Game 1: Maryland vs. UConn Preview

Saturday, August 31

College Park, MD

Noon

Maryland

UConn

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8/27/2024 10:00:00 AM | Football

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Maryland (0-0) vs. UConn (0-0)

August 31, 2024

SECU Stadium

Noon

FS1

COLLEGE PARK, MD -- Maryland opens its 2024 season on Saturday, Aug. 31 at home against UConn. The game is slated to kickoff at noon and will be broadcast on FS1 and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.

Setting the stage

The Terps have experienced a strong stretch of results over the last few seasons. With a win over Auburn in the 2023 TransPerfect Music City Bowl, Maryland has won a bowl game in three straight seasons for the first time in program history. It was also the first time Maryland has played in a bowl game for three consecutive years since 2006-08.
Maryland has also won eight games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-03.
Maryland returns five starters on the offensive side of the ball in 2024, including All-Big Ten selections in running back Roman Hemby and wide receivers Tai Felton and Kaden Prather. OL Kyle Long and TE Preston Howard also return. Howard caught his first career touchdown pass in Maryland's win over Auburn in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
Seven starters return for Maryland's defense, including Third-Team All-Big Ten selection Ruben Hyppolite II and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection Quashon Fuller. Other returners include defensive linemen Jordan Phillips and Tommy Akingbesote, linebacker Kellan Wyatt and defensive backs Dante Trader Jr. and Glendon Miller. That group combined for 270 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and six interceptions in 2023.

Head coach Michael Locksley and Offensive line Kevin Kalonji (77)Maryland Football beats Auburn in the 2023 TransPerfect Music City Bowl at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, TN on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Terrapins

Michael Locksley is the only Maryland coach to lead the program to bowl wins in three straight seasons.

Series history - UCONN

The Terps are 2-1 all-time against UConn, including a 32-21 victory in the most recent meeting back in 2013. The Terps have won nine of their last 12 games against FBS Independents but haven't faced such an opponent since 2011 (Notre Dame).
In that 2013 win, C.J. Brown ran for 122 yards and a touchdown and threw for 277 yards and another score.

C.J. Brown scored two total touchdowns the last time the Terps and Huskies played, a 32-21 Maryland win.

Big play wideouts

With Tai Felton (723 yds, 6 TDs) and Kaden Prather (666 yds, 5 TDs), Maryland is the only Big Ten team (and one of eight FBS teams) that has a receiver duo returning in 2024 that each recorded 600+ receiving yards and 5+ receiving touchdowns with the school last season. This is the only time in the last 25 years that Maryland has had such a receiving duo, whether they returned to school next year or not.
Prather (15.9) and Felton (15.1) are the top two returning wide receivers of returning Big Ten teams in yard per catch. In 2023, the duo was top-five in the league in that category, along with Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), Cam Camper (Indiana) and Roman Wilson (Michigan), who have all since moved out of the Big Ten. Prather and Felton each finished the 2023 season ranked top-three on the team in receiving yards, average yards per catch, and touchdowns.

Tai Felton and Kaden Prather each notched over 650 receiving yards and at least five touchdowns in 2023.

The roman empire

Roman Hemby has racked up 2,388 scrimmage yards through three years in College Park, a number that ranks second among active FBS players in the Big Ten (Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson - 3, 314) and 12th in the nation among power conference players.
Hemby is one of just nine active FBS players who have recorded 1000+ scrimmage yards in each of the last two seasons. Of that group, only one other player resides in the Big Ten (Penn State's Nicholas Singleton).
He has totaled 2,316 yards from scrimmage over his last two seasons. That number ranked fourth in the Big Ten over the two-year span, only behind Michigan's Blake Corum, Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr., and Wisconsin's Braelon Allen. Hemby is the only one of that group still active in college football.

Roman Hemby stands second among active FBS players in yards from scrimmage over the last two seasons.

Defense!

The Terps had a stellar season defensively as a unit, holding opponents to just 22.5 points per game in 2023, marking the fewest number of points allowed for the Terps since 2010 (22.2).
In 2023, Maryland's defense generated at least 30 sacks and 15 interceptions in a season for the first time since 2001.
Maryland's defense forced 1.85 turnovers per game last season, tied with Penn State for the most in the Big Ten (tied for 10th in the FBS). The last time the Terps led their conference in this category was 2001, when they were atop the ACC at 3.09 per game.
Maryland returns over 70% of its defensive snaps played in 2023 as well as 57.4% of its returning tackles.

The Maryland defense returns seven starters in 2024.

Season Openers

The Terps have won 12 straight non-conference openers heading into the 2024 season, tied for the second-longest streak among Big Ten members, only trailing Michigan State (13). Maryland's streak dates back to 2010 when the Terps beat Navy 17-14 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and includes two wins over ranked Texas teams.
When excluding the 2020 shortened season, Maryland has won 13 straight season openers, the fifth-longest active streak in the FBS (Ohio State-23, Alabama-21, Air Force-16, Michigan State-14.)

Dante Trader Jr. has helped lead the Terps to season-opening victories in each of his three seasons in College Park.

Non-conference success

The Terps have won 12 straight games against non-conference opponents, the second-longest streak in the country (Georgia). Under head coach Michael Locksley, the Terps are 14-1 in non-conference games with wins over Power Five teams Virginia Tech, West Virginia, #23 NC State, #21 Syracuse, Virginia and Auburn. This is the longest such streak for Maryland within the last 40 years.
In the Locksley era (2019-pres.), Maryland's average of 41.9 points per game in non-conference play is fifth in the nation, only trailing Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama and Tennessee. The Terps have scored 30-plus points in 13-of-15 non-conference games under Locksley.

Music City Bowl: Maryland Football vs. Auburn

Glendon Miller recorded a pick-six against Auburn in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl to extend Maryland's non-conference winning streaks to 12 games.

Click here for this week's game notes.