In doing so , he became the fourth Maryland player to ever do so.

He broke off touchdown runs of 74 and 46 yards, both of which came on the first play of their respective drives.

Towson quarterback Ryan Stover had success dumping the ball off late and scrambling, but that was mostly all the Tigers had. Maryland’s coverage and run defense forced the Tigers to seven punts and just 17 points.

Durkin felt like the team lost their sense of urgency once they went up 21-0, but they flipped the script in the second half. Maryland’s defense allowed just six yards in the third quarter, which essentially decimated any hopes Towson had of a comeback.

“I did get on the defense a couple times. There are times when our communication wasn’t where it needs to be and there’s a lack of focus a little. We went up 21-0, we were playing a certain way and then we lost our urgency to do what we need to do. If you don’t have urgency in communication, technique, and where your eyes are, you can’t effectively play defense.”

With the loss of Tyrrell Pigrome to an ACL tear, Maryland did get to play the new second man in Max Bortenschlager. He finished with one completion for four yards, but had 29 yards rushing and one score. This showed he may have some hint of running talent.

Durkin still promotes the line that this team will “play the guys who help us win championships.” Particularly, the kicking role is still a competition.

On Saturday, Maryland used senior Henry Darmstadter for extra points instead of Adam Greene. Durkin noted “he banked one in, which is hard to do”, but that the kicking game might cause issues at some point, so they need to keep addressing it week by week.

Next: Maryland Soccer: Terps scrap for a draw

Maryland will take a bye next weekend. Their next game will be at home on September 23 when they host Central Florida.