There's been no shortage of success from Maryland's wide receivers during the Mike Locksley era. Dontay Demus, Rakim Jarrett, Jacob Copeland and Jeshaun Jones all took the reigns during the first few seasons while tight ends Tyler Mabry, Chigoziem Okonkwo and Corey Dyches dazzled in Locksley's offense. While Demus dazzled to begin the 2021 season, Maryland fans are watching their next star wide receiver shine in College Park as Tai Felton cements himself as the next playmaker to come out of Maryland’s wide receiver room. Through four weeks, he has the stats to back it up.
Heading into week five, Felton sits second in the nation in receptions (41), third in both receiving yards (604) and has totaled the fourth-most all-purpose yards (627) among FBS players. But if you ask the senior wide receiver, it’s the Terps’ success as a team that drives Felton’s focus.
“I feel good, man. It's all about the win so I'm just so happy we got to win,” he said after the. win. “We got on a little streak right now, two wins in a row, so I'm just happy. We started out kind of slow in the second half, and we got it going and we ended up dominating so I'm just so happy we got to win.”
Felton finished with 157 yards and 14 catches, the latter a new career-high, as the senior would be the first Maryland skill player to touch the ball in Saturday’s win, a play that foreshadowed the rest of the opening quarter. Felton finished the opening quarter with eight catches for 57 yards, the most by a Big Ten player in one quarter in at least 12 years.
“I just view myself as a dominant player. I do it for the team. These guys inspired me to be great every day,” he added.
But the success wouldn’t stop there. Felton would connect with Edwards again for his 12th catch of the day and a touchdown in the closing seconds of the third quarter, marking Felton’s fifth score of the season while also tying a program record for the most catches by a Terp since joining the Big Ten. On the next drive, he’d take the record all for himself after taking a pair of passes 58 yards, including a 61-yard catch and run down Villanova’s sideline.
While Felton now sits second-all-time for the most catches in a game (14) behind Geroy Simon, his final catch was enough to push him back over the century mark for the fourth consecutive game – another feat. Felton became the first Terp since Jermaine Lewis in 1994 to record 100+ receiving yards in four straight games, while he becomes the first to do so to open a season.
His 41 catches through four weeks also surpassed Frank Wycheck’s record of 38 catches through the first four games of the 2021 season, while his 604 receiving yards marks the second-most in the first four games of a season in Maryland history.
“It's honestly a blessing I’m playing at this level, but it's a testament to all the hard work I've been putting that so for sure,” Felton said.
While On3 omitted Felton from their list of top wide receivers heading into the non-conference finale, the senior receiver found himself trending on X/Twitter in the closing minutes of Saturday’s game as he drew Heisman buzz online.
“It's honestly a blessing to have my name even brought up like that. But I'm just here for the team, so as long as we’re winning, I'm doing my job, so it's all good. So it's honestly a blessing, though, for sure.”
Head coach Mike Locksley shared his thoughts on ‘Taisman’ with the team gearing back up for Big Ten play.
“That's for Heisman voters and people to think. I think the high tide rises all ships – the better we play, the better opportunities guys have. Having been a part of some guys that have had the opportunity to compete and go to the Heisman trophies, guys that have played in this system, like Mac [Jones] and Tua [Tagovailoa] and Jalen [Hurts] and guys like [DeVonta Smith] and those guys have. So the system creates these opportunities. Tai has taken advantage of these opportunities, and if the people have spoken, let the marketing begin because he's playing at a high level.”
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