Game 3: Maryland vs. Virginia Preview

Maryland (2-0) vs. Virginia (0-2)

September 15, 2023

SECU Stadium

7:05 p.m.

FS1

COLLEGE PARK, MD - The University of Maryland football team wraps up its three-game homestand to open the 2023 season with a match-up against Virginia on Friday, Sept. 15 at SECU Stadium. The game is set to kickoff at 7:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1 and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.

Blackout

All fans are encouraged to wear black to the game.
The first 5,000 students in attendance will receive a blackout T-shirt, courtesy of SECU.

Gameday Promotions

non-conference success

The Terps have won 10-straight games against non-conference opponents, with the last loss coming on September 15, 2019 against Temple. This is currently the third longest active streak in the FBS, only trailing Georgia (19) and Wake Forest (11).
Under head coach Michael Locksley, the Terps are 12-1 in non-conference games with wins over Power Five teams Virginia Tech, West Virginia, #23 NC State and #21 Syracuse. Locksley is 3-0 against ACC teams as Maryland's head coach.
In the Locksley era (2019-pres.), Maryland's average of 42.3 points per game in non-conference play leads the nation. The Terps' have scored 30-plus points in 11-of-13 non-conference games under Locksley, and nine of the last 10.

Donnell Brown celebrates an interception vs. Charlotte

rewriting the record books

QB Taulia Tagovailoa returns for the 2023 season already as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks and players in Maryland history. Tagovailoa stands as Maryland's record holder in every major career and single-season passing category.
A 2023 Preseason All-Big Ten selection, Tagovailoa has helped ascend the Terps' passing game to new heights during his three-year career. The quarterback has set Maryland career records for passing yards (8,426), passing touchdowns (55), total touchdowns (64), completions (712), completion percentage (67.4), 300-yard passing games (12), passing efficiency (146.6) and total offense (8,635).
Tagovailoa's current career completion percentage (.674) is the fourth-best of any Big Ten quarterback all-time, only trailing Dan Persa, Nebraska (.727), Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State (.700) and Scott Tolzien, Wisconsin (.681).
Also on the Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award, Manning Award and Polynesian Player of the Year Watch Lists, Tagovailoa currently stands top-15 among all FBS QBs in career completion percentage (fourth), completions per game (10th), passing yards per game (10th) and total offense (14th).
Tagovailoa has four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown through the first two team games for the second consecutive season. The only other Maryland QB to do that even once over the last 25 seasons was C.J. Brown in 2013.

Taulia Tagovailoa enters his senior year as Maryland's all-time leading passer in virtually every category.

maryland. defense.

Maryland's defense hasn't allowed multiple touchdown passes in eight consecutive games, tied for the second-longest active streak in the FBS (Marshall – 9). Additionally, it is the longest such streak for the Terps since 2005 (nine straight).
Through two games, the Terps have only allowed 19 points of offense (two touchdowns, two field goals). Those two touchdowns are the only two Maryland has allowed in the last four games, all wins.
Maryland allowed just six points in its Week 1 win over Towson. Over the last 40 years, the only season openers in which the Terrapins surrendered fewer points were 2019 and 1999 (zero points each).
Under Defensive Coordinator Brian Williams, Maryland's defense saw drastic improvement in 2022, allowing 13.1 less points per game in Big Ten play than 2021 (38.8 in 2021, 25.7 in 2022), the largest decrease in the Big Ten.
Maryland finished 18th in the nation in pass efficiency defense in 2022 (117.6) after finishing 88th the year prior (140.2). In the second half of games, Maryland allowed only a 102.8 QB rating to opposing passers, the fourth best in the FBS. In 2021, the Terps ranked 105th in that category (147.4).

Maryland's defense saw a drastic turnaround in 2022.

the roman empire

A College Football News Freshman All-American last season, RB Roman Hemby has been one of the best running backs in the nation over the past two seasons, currently standing first in the Big Ten and 11th in the FBS in all purpose yards per game (144.5) and second in the Big Ten in both rush yards per carry (7.10) and rushing yards (220).
Last week against Charlotte (9/9), Hemby totaled 217 yards of total offense with 162 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards, adding a rushing touchdown as well. Hemby now has two games for Maryland with 150+ rushing yards and 50+ receiving yards (also vs. SMU last season). The only other Big Ten player with multiple such games this century is Penn State's Saquon Barkley (5).
Hemby was a College Football News Freshman All-American last season, standing top six in the Big Ten in both rushing touchdowns (10) and yards per carry (5.26). Hemby totaled 989 rushing yards, the 12th-most in program history and second-most ever by a Maryland freshman, on 188 carries and caught 33 passes for 298 yards in 2022.
In 2022, Hemby stood third among all FBS freshmen in yards from scrimmage with 1,287 (989 rushing, 298 receiving), only trailing Ole Miss' Quinshon Judkins (1,697) and Ohio's Sieh Bangura (1,304). Against SMU, Hemby became the first Terrapin in the last 25 years to have 150+ rushing yards and 50+ receiving in a game (151 rushing, 62 receiving).
In 2023, Hemby aims to join LaMont Jordan (1999-00) and Rick Badanjek (1984-85) as the only Terps to record 10+ rushing touchdowns in multiple seasons. Only three Big Ten players have accomplished that feat in their freshman and sophomore seasons over the last 15 years – Wisconsin's Braelon Allen and Jonathan Taylor, and Indiana's Stevie Scott III. Hemby started off on the right foot against Towson (9/2), with his first rushing touchdown of the season.

Roman Hemby was a 2022 College Football News All-American

dominant dyches

Over the last two-plus seasons, Maryland tight ends have combined for 158 receptions, 1,655 yards and 16 touchdowns, the most receptions, receiving yards and second-most touchdowns of any tight end unit in the Big Ten over this time span. Through two weeks, TE Corey Dyches ranks second among all FBS tight ends with 12 receptions and third with 139 receiving yards.
Two Terps, TE Corey Dyches and OL Delmar Glaze currently are the second-highest graded players in the Big Ten via Pro Football Focus. Dyches has a 75.3 grade, also the 11th-best in the nation and Glaze has a 73.1 grade. Dyches has the sixth-highest receiving grade of any tight end at 80.9.
TE Corey Dyches put up 108 receiving yards and a touchdown in the season opener against Towson, the third-most receiving yards of any Big Ten tight end in their team's season opener in the last 30 years, only trailing Purdue's Payne Durham in 2021 (120) and Michigan's Jerame Tuman in 1997 (126).
TE Corey Dyches is one of two players in the Big Ten with multiple games with six or more receptions this season along with Wisconsin's Braelon Allen.

Corey Dyches catches a touchdown against Towson.

quick hitters

Maryland has scored 38 points in consecutive games to start a season for the first time since 2019. That last time the Terps have scored at least 38 points in three straight games at any point in a single season was 1994.
After trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter against Charlotte, Maryland rallied to win, 38-20. It was the first time Maryland won a game it trailed by 14+ points entering the second quarter since a 38-31 win over North Carolina State on November 27, 2010.

Sean Greeley and Taulia Tagovailoa celebrate vs. Charlotte

renewing the rivalry

This week's game against Virginia will be the first time the Terps and Cavaliers have faced off since Maryland's last season in the ACC in 2013, where the Terps defeated Virginia, 27-26, behind 332 passing yards from Caleb Rowe.
This will be the 79th time Maryland and Virginia go head to head with Maryland leading the overall series, 44-32-2. The Cavaliers are the only team that the Terrapins have played more than 70 games against. Maryland has won three of the last four against Virginia dating back to 2010 and is 21-13-2 all-time at home against the Cavs.