Comeback rivalry win at Virginia has Maryland back on track

There’s nothing like a get-right game — especially against your biggest rival — to reestablish early-season momentum.

After Maryland dispatched Virginia with a well-rounded second half on Saturday, the Terrapins are on guard to not let that energy dissipate against Villanova.

“We found out a lot about ourselves,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said Tuesday. “We found out the importance of staying in the moment, not playing to a scoreboard.”

Down 13-7 after a Virginia score with just a second before halftime, Maryland (2-1) responded early in the third with Kaden Prather’s first touchdown reception in exactly 11 months, and a Billy Edward Jr. rushing touchdown in the fourth sealed a 27-13 win.

“It was definitely just nothing but us being in our own heads,” Maryland defensive lineman Quashon Fuller said. “We went into halftime and was just telling ourselves like, we really have this game … in the second half we really just relaxed, went out there and did what we do everyday.”

Fuller recorded one of four takeaways for a defense that received Big Ten player of the week honors for safety Dante Trader Jr. and now boasts a plus-9 turnover margin, the best in the nation.

“We’re going to make mistakes throughout the season. Having success and winning championships is not a straight, direct path,” Locksley said. “You’ll have ups, downs, side movements, sometimes take steps back. But I’m really, really excited the way our team grew from Week 2 to Week 3.” 

One final nonconference contest looms against Football Championship Subdivision stalwart Villanova. Locksley insists the 3-0 Wildcats, currently No. 4 in the FCS coaches’ poll, won’t be overwhelmed or be “big eyed” by their trip to College Park Saturday.

“They’re a veteran bunch,” Locksley said. “You look at their defense and a bunch of graduates and seniors and guys that have been there six years and five years.”

Experience has helped Mark Ferrante’s squad reach the quarterfinal in two of the last three seasons, losing last year to eventual FCS champion South Dakota State. The Wildcats also boast young talent, with redshirt freshman and Centreville High graduate Isaiah Ragland racking up 141 yards rushing on 17 carries, including a 65-yarder.

Maryland has excelled at preventing that, though, allowing only 332 yards on the ground all season, while giving up a whopping 832 through the air.

“When you are able to stop the run the way we’ve been able to do, it makes people play one dimensional,” Locksley said, “and that’s where for us, on the back end, we’ve got to just continue to develop back there to where we can hold up.”

Locksley is aware of sixth-year Villanova quarterback Connor Watkins’ abilities both in run-pass option schemes and zone reads, but is confident his still-evolving and ball-hawking secondary will hold up.

“Once we kind of get that thing in sync,” Locksley said, “I think we’ll have the makings of a really good defense.”