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Maryland Football: Three takeaways from the Purdue win
The Maryland football program came out of their bye week the same way they went into it: clicking on all cylinders.
After a 30-24 win over Central Florida double overtime on Sept. 17, the Terrapins entered Big Ten play with Purdue coming to College Park. Maryland didn’t miss a beat in a 50-7 win over the Boilermakers.
The Terps jumped out to a 29-0 halftime lead and ended up yielding just 205 yards of total offense throughout the game. Maryland saw a tremendous amount of success on the ground once again as they scored four rushing touchdowns.
There were plenty of positives on both sides of the ball. Here’s our three takeaways from the convincing victory.
1.) Ty Johnson is electric
The running game has clearly been the Maryland football team’s biggest strength during the early part of the season.
Trey Edmunds and Lorenzo Harrison have each had big-time performances. On Saturday afternoon, the talk was surrounding the return of senior Wes Brown.
However, Johnson made it a point to become the center of attention.
Johnson may have only had seven carries, but he ended up racking up 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The sophomore tailback averaged 29.1 yards-per-carry, which was the highest for an FBS ball carrier in the last 20 years.
The former Fort Hill (Md.) standout scored touchdowns from 48 and eight yards. He also added runs of 76 and 56 yards respectively.
Johnson is the biggest game-changer in the Maryland backfield and he’s incredibly quick. He has the potential to take it to the house on any play.
With the type of potential he has, the Terps need to find a way to get involved more often.
2.) The run defense was stout
One of the biggest storylines heading into Saturday’s game was Purdue’s Markell Jones.
In two of Purdue’s three games, Jones had rushed for at least 124 yards and proved to be one of the top backs in the Big Ten. He even managed to do it against Nevada when the Boilermakers were missing both starting tackles.
However, Maryland made Jones look downright pedestrian on Saturday.
Jones carried the ball 12 times for just 23 yards, which was good for just 1.9 yards-per-carry. As a team, Purdue averaged just 2.7 yards-per-carry and were even in the negative at points in the second half.
Purdue only registered two carries of double-digit yards during the entire game. Maryland registered 11 tackles-for-loss and six sacks against the Boilermakers.
Defensive ends Jesse Aniebonam and Roman Braglio each had 2.5 tackles-for-loss and were constantly in the backfield.
Maryland’s defense definitely has the talent up front in stop some very talented running backs. That’s going to come in handy with teams like Michigan and Ohio State coming up on the schedule.
3.) Teldrick Morgan breaks out
Coming into the season, it was pretty clear that the wide receiver position was one of immense depth for the Maryland football program.
Transfer Teldrick Morgan had only registered eight catches through the first three games. However, he turned in a very complete performance against Purdue on Saturday afternoon.
Morgan caught five passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns. The most impressive reception turned out to be a five-yard touchdown catch.
With 6:59 remaining in the first quarter, quarterback Perry Hills put the ball in a place where only Morgan could catch it. He threw the ball over the defender’s shoulder and into the arms of a diving Morgan for the game’s first touchdown.
In the second half, offensive coordinator Walt Bell elected to use Morgan a bit more creatively.
With 7:27 left in the third quarter, Morgan came in motion and received a toss from Hills on a jet sweep. Morgan used his speed to get to the edge and took it in for a five-yard touchdown.
Morgan displayed his quickness multiple times against the Boilermakers. When he gets in open space, there’s few defenders that can catch up with him.
If Bell can continue to find ways to get Morgan the ball in space, he could end up being Maryland’s most dangerous weapon.
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