Again, Darrius Heyward-Bey was a hero. And again, he was carried off the field by the mob of fans who stormed onto the field after a win.

For the second straight home game, Heyward-Bey made his way toward the locker room on the shoulders of rabid Terrapin fans, but the redshirt freshman wide receiver did his own heavy lifting during the game. Catching two long touchdown passes, Heyward-Bey accounted for almost the entire offensive production in the Terps’ 14-13 win.

While the rest of the offense stalled, Sam Hollenbach and the Terps were able to rely on Heyward-Bey’s speed to notch touchdown passes of 65 and 96 yards.

“We came out, had a couple plays where we needed to throw it, and Darrius made a play. He made two plays,” Hollenbach said. “[With] his speed, you’re not gonna be able to catch him.”

Twice, the Hurricanes could neither stop Heyward-Bey nor catch up to him. On the Terps’ second offensive play, Hollenbach floated a ball deep down the right sideline in the perfect place for Heyward-Bey, who sprinted the rest of the way to the end zone.

Coach Ralph Friedgen said Hollenbach checked out of the called play and made the right call to energize the Terp sideline and the crowd with a quick 65-yard strike.

The duo wasn’t done. As the Terps were backed up to their own 4-yard line, they tried out a play they had worked on all week with the idea of exploiting Miami’s desire to stop the run and its press coverage on the wide receivers.

It worked. Hollenbach faked a handoff, dropped back and lofted another ball high into the air. Heyward-Bey hit the gas pedal and zipped past cornerback Glenn Sharpe before he caught the ball and scored the touchdown. The 96-yard pass was the longest touchdown pass in program history. It also matched the longest pass play in Division I this season.

“I caught the ball, I thought he was gonna be right on me, so I just had to put it in another gear,” Heyward-Bey said. “It’s just fun. I’m making plays; I don’t know if it’s luck, if it’s skill, but right now it’s working.”

No matter how he’s doing it, Heyward-Bey contributed an all-star performance, catching long passes he said were reminiscent of his high-school days. He finished with five catches for 175 yards.

And it really was a dominating day for the receiver, as the rest of the Terps combined for only 83 yards. In the second half, the Terps managed only 53 yards, but held on for the win thanks to Heyward-Bey’s earlier catches.

Both Hollenbach and Heyward-Bey said they watched other teams burn Miami for a few deep plays each game, but were content that two bombs got the job done. The senior quarterback admitted he sometimes has trouble judging where the sideline is, and he credited Heyward-Bey for making intelligent moves so the plays worked out.

The 175 yards were a career-high for Heyward-Bey, who has shown untapped potential, even while he hasn’t necessarily put up gaudy statistics.

Saturday, Heyward-Bey’s deep catches really were the difference between winning and losing, and there’s reason to think that wasn’t the last time he’ll be carried off the field.

“I talked to him after the game. I said, ‘Set your goals high, cause we gotta keep rolling,'” Hollenbach said. “This is only the beginning.”

Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.