COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Billy Edwards Jr. threw two touchdown passes to Tai Felton, and Maryland’s defense was as good as advertised in a 50-7 victory over UConn in a season opener on Saturday.
The big question facing the Terrapins this season is how they’ll do without Taulia Tagovailoa, who brought them some rare stability at quarterback for the last four years. Edwards, who guided Maryland to a win over Auburn in the Music City Bowl last season, started the game and completed his first seven passes. He went 20 of 27 for 311 yards and two TDs.
“The one thing that really jumped out to me about Billy throughout camp, that I think Ray Charles could see today, you never knew which group he played with,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “His ability to run with the ones, the twos, or the threes, and when we watch the tape, not know which group he was playing with.”
Felton caught seven passes for 178 yards, scoring on strikes of 18 and 75 yards from Edwards.
“This week, I didn’t really try to change too much in terms of my preparation,” Edwards said. “I feel like I’ve been here two seasons, had various roles throughout the two seasons, and I feel like the one thing that’s always been the same is I’ve treated myself and trained myself to be the starter.”
NC State transfer MJ Morris also played a bit at quarterback, although he was shaken up in the fourth quarter. Then Cameron Edge came on and threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Josiah McLaurin.
Nolan Ray scored on a 48-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that made it 14-0, and Roman Hemby scored from 4 yards out in the third. DeJuan Williams capped the scoring with a 9-yard run with 1:17 remaining in the game.
The Terps’ defense has steadily improved over the past few years, and UConn didn’t score until it was 30-0 late in the third quarter. Joe Fagnano found TJ Sheffield for a 27-yard touchdown.
Maryland immediately answered with a touchdown on Felton’s long catch-and-run.
The Huskies had two defensive backs ejected for targeting, Jordan Wright in the second quarter and Rante Jones in the fourth.
“The first one was legit. The one on (Jones) — my opinion — wasn’t,” UConn coach Jim Mora said. “I’m hard-pressed right now to find an answer to give to a young man about what he’s supposed to do in that situation. And I’d love for someone to tell me what to tell him.”
Jones was also flagged for targeting in the final game of last season.
THE TAKEAWAY
UConn: The Huskies added 28 new players through the transfer portal, so some early growing pains were to be expected. Wisconsin transfer Nick Evers went 6 of 17 for 73 yards with an interception. Fagnano had more success but the game was out of hand by then.
Maryland: The Terps continue to roll outside of Big Ten play. This was their 13th straight nonconference win. Edwards was sharp and the offense showed good balance between the pass and run.
MOVING THE BALL
Maryland finished with 629 yards of offense, its highest output since the Terps produced 675 in an overtime win over Minnesota in 2020.
UP NEXT
UConn: Hosts Merrimack next Saturday.
Maryland: Hosts Michigan State next Saturday.
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