Maryland mounts 14-point fourth quarter comeback to beat USC in thriller

COLLEGE PARK — Southern California and Maryland met Saturday for the first time in football and as Big Ten members. But if you didn’t know any better, it was as if an old Pac-12 after-dark game broke out.

Unexpected twists and turns developed under the lights after halftime as Maryland mounted a two-touchdown comeback in the fourth quarter, capped by Billy Edwards Jr.’s 3-yard rushing score, as the Terrapins beat the Trojans 29-28 to set off a raucous scene at SECU Stadium.

“Lot of distractions, lot of things took place the last few weeks, and this team kept believing and stuck together,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “I think what you all saw was this team grow right before your eyes.”

Edwards had a career day with 373 yards passing, while throwing two touchdowns and an interception. USC quarterback Miller Moss was equally brilliant, passing for 336 yards with three scores and a pick. Maryland (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) snapped a two-game losing streak and got its first conference win of the season after an embarrassing loss last Friday to Northwestern, one that has the potential to shift the narrative around their season.

“I think definitely some of the older guys on the team, I think that’s what we want it to be,” Edwards said. “I think this was a turning point for a lot of guys, a lot of younger guys, a lot of saplings, as coach Locks told us throughout the week, that got a chance to play. And they matured.”

Cracks started to appear in the Trojans’ foundation after halftime, with Moss throwing an interception to Lavain Scruggs that started to shift the sands. It led to two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including the decider, which came after a field goal block by Donnell Brown with the Trojans trying to go up 9 with 2:56 left that Maryland advanced to the USC 47.

Edwards then only needed 53 seconds to direct the Terrapins to victory. He found Roman Hemby twice on screens and got a pass interference call after Tai Felton broke free inside the 10 before he danced untouched up the middle into the end zone.

“The biggest thing in that final drive, I just tried to continue to do what I did the whole game, remain calm,” Edwards said. “Obviously, the crowd, the fans, did a great job, they got into it. Defense made a play, had the blocked field goal. So the biggest thing for me was just, try to continue what I did the whole game.”

USC’s last-gasp pass on fourth down at the Maryland 40 was broken up by linebacker Caleb Wheatland, setting off a wild celebration with students storming the field as the lights flashed to cap a homecoming to remember.

“I was amazed, and I was shocked,” Brown said. “I saw my brother out there. It was just like, it was random, too. I just saw my brother randomly and then gave him a hug, and all the fans had asked for pictures and stuff. So it was an exciting day.”

The top two conference teams in passing attempts lived up to their numbers, with only 138 rushing yards among the 847 combined on the day. Maryland running backs only touched the ball three times in the first half and 12 times overall, part of an adjustment Locksley has made in his second week as play-caller to help buttress offensive line struggles.

“They played man coverage 90% of the game … the RPO game and the tags, or add-ons, allow us to not just let people load up in the box, and then all of a sudden, we’re getting tacked cause they’ve got more guys,” Locksley said.

USC (3-4, 1-4) has lost four of its last five games after being ranked in the preseason top 25 and is still winless on the road in the conference.

“To do it in the fashion that we did against the opponent that we did it with how the season’s gone up until this point, and the fans that stuck around and were loud and played a really vital role there in that fourth quarter, it was just a great feeling,” Edwards said, “just knowing kind of all the hard stuff that we had to go through to get to this point.”

Maryland was headed for a scoreless first quarter and holding USC without points after a missed 52-yard field goal, but an illegal substitution penalty let Lincoln Riley put his offense back out on the field.

On fourth and 2, Moss hit tight end Lake McCree on a play-action pass for 8 yards and a first down. On the next play, he delivered a rainbow fade to the left corner reeled in by Hudson for a 26-yard score and the game’s first points as the first quarter expired.

Maryland’s immediate answer looked nearly identical.

Maryland receiver Kaden Prather — who posted career highs in catches (9) and yards (111) — caught two balls for chunk plays on the next drive to get the Terrapins into USC territory.

Edwards then replicated Moss’ feat, finding Octavian Smith Jr. on a left corner fade of his own from 16 yards away to tie the game at 7.

USC responded as Ja’Kobi Lane hauled in a one-handed touchdown catch on his outside shoulder on the next drive with Maryland defensive back Perry Fisher draped all over him to put the Trojans back up 14-7.

After Maryland had the chance to take advantage of Locksley’s “middle eight” philosophy, the Terrapins — as they did twice last week against Northwestern — went three-and-out with less than 2 minutes to go until halftime.

USC capitalized, needing only four plays to score after an illegal hands to the face penalty on Maryland’s punt team gave an extra 15 yard boost. Running back Woody Marks barreled in from the 5 to put the Trojans up 21-7 at halftime. A frantic Terrapins effort in the final 20 seconds that had moved the ball to the USC 27 ended with a high snap over Edwards’ head recovered by the Trojans.

“In the locker room … Dante Trader and Tai Felton the whole time were talking pretty much the whole time in the locker room just saying, ’We got nothing to lose,’” Edwards said.

Maryland came back out and played like it.

On USC’s first drive of the second half the Terrapins finally caught a wave, courtesy of the Scruggs game-changing interception at the Trojans’ 31. His 51-yard return provided one of the most palpable momentum shifts in Maryland’s favor in recent memory.

“Those are the plays that we haven’t had go our way. Lavain made a big play,” Locksley said. “He’s one of those guys that I talk about growing up. He’s growing up, man. He’s growing up. We needed that play.”

Edwards capitalized immediately, hitting Tai Felton for an 18-yard pass over the middle as he dragged defenders into the end zone for a touchdown, his sixth of the season, to cut USC’s lead to 21-14.

Suddenly buoyed after a USC three-and-out, Maryland marched inside the USC 5. But on fourth down, Edwards was intercepted for only the third time this season in the end zone by Jaylin Smith.

“I told Billy when he threw the interception in the end zone, they’re going to give us this ball back and we’re going to get another shot,” Locksley said.

The Trojans responded with a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters. From the Maryland 26, Moss stepped up in the pocket and found a wide-open Duce Robinson at the 12, and Robinson did the rest, dragging three Maryland defenders into the end zone for a touchdown and a 28-14 lead.

Yet Maryland, again, had an answer. A 10-play drive of their own with a fourth down conversion by Roman Hemby on a wheel route reception culminated with Hemby rushing it in from 10 yards away, stretching at the goal line to get the ball in for the score. Locksley decided to go for two, with Edwards finding Prather on a falling-down slant for the conversion. Two drives later, Brown got the block, Edwards the score, and the Terps a season-changing victory.

“We’re playing to win the game against a really good team,” Locksley said. “And I told my team that we were pushing the chips into the middle of the table, that we weren’t going to earn it, we were going to take it.”