CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Tai Felton continued his scorching pace with nine receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown and Billy Edwards Jr. threw for a TD and ran for another to help Maryland beat Virginia 27-13 on Saturday night.
The Cavaliers dominated the early portion of the game, but squandered their advantage by turning the ball over four times. Virginia’s defense kept the game close into the fourth quarter, but was ultimately worn down by Maryland.
“I thought Virginia came out and out-efforted us in the first half,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “And that’s not anything I’ve ever had to be concerned with. Then I thought the physicality with which they played — they out-physicaled us as well. Then there was the penalties, and those are things that we can control.”
After the Cavaliers went three-and-out on the opening possession of the second half, Edwards hit Kaden Prather in the corner of the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown that made it 14-13 with 10:55 to go in the third quarter and Maryland (2-1) led the rest of the way.
Felton entered the game as the leading receiver in the FBS, and will be back at or near the top of the charts on Sunday. Edwards steadied himself after an uneven first half and found Felton on some of the game’s biggest momentum-generating plays.
Edwards said after Felton’s All-Big Ten season last year, the receiver came back committed to getting even better.
“Physically he has it all, but mentally he’s been better about handling stuff the right way and having a good mentality,” Edwards said. “We were stalemated in the first quarter offensively and couldn’t get much going. But Tai, you know, he manifests things. He’s good on his mental game. And you know, the mental aspect of this game is probably just as much, if not more, important than the physical - and harder to really craft and get down.”
The only Cavalier with any success slowing Felton down was Sabre, the team’s horse mascot - Felton accidentally ran into the horse during his pregame trot.
At quarterback, Edwards kept his coach’s trust even during the early struggles, and rewarded that faith with a touchdown drive to end the first half that sparked the Terps (2-1).
Virginia (2-1) entered the red zone four times in the first half but had just 13 points to show for it, and the Cavaliers would come to regret not capitalizing.
One was a tough-luck turnover, as quarterback Anthony Colandrea had the ball kicked out of his hand by an offensive lineman who was lying on the ground, facing the other direction.
Colandrea threw a second-half interception before a fumble by receiver Malachi Fields was recovered by Maryland’s Quashon Fuller.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys ready to play in the second half,” coach Tony Elliott said.
By the fourth quarter, Maryland had used a significant time-of-possession edge to start imposing its will on Virginia, and a fourth-and-1 conversion in the red zone led to a touchdown that sealed victory.
“It’s about physicality, man,” Locksley said. “At some point you gotta line up and not get cute and just say, hey, we’re bigger. Let’s go and impose our will on people.
“Not getting those short yardages the last couple weeks was something that bothered me as a head coach and an offensive guy.”
Virginia went 3 of 15 on third downs, continuing a trend that has been building throughout the early portion of the season. The Cavaliers are now 9 of 40 this season on third down.
Maryland: After squandering a late lead to Michigan State, the Terps got right, and doing so against a historic rival doesn’t hurt, either. Maryland has now won 14 consecutive nonconference games. Only Georgia (24) has a longer streak.
Virginia: Everything that went right the first two weeks went wrong on Saturday. Turnover issues are the headliner, but the Cavaliers lost their edge as the game went on, and were unable to capitalize on a number of early opportunities.
Maryland: Hosts Villanova next Saturday at noon.
Virginia: Visits Coastal Carolina next Saturday at 2 p.m.
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