The Maryland football team is set to play at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium for the first time this season after opening the year with a pair of victories away from College Park. The Terps, which host Temple at noon on BTN, have won 12 consecutive home-openers in College Park dating back to 2006.

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STORYLINES
– Saturday marks the ninth meeting in history between Maryland and Temple, with the Terps holding a 7-1 edge in the series dating back to the first meeting in 1997. Maryland was victorious in the last meeting on Sept. 8, 2012, when Perry Hills threw for two touchdowns and Stefon Diggs totaled 135 all-purpose yards in a 36-27 win.

– The Terrapin defense ranks 14th in the country in third down stops, holding its opponents to a 24-percent success rate. The mark was bolstered by its success against Texas, which converted just 3-of-15 (20%) attempts in the season-opener. In total, Maryland has forced 18 punts through two games, marking the most in a two-game stretch for the program since 2015 against James Madison and USF.

– Maryland’s defense was exceptional in its victory against Bowling Green, allowing a meager 15 yards on the ground. It was the fewest yards allowed on the ground for the program since Oct. 1, 2016, when Purdue managed to total just 10 rushing yards.

– Redshirt freshman Kasim Hill remains an incredibly reliable signal caller for the Terrapins, opening his career with 66 pass attempts without an interception. It marks the most pass attempts to open a career without an interception since Danny O’Brien began his career with 96 turnover-free attempts in 2010. O’Brien would go on to win ACC Rookie of the Year. C.J. Brown (2013) was the last Maryland quarterback to open a season with at least 45 pass attempts without an interception.

– The Maryland rushing attack accumulated an astounding 444 rushing yards in last Saturday’s win against Bowling Green, marking the most in a game for the program since posting 445 against Virginia in 1999. Senior Ty Johnson and sophomore Tayon Fleet-Davis each recorded 100-yard days on the ground, as the team collectively averaged 8.6 yards/carry. Fleet-Davis is the first Terrapin running back since Keon Lattimore (2007) to record at least three rushing touchdowns in the first two games of the season.

BY THE NUMBERS – OFFENSE
1 – The Maryland offensive line has been tremendous through two games, allowing just one sack to open the season. It marks the least amount of sacks allowed in the entire Big Ten Conference. The success has allowed redshirt freshman quarterback Kasim Hill to stay relatively clean as he returns from his ACL tear suffered in week three of last season.

3 – Freshman wide receiver Jeshaun Jones burst onto the national scene in his collegiate debut against #23 Texas, recording a passing, receiving and rushing touchdown on each of his first three touches of the football. Jones’ three scoring methods put him in some elite company:

• First freshman since Marcus Mariota (Oregon) in 2012
• First Maryland player since at least 1980 (cannot confirm past that point)
• First true freshman since Freddie Barnes (Bowling Green) in 2006 – only four true freshmen have done it since 1996
• The first player to do it against Texas since Joey Harrington (Oregon) in 2000

Jones is also the first Terrapin non-quarterback to throw a touchdown pass since Stefon Diggs connected with Matt Furstenburg at North Carolina on Nov. 24, 2012.

10 – Senior running back Ty Johnson has recorded 154 rushing yards thus far this season to vault into the top-10 on Maryland’s all-time rushing list, most recently passing Louis Carter (1972-74) with 2,283 career rushing yards. Johnson’s 124 yards against Bowling Green marked his ninth career 100-yard game, which is tied for fourth in program history. Johnson has also moved into seventh on Maryland’s all-time all-purpose yards list in the young season with 3,566 yards and stands only 99 yards behind Bren Lowery (1986-89) for sixth.

12 – Twelve different Terrapins have recorded a rush in the Terps’ two games this season, surpassing the total number of players who rushed the ball during the entire 2017 season. The duo of senior running back Ty Johnson and sophomore running back Tayon Fleet-Davis are the only two backs to have more than 20 attempts on the season, combining for 290 yards and four touchdowns, while Lorenzo Harrison, Javon Leake, and Jeshaun Jones have each added scores of their own.

66 – Redshirt freshman quarterback Kasim Hill has opened his career throwing 66 pass attempts without an interception, the most pass attempts without throwing a pick to begin a Terrapin career since Danny O’Brien threw 96 pass attempts before throwing an interception in 2010. Through five career appearances (four starts), Hill has completed 65-percent of his passes for 573 yards and four touchdowns.

100 – With senior running back Ty Johnson rushing for 124 yards and sophomore running back Tayon Fleet-Davis recording 102 yards last weekend as part of Maryland’s 444 rushing yards at Bowling Green, the Terps had two running backs exceed the 100-yard mark on the ground in the same game for the first time since Johnson and then-freshman running back Lorenzo Harrison did it on October 22, 2016 against Michigan State. It marked the first 100-yard game of Fleet-Davis’ career.

444 – Maryland’s 444 rushing yards against Bowling Green was the most for the program since it had 445 yards on the ground on November 20th, 1999 at Virginia. Terrapin legend LaMont Jordan memorably recorded a program-record 306 rushing yards on that day.

BY THE NUMBERS – DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
2.5 – A year removed from garnering All-Big Ten honors for leading Big Ten defensive backs in tackles for loss (9.5) in 2017, Antoine Brooks, Jr. has picked up right where he left off this season. Brooks wrapped up Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in the win over Texas and leads the team with 2.5 tackles for loss through two games.

4 – The Terrapin defense has done a superb job limiting “chunk” plays, allowing just four plays longer than 20 yards through two games. The longest play allowed was a 39-yard reception in the Texas game. The Terps have not allowed a 100-yard rusher or receiver, or a 300-yard passer in 2018.

4 – Junior defensive end Byron Cowart turned in statistically the best game of his career against Bowling Green, posting a career-high four tackles while also tallying the first sack of his career. The Auburn transfer and former No. 1 overall recruit in his class has been a welcomed addition to the Terrapins starting both games so far.

5 – The Maryland defense recorded five sacks in the win at Bowling Green last weekend, including a career-best two sacks from junior middle linebacker Isaiah Davis. It was a fantastic outing for the Terrapins considering the team recorded just 16 sacks in 12 games last season.

7 – Junior punter Wade Lees is off to a great start in 2018 maintaining his reputation as an extremely accurate punter, placing seven of his 11 punts inside the 20. Lees has punted 147 times in his career, recording 42 punts inside the 20 and just four touchbacks. At 30 years of age, Lees is the oldest player in the Big Ten and second-oldest in FBS.

12 – Senior Ty Johnson currently ranks 12th in program history with 918 career kick return yards. Johnson next looks to pass Lewis Sanders (1996-99) as he aims to become the 11th player in Terrapin history to break the 1,000-yard plateau. Johnson totaled 657 return yards as a junior, which ranked ninth in program single-season history.

18 – Maryland has forced 18 punts through two games, marking the most in a two-game stretch for the program since 2015 against James Madison and USF. Critical to the success has been the Terrapins’ ability to get off the field on third downs, with its opponents converting just 24-percent of the time.

40 – True freshman placekicker Joseph Petrino knocked down a career-long 40-yard field goal in the rain against Bowling Green last weekend, while also making all six point after attempts. Petrino has been rock solid so far in his young career, going 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and 10-for-10 on PATs. He is Maryland’s first true freshman placekicker since Brad Craddock (2012), who went on to win the Lou Groza Award in 2014.

-Via Maryland Athletics 

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