– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND — The main positive the Maryland Terrapins could take from the start of their football game on Saturday night was that, in all likelihood, that it could not have gotten any worse than what unfolded in the first three minutes. That, and head coach Mike Locksley has something to stress to his team even though it eventually came up with a dominant victory.
Running back Roman Hemby amassed 217 yards of total offense while quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 287 yards and a touchdown as the Terrapoins came back from an early two-touchdown deficit to defeat Charlotte 38-20 inside SECU Stadium. The Terrapins rolled up 530 yards of total offense as Maryland now starts a season 2-0 for the eighth time in the last nine seasons.
Maryland’s dominant performance only started after Charlotte scored the first 14 points of the game, going down the field to score a touchdown on its first offensive possession, on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Jalon Jones to Jairus Mack, before Demetrius Knight II intercepted a Tagovailoa pass and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown on the Terrapins’ first play from scrimmage.
The fourth quarter saw the Terrapins put the game away, scoring three touchdowns to cap off their 38 consecutive points in the game. Colby McDonald, who ran for 73 yards, scored on a 23-yard jaunt to extend the Terrapins’ lead to 24-14. Tagovailoa then connected with Kaden Prather on a 40-yard touchdown pass at the 8:13 mark before Hemby capped off the run with a 15-yard touchdown run with 4:40 remaining.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s game, with all photos taken by DC-Area photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 11 pictures in total.
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