Saturday marked the earliest loss for Mike Locksley as Maryland’s head coach, aside from the 2020 COVID season. The game also marked a very early Big Ten opener as the Terrapins collapsed late against Michigan State and dropped to 1-1 on the season. Spartans’ kicker Noah Kim hit a last-second field goal to put the Spartans ahead 27-24 and this one leaves a sour taste in Terps fans' mouth after the Terps were eight-point favorites heading into the matchup. Maryland should have won this one but key mistakes late triggered a brutal loss. We take a look at the stock report to see who is up and who is down.
Up:
WR Tai Felton
When you lead the country in receiving yards, you’ll find yourself entrenched in the ‘stock up’ section. The veteran wideout now leads the way with 330 receiving yards on 18 catches, tied for the most catches among Power Four wide receivers. Felton entrenched himself as the alpha dog that the staff expected all offseason, but his production has turned heads nationally in the early stages of the 20242 season. Similar to last week, Edwards always seemed to find Felton and every time the Terrapins needed a play, it was Felton who was making the grab. If this production remains, Felton will inch his way up the all-time Maryland wide receivers list.
SAF Glen Miller
Another back-to-back stock up player is safety Glen Miller. The safety is on fire as he grabs two more interceptions in this one, now up to four interceptions in his last three contests. Miller’s second interception was an impressive diving catch to turn over the Spartans, while his first set the Terps’ offense up with an early scoring opportunity. Miller also was second on the team in tackling with seven total tackles. The Maryland secondary overall struggled, but Miler was a standout with interceptions playing a key role to Maryland’s offense generating points.
EDGE Kellen Wyatt
Having Kellen Wyatt in the up category was an eye-test thing for me. Every time we got some sort of pressure in the backfield it seemed to be that #45 was involved. Wyatt finished with 5 total tackles and 1.5 tackles being for loss. The defense overall was not great, including Wyatt and the front seven as Michigan St. had their way on the ground. Wyatt, while not perfect, showed that he can muck stuff up in the backfield and I constantly saw his number flash. Wyatt gave fans a scare in the closing minutes of the first half after going down with what appeared to be a non-contact injury but returned for the second half.
Honorable Mentions:
- QB Billy Edwards
- P Bryce McPherson
- TE Dylan Wade
- LB Caleb Wheatland
Down:
Run Game
Locksley made an improved run game a continued point of emphasis through the offseason, especially in conference play. Last week was a solid start on the ground with Hemby, Ray, the young backs, and even Billy Edwards churning out yards against UConn. Enter the first Big Ten defense into the fold and the run game reverted back to 2023 form. Maryland ran for a combined 86 rushing yards and 2.8 yards per carry. Hemby led the room with 12 carries but only popped for 35 yards and 2.9 yards per carry, while veteran Colby McDonald was the most efficient with five yards per carry on three carries. Maryland did not have a single rush over ten yards as the Spartans’ experienced front seven took away the chunk plays fans saw in week one. Mike Locksley pointed to execution and not scheme on the run game struggles on Saturday, and while he may be right, the lack of short yardage Billy Edwards use was puzzling. It is proven to work and part of what makes Edwards a valuable piece. The lack of using him in those situations has been a little surprising. As the calendar now briefly flips back to non-conference, the run game will need to improve before the rest of the conference schedule.
The Secondary
The secondary did come down with three interceptions on the day, but that was nullified by 393 passing yards by Michigan State quarterback Aiden Chiles. Chiles was Jekyll and Hyde as he was either throwing perfectly accurate balls or throwing questionable passes right to the Maryland defenders. Jalen Husky did have his first career interception on a clutch redzone pick; however, he was being abused all day by Spartans receivers. Nick Marsh had 198 yards on the day and the 77-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter was a breakdown by the Terrapins. Huskey got burnt on a touchdown in the first half where he was basically tripping all over himself. He also had two costly penalties with a false start on Michigan St's missed field goal at the end of the half and the pass interference on 3rd and 10 with a few minutes left in the 4th that kept the Spartans drive alive. Locksley mentioned that the coaching staff’s plan was to make Chiles beat them, and he certainly did that. An injury to Perry Fisher did not help, but a revaluation of this secondary may be in order as the first challenge in the big Ten did not bode well. More time to clean it up but the inexperience in the corner room may loom large.
The Front Seven
Again, the front seven finds themselves on this list. It is more of an entire defense effort that landed the group on this list as I did think they were better than last week. Kellen Wyatt and Caleb Wheatland in particular were great with sacks and tackles for loss. However, there is one statistic that does not look good for the front seven. Three of the top three tacklers on the defense came from the secondary. Ruben Hyppolite led the team in tackles but he was followed by Glen Miller, Perry Fisher, and Jalen Huskey. This indicates that the Spartans were constantly getting to the second and third levels. Another quiet game came from Jordan Phillips with just three tackles and zero for loss. Tommy Akingbesote and Quashon Fuller only accounted for three tackles and the lack of tackles up front opened up the Michigan St. rushing attack which averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Improvements were definitely there with 2 sacks, but more pressure and run-stuffing ability from the inside is needed.
Decision Making & Penalties
Holding onto a one-touchdown lead midway through the fourth quarter, Maryland’s offense was driving with a chance to cement the game. A 3rd-and-1 on the Michigan St. 23 with less than five minutes to go and Maryland calls a run play that gets right up to the line to gain, a call that drew criticism among fans after electing to not use Billy Edwards Jr. in a short yardage situation. A lot of fans and media also criticized Locksley for not going for it on 4th-and-1, a chance to likely seal the game had it been made. I actually liked the call to kick it and make it a two-possession game with just over four minutes left. You would hope a 41-yarder would be makeable but Howes pushed it left and the Spartans took over. One play later, it was all tied at 24.
There is an argument to go for it there and especially with Edwards being able to get yards with his legs in QB sneak situations, it is fair to criticize the choice there. A brutal swing for Maryland and that point and what seemed like a victory was now up in the air. A quick three-and-out, that also included a 4th-and-1, and then a costly pass interference penalty on a 3rd down on the final Spartans drive washed away any Terrapins hopes. Noah Kim nailed the 36-yard field goal and the Spartans won the game. Maryland had the game wrapped up but costly mistakes led to the collapse. Similar could be said at the end of the first half when Jalen Huskey’s offside gave the Spartans a chance at redemption to pick up points, eventually taking a three-point lead into the break.
This was a game you almost needed to have based on the schedule and in the “best case scenario” game everyone plays had this as a win almost every time. A brutal way to start conference play for the Terrapins but not all hope is lost going forward.
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