Maryland scores on first six drives, roll to win over Towson

COLLEGE PARK — Maryland scored on each of its six drives in the first half en route to a comfortable, 44-17, win over Towson on Saturday in its final tune-up before Big Ten play.

Freshman quarterback Malik Washington completed 16 of 22 passes for 261 yards, a passing and rushing touchdown, along with an interception, for the Terrapins (3-0), who have won their last 18 nonconference games. It is the longest active streak in the nation.

“We needed that. The first two games kind of had some slower starts. So being able to get out here today and just start fast, get operating quick, and go and put points on the board was good,” Washington said.

Octavian Smith Jr. caught four passes for 103 yards, the first 100-yard game of his career, and Maryland rushed for a combined 152 yards while playing without starters Leon Haughton Jr. at tight end and Jamare Glasker at defensive back.

“I think the biggest strength is no matter who’s out there, everybody’s capable of making a play in a key, big time moment whenever we need it. So I think that’s probably the biggest thing,” Smith said. “Like, there’s no one guy, like everybody in that room is capable of being a starter coming out here.”

“I learned under [former Maryland coach] Ralph Friedgen that balance is not running it 50% of the time or throwing it 50% of the time. It’s being able to efficiently do it, do either or based on what you have to get done,” Locksley said. “We kept pushing the run game. We were really intentional of trying to get the touches for the run game.”

After a 37-yard Sean O’Haire field goal opened the scoring, the Terrapins (3-0) scored touchdowns on their next four possessions.

The first was a 2-yard punch-in from running back DeJuan Williams, set up by a 53-yard completion a play earlier from Washington to Octavian Smith. Williams’ second career score was the first rushing touchdown of the season for Maryland, the last Power Four team to score one.

Washington would score on a two-yard rush of his own on the next drive, set up again by a long completion on the previous play, 33 yards to Shaleak Knotts.

Knotts hauled in his third touchdown of the season, a 32-yarder, on a post route in the back of the end zone. Running back Nolan Ray followed Knotts with Maryland’s third rushing touchdown from five yards out to give the Terrapins a 31-0 lead, a score set up by a Towson fumble at its own 25-yard line. 

O’Haire bookended the half with a 39-yard field goal for a 34-0 lead as the second quarter expired, the most first-half points for Maryland since 2022.

“We have a bunch of playmakers, and we only have one football. So just being able try to get everybody a touch and allow them to show the playmaker ability that they have is something that we kind of emphasized this game. Just getting guys going early and let them showcase what they can do,” Washington said.

Towson (2-1) went three-and-out on its first three drives and didn’t convert a first down until the final two minutes of the first quarter. Tigers quarterback Andrew Indorf was 12-of-45 for 145 yards passing with a touchdown and an interception.

“Probably the best thing that comes out of the game like this is we got to play a lot of players, and we got to put some good and bad on the tape,” Locksley said.

Washington threw the first interception of his career off a deflection right after halftime at his own 34, but Maryland got it back in a big way.

Three plays later, Indorf’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by defensive back La’khi Roland.

“The quarterback really scrambled out the pocket. So our job as a secondary is to plaster, go to our man, just plaster. And that’s what I did,” Roland said. “Right place, right time.”

The Georgia native never stopped his momentum, taking the football the length of the field for a touchdown and a 41-0 lead. The 100-yard pick-six was the first by a Maryland player since two-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brown did it in a game against Virginia in 1962.

“It was crazy. I couldn’t believe it,” Roland said. “You know, I was tired, but I had to keep going. It felt like 1,000 yards.”

Maryland, which is now 3-0 for the fourth time in the last five years, begins its nine-game Big Ten schedule next Saturday at Wisconsin.