The Terrapins football team entered its bout with Iowa Saturday afternoon coming off a humbling loss to Ohio State. Midway through the week, backup quarterback Caleb Rowe suffered a season-ending ACL injury. And during the game, the Terps fell down 14-0 early and then watched their starting quarterback, C.J. Brown, walk gingerly into the locker room in the third quarter.

No matter. The Terps fended off each ingredient for disaster and marched to a 38-31 win over the Hawkeyes before an announced 48,373 at Byrd Stadium on homecoming.

Coach Randy Edsall’s squad began executing after falling into the early hole, and third string signal-caller Perry Hills kept the team afloat when Brown missed three series in the second half due to a back injury.

All in all, Saturday marked the Terps most impressive win and leaves them within one game of securing bowl eligibility. Let’s look at how it went down in the four takeaways.

QUARTERBACK PLAY

I could write thousands and thousands of words about the Terps’ quarterback situation. So could you.

Brown hasn’t been spectacular this year, and has been, on the whole, paltry as a passer. Rowe was able to put the ball in the air slightly more effectively, but was on the sideline in a knee brace Saturday. Hills won four games as a freshman starter, but he’s not a polished option under center.

And the shaky quarterback play continued against the Hawkeyes. Brown made a dreadful decision on the Terps’ first play from scrimmage and threw the ball right to Iowa defensive end Drew Ott.

Still, Brown found success on the ground and pieced together a few scoring drives. He finished just 9 of 18 through the air for 77 yards, no touchdowns and two picks, but ran for 92 yards and helped the Terps score 38 points.

He also sent a message to his team by returning to action after his upper-back injury.

““It says he got a lot of character, a lot of integrity and a lot of pride to come out and keep fighting for your team and put us in the best position to win,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “We trust him, and he trusts us.”

Hills was erratic to start but eventual found his rhythm. He connected with Diggs on a short pass that the star junior turned into a 53-yard touchdown. Plus, he avoided turning the ball over despite not taking any reps in practice this season until Rowe went down in practice four days before the homecoming game.

Hills finished five of nine for 86 yards and that touchdown toss to Diggs.

So the Terps quarterbacks served to tell the story of the whole team that wasn’t great Saturday but avoided a collapse and pulled out a significant victory.

ESTABLISHING THE RUN

While the Terps offense was shaky when they let the quarterbacks sit in the pocket and look downfield, the unit started to click when it leaned on its running game.

Just look at their first touchdown drive, when the Terps ran the ball five times and only passed twice. The Terps handed the ball to running back Brandon Ross a couple of times on that drive and Brown scrambled for a big gain on a keeper. Then wide receiver-tailback hybrid Jacquille Veii scampered for a 23-yard touchdown after spinning away from several Iowa defenders.

The Terps went on to gain 212 yards on the ground for the game, their second-best total this year.

If Brown’s on the field, the Terps have a below-average passer under center. When he’s sidelined, the Terps turn to another questionable thrower in Hills or Shane Cockerille.

So they have to be able to run the ball.

D BACK ON TRACK

After getting lit up by Ohio State on Oct. 4, the Terps defense bounced back in encouraging fashion Saturday.

Brown’s interception on the game’s first play from scrimmage put the defense in a sticky spot early on. And after Iowa pounded in its first touchdown, it went 80 for its second touchdown, sending many of the Terps fans in attendance into an audible grown.

The Terps, though, didn’t crumple when trailing 14-0, and the defense played its best game since a 24-17 win over South Florida in Week 2.

“It was just basically preparing, just practicing,” said outside linebacker Yannick Ngakoue, who had five tackles and a sack. “Eleven men flying to the ball and just everybody doing their proper assignments, everybody executing to get things done.”

The unit gave up 433 yards in total but stiffened when it needed to. It was the defensive line that keyed the success, as Andre Monroe, Darius Kilgo and Keith Bowers each recorded at least half a sack, but the secondary held its own, too.

BIG PLAYMAKERS

The Hawkeyes threatened to come back late, but the Terps fended off the effort thanks to their two most explosive players.

With Hills in the game, the Terps offense looked far from sharp, but wide receiver Stefon Diggs helped the unit put points on the board by taking that short pass for a 53-yard touchdown. That score gave the team a 24-14 lead and created a bit of breathing room.

It wasn’t the only big play Diggs made on the day, as he finished with nine catches for 130 yards.

Even with Diggs’ performance, though, Iowa stuck around. And early in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes were driving down the field while trailing 24-21 with a chance to take the lead.

But on a third down, cornerback Will Likely stepped in front of a Jake Rudock pass, snagged an interception and sprinted 45 yards for the touchdown. It marked Likely’s third return score of the season, and it gave the Terps more cushion by pushing the lead to 31-21.

Much has gone wrong for the Terps in the past few weeks. But Diggs and Likely haven’t stopped turning games in the Terps’ favor.

“Stefon’s touchdown was huge in the game, was a big momentum boost for us,” Edsall said. “Will’s pick-six was huge as well. That’s what you want, you want guys to pick other guys up.”