Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
Multiple teams faced top-10 opponents this week with mixed results. Maryland football’s competition was nowhere near that pedigree Saturday, but coach Michael Locksley’s team gave fans a scare before turning the game around after the break.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ll break down all that and more.
Maryland football’s second-half surge
The Terps looked to be on the verge of losing their second straight game when they trailed Virginia 13-7 at halftime.
Maryland’s issues were similar to last week’s loss to Michigan State where penalties and blown coverages doomed the team in a game it was favored to win.
The Terps were hesitant to run quarterback sneaks against the Spartans despite quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. scoring a team-high seven rushing touchdowns as a backup last year — that changed in Charlottesville.
The Terps outscored the Cavaliers, 20-0, in the second half to earn a 27-13 win.
The game-sealing score came from an Edwards tush push, allowing the Terps to bounce back from their unexpected loss.
Maryland men’s soccer downs No. 8 Wisconsin
Maryland men’s soccer was winless in conference play a year ago. It didn’t take long to end that drought in 2024.
The Terps destroyed No. 8 Wisconsin, 3-0, on Friday night. The previously undefeated Badgers entered the game with just two goals allowed in their first five contests, but Maryland surpassed that mark in one night.
Sasho Cirovski’s team played its best match of the year to earn the program’s highest-ranked victory since 2019.
Maryland’s win was in large part a result of Cirovski changing the team’s formation. The shift prevented Wisconsin from creating high-quality attacking chances and led to the Terps’ first clean sheet of the year.
Maryland field hockey falls in battle of top-5 teams
The Terps’ September schedule was daunting, to say the least.
No. 5 Maryland fell to No. 3 Virginia 1-0 on Friday, the Terps’ second top-five opponent in a row. They lost to then-No. 5 Duke on Sept. 8.
The schedule eased up with coach Missy Meharg’s team playing Lock Haven on Sunday. Maryland won 8-1, snapping its two-game losing streak just before the start of Big Ten play. The explosive scoring output came after scoring six times in the first five games of the year.
Best Bits:
- Maryland men’s basketball announced that a four-game series with Virginia will start in 2025-26. The Terps also received their first commit in the 2025 class in four-star forward Marcus Jackson.
- Maryland volleyball notched its fifth straight win with a sweep of UMBC to improve to 6-2 on the year.
- One game after Maryland women’s soccer posted its highest score under coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer, No. 5 Michigan State slaughtered the Terps, 5-0.
- A year after Maryland men’s soccer didn’t score on a single penalty kick, Leon Koehl has made both of his attempts, eradicating the Terps’ struggles in that area.
- Isaac Bunyun switched from the defensive to the offensive line for Maryland football. Now he finally has his shot with the Terps.
Quote of the week:
“At some point, you gotta line up and not get cute and say, ‘Hey, we’re bigger, let’s show and impose our will on people,’” Locksley said of Edwards’ quarterback sneaks.
Stat of the week:
Maryland football receiver Tai Felton has the third-most receiving yards in the country. He’s eclipsed 100 yards and scored at least one touchdown in all three of the Terps’ games for the first time in program history.
