After nine long months, Maryland football returned for a promising 2022-23 season.
In its last matchup, the Terps defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies in the Pinstripe Bowl, 54-10. With new faces on this Maryland coaching staff, the Terps are looking to improve on last season’s 7-6 record and place higher in the Big Ten. To do so, Maryland has to win its early out-of-conference matchups against Buffalo, Charlotte, and SMU.
Maryland started the season strong in its opener against Buffalo, earning its 11th-straight non-conference opening victory, defeating the Bulls, 31-10.
Buffalo QB Cole Snyder had a less-than-impressive opening drive, only handing the ball off once to RB Ron Cook Jr. for a 3-yard run.
On Maryland’s first drive, QB Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 45 yards before handing the ball off to RB Roman Hemby for an electric 39-yard touchdown. Maryland finished the first quarter up, 7-0.
Early in the second quarter, RB Antwain Littleton II ran in a 2-yard touchdown, keeping the Terps’ momentum moving.
With six and a half minutes left, kicker Chad Ryland nailed a 45-yard field goal, adding to the Terps’ lead.
Buffalo put together a solid drive and responded with a 19-yard touchdown run from RB Al-Jay Henderson, who brought the Bulls within ten before the half.
Tagovailoa showed out early, throwing 16 passes for 175 yards in the first half. His longest completion was a 35-yard strike to WR Jeshaun Jones.
Roman Hemby started the third quarter with an explosive 70-yard touchdown run to bring the Terps’ lead to 17 points, marking the longest run in Maryland’s program since 2019.
Despite intercepting a Tagovailoa pass in the third quarter, Buffalo struggled to put points on the board. Thanks to the talent of CB Jakorian Bennett, Snyder had trouble connecting with his receivers in the air, forcing them to be dependent on the ground game.
“They’re a good team, so they’re going to get momentum,” Bennett said in his post-game presser. “But we just continue to communicate and be disciplined.”
A heavy weight fell upon the shoulders of Ron Cook Jr., who finished the game with only 33 rushing yards.
Early in the fourth, Littleton II raked in his second touchdown with a 1-yard leap into the endzone, bringing the score to 31-7. Buffalo responded with a field goal, but it would not be enough to change the momentum.
Maryland eventually ran down the clock and rode into win number one.
The largest contributors to Maryland’s success were running back duo Hemby and Littleton II, who combined for all four of the team’s touchdowns.
“It’s really encouraging because as I’ve talked about, everyone knows what the passing game has been around here. Again, we have to be able to compliment the things that we don’t do well and achieve what we emphasize. We put a big emphasis on our ability to run the football,” said Coach Locksley in his post-game presser.
Despite this, Head Coach Mike Locksley would have liked to see more out of the run game.
“We didn’t have the opportunities today. Roman had seven carries, and Antwain had six. In a perfect world, Roman gets twenty and Antwain gets about ten to fifteen.”
Perhaps, Maryland fans have only seen a glimpse of the potential in a promising backfield.
