As Maryland football quarterback Perry Hills jogged off the field after the team’s first drive against Purdue ended with his first interception of the season, he had one thought.
“Damn it,” Hills recounted Tuesday afternoon. “Why did I have to be the first to turn it over?”
On the next drive, though, Hills and the Terps came back with a vengeance to score 36 unanswered points over the next three quarters.
The redshirt senior’s response to the mistake, the Terps said, is a reflection of the confidence Hills has displayed throughout the opening four games. He’ll have a chance to build on that progress in his home-state return this weekend against Penn State.
“I was honestly trying to go the whole season without throwing an interception,” Hills said. “But, you know, it happens.”
“That’s what a confident guy does,” coach DJ Durkin added. “You make a mistake, chin high, you jog off the field and say, ‘I can’t wait to get back out there.’ Next time he got out there, he did well with his reps.”
Each time Hills takes the huddle, left guard Mike Minter said, he’s “cool, calm and collected.” The Pittsburgh native doesn’t scream or try to excite his teammates, He takes a pragmatic approach to dissecting the opponents’ scheme and calling the plays.
En route to the team’s Big Ten-opening blowout against the Boilermakers, Hills finished 8-for-13 for 87 yards and two touchdowns. He also gained 55 yards as part of the Terps’ rushing attack that gashed Purdue for 400 total.
“It’s not about the stats,” Hills said of his personal production. “Whenever you win 50-7, you don’t care about that at all.”
Still, Hills appreciates the positive reinforcement about the team’s production to start the season.
Hills said the Terps have emphasized the chance to be the best offense in Maryland history, and through four games, they’ve been that. The team’s 173 combined points are the most the program has ever generated over the first four contests, though the team expects the competition level will rise as its conference slate continues.
As the schedule stiffens, Hills will likely still be under center. Last year, Hills and quarterback Caleb Rowe split starts as the former coaching staff tended to switch quarterbacks after mistakes. But since Hills won the starting job in fall camp, Durkin’s staff has stuck by him despite flashes from freshman quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome.
“He really understands the offense and what we’re trying to do, and I credit that to Coach Bell and really all of our offensive coaches and Coach Durkin,” Minter said. “He trusts his throws more. He trusts his reads more, and he’s doing a great job out there.”
Last year, the Terps battled Penn State in Baltimore in their first game after former coach Randy Edsall’s firing. Hills went 19-for-28 for 225 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions while contributing 124 yards and a touchdown on the ground in the Terps one-point loss.
He still remembers the crowd’s energy inside the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium. Freshman running back Jake Funk, one of Hills’ roommates this year, told him the atmosphere from the stands was electric.
Hills expects his parents, relatives and hometown friends to make the journey to University Park, Pennsylvania, for this year’s matchup but admitted he doesn’t pay much attention to the crowd — aside from when he’s lying on the ground after a pressured throw and listens to the fans’ reaction to the play.
But with his confidence growing as the Terps have experienced early-season success, Hills is excited for a chance to crash Penn State’s homecoming.
“It kind of gets you more energized to go out there and say, ‘We’re going to prove all these people wrong, make them shut up,'” Hills said. “The guys are going to be really excited for it.”
