After bye, Maryland faces needed win against Northwestern on path to another bowl

The first of two bye weeks this season has given Maryland a reset while also laying bare the program’s narrowing path to a fourth-straight bowl game.

Set aside the aspirational expectations coach Mike Locksley has spoken of for his program — Big Ten titles and the like. With thinner margins in a strengthened and expanded conference, along with Maryland’s struggle to limit penalties, Friday night’s home game with Northwestern is now key to bowl eligibility.

“Our past doesn’t dictate what happens moving forward,” Locksley said. “We’ve had some seasons around here where we’ve been a little further ahead at this point, and then what I call the middle eight of our season, which is the middle part, we’ve struggled.”

Maryland comes off a 42-28 loss at Indiana on Sept. 28 with more than just bruised pride. Receivers Tai Felton and Kaden Prather along with safety Dante Trader Jr. all sustained unspecified injuries in the game. Felton, the conference’s leader in receptions and yards receiving, was held to a season-low in both (5 catches, 38 yards) against the Hoosiers.

“I think that just, it pushes us even more,” said quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. “To want to go back out there and correct the things we’ve had mistakes on up until this point. And then also know that we had to wait two weeks to get another opportunity to go out and get this taste out of our mouth.”

Locksley disclosed one of the three injured players had a procedure, but didn’t specify what or whom that was. He expects two of the three to be ready against the Wildcats, again not identifying which two.

“Two of the three have practiced. We have two days left of preparation this week where we’ll see how the one that hasn’t practiced how he manages it. It’s hard to say he’s out yet,” Locksley said.

The Terrapins continue to tally defensive superlatives and stats, with its plus-11 turnover margin leading both the Big Ten and all Power Four teams. Maryland created four turnovers against Indiana — three of them coming in the first half — yet they yielded nothing, with all four resulting in three-and-outs for the Terrapins.

“Everything’s been on us, man. It’s nothing schematically-wise that we can change,” linebacker Kellan Wyatt said. “All we can do is continue to play hard, play our style of football.”

Maryland (3-2, 0-2) and Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) are two of four Big Ten programs, along with Purdue and UCLA, yet to record a conference win. After the Wildcats, the Terrapins’ final six games include four teams that were Top-25 ranked in the preseason. Two of them, No. 3 Oregon and No. 4 Penn State, still are and are on the road. 

All of that adds up to an early must-win scenario at SECU Stadium for Maryland’s postseason hopes to realistically remain alive.

“What I’ve told our team is that our past doesn’t dictate our future,” Locksley said, “and what we’ve got to do is grab every opportunity that we have available to us.”

The game marks the fifth straight season Maryland’s played on a Friday night. Locksley has never been a fan of the time slot, which takes time away from being able to be on the recruiting trail at high school games those evenings, though his Terrapins are 4-1 in their last five such contests.