Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
Maryland football is back. The Terps kicked off their 2024 campaign with a 50-7 win over UConn on Saturday, beginning the post-Taulia Tagovailoa era.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ll break down the season-opener, men’s soccer’s first win of the year, field hockey’s thrilling ranked victory and more.
Maryland football dominates
Billy Edwards Jr. won the preseason quarterback competition and shined against UConn. He completed 74 percent of his passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns in the dominating win.
The redshirt junior appeared in all but one of Maryland’s offensive possessions as the Terps grew a comfortable lead. They scored points on five of the six drives he played in, while NC State transfer MJ Morris’ lone drive resulted in a three-and-out.
On top of Tagovailoa’s departure, leading receiver Jeshaun Jones also graduated. Tai Felton took advantage of the added targets.
With Edwards as his quarterback, Felton corralled seven passes for 178 yards and two scores in his third career 100-yard game.
The Edwards-led offense worked in unison with a defense that secured three takeaways and backed coach Michael Locksley’s belief that Maryland would rely more on a strong defense.
The competition wasn’t the strongest, as UConn hasn’t finished a season over .500 since 2010, but next weekend against Michigan State could provide more of a challenge.
Maryland men’s soccer finally gets a win
The Terps entered 2024 off their worst season in 22 years, a showing that did not worry coach Sasho Cirovski. They started the season with a draw and a loss, and needed a dominant performance to provide an early spark. That’s what happened Friday.
Maryland excelled against Detroit Mercy in a 5-2 victory. It got off to a three-goal lead within the first 20 minutes, and added another goal before the first half ended for a 4-0 cushion. Matias De Jesus gave the Terps a five-goal advantage shortly into the second period to shutter the Titans.
The home game was vital to win for Maryland. The Titans had come off a 5-10-3 season, and Maryland faces a difficult matchup against local rival Virginia on Monday. Entering that bout 1-1-1 is a lot better than the alternative for the Terps, who aim to return to the NCAA Tournament.
Field hockey’s season-opening thriller
The Terps entered Friday with wins in each season-opener across the last 27 years. Despite a difficult test against No. 7 Louisville, that streak extended to 28.
No. 4 Maryland needed overtime, but it squeaked out a 2-1 double-overtime win. The Terps immediately responded to the Cardinals’ goal in the second quarter, tying the score before Annemijn Klijnhout and Hope Rose combined for the winner more than 50 minutes later.
Maryland has notched an incredible 71-27 in overtime or shootout games under coach Missy Meharg. The Terps followed that win with another over Drexel on Sunday.
- Best bits
While Billy Edwards Jr. was impressive on Saturday, he also had a lot of help — the Terps’ offense was built around its playmakers, who racked up 249 yards after the catch. - Maryland football received its first three class of 2026 commitments in August, while baseball and women’s soccer each added members to their future rosters.
Cirovski was displeased with Georgetown’s “unsporting” second goal in the Terps’ 2-0 loss to the Hoyas last Sunday.
Women’s soccer goalkeeper Liz Beardsley played a crucial role for Maryland in its first matches this season.
Maryland volleyball nearly overcame a two-set deficit in its final match in the LSU Tournament, but fell by three points in the last set for a 1-2 weekend to start the year.
Stat of the week
Football’s 43-point win over UConn marked its largest margin of victory over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in a season-opener since 1978.
Quote of the week
“This generation grew up on iPads, they ain’t grow up with the chalkboards and the little crazy noise it used to make. So they’re iPad kids,” Locksley said about a rule change that allows teams to use tablets for in-game footage on the sidelines.
