Minnesota and Maryland meet in Minneapolis in the Golden Gophers’ homecoming with budding optimism following slow starts to the season.
After losing its first two conference games, Minnesota (4-3, 2-2 Big Ten) has rebounded this month, pulling off second-half comebacks to topple then No. 11 USC and UCLA.
Maryland (4-3, 1-3) dropped its first three Big Ten games before staging a fourth-quarter rally last week in a 29-28 victory over USC.
The Terrapins’ win after they trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter was particularly timely as sixth-year coach Mike Locksley had been the target of harsh criticism in the wake of a 37-10 loss at home to Northwestern.
“I saw our team grow up right before our eyes,” Locksley said.
The orchestrator of the comeback was Billy Edwards Jr., who completed 39 of 50 passes for 373 yards with two touchdowns. Edwards also scored the game-winning touchdown on a 3-yard run with 48 seconds left.
The junior leads the Big Ten in passing yards (2,113) and completions (195). His top target, Kai Felton, paces the conference in receptions (64) and receiving yards (803).
Minnesota counters with the second-best pass defense in the league (139.6 yards per game) and leads the Big Ten in interceptions (13).
“They all play in synch,” Edwards said. “They play the ball really well. They’re all aggressive.”
Edwards specifically mentioned the challenge of facing Golden Gophers cornerback Ethan Robinson, a transfer from Bucknell, and safety Koi Perich, who leads the team with four interceptions in his first college season.
“When you’re talking about the impact that he’s making on defense, special teams, that’s hard to do as a true freshman,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “He came in June. He hasn’t even been through the strength program, the off-season program yet.”
Minnesota got back to work after a bye week that followed back-to-back clutch victories over the Big Ten’s two California teams.
In the win over USC, quarterback Max Brosmer ran for two touchdowns in the final eight minutes as the Golden Gophers pulled out a 24-17 victory after trailing by seven points.
In the UCLA win, 21-17, Minnesota scored all of its points in the second half as Brosmer threw two touchdown passes, including the game-winner to Darius Taylor with 27 seconds left.
Fleck expects a tougher matchup on Saturday against Maryland, which leads the series 4-3.
“They’re twitchy, they’re stout, they’re good, they’re long, they’re athletic,” Fleck said. “It just keeps coming at you. That’s the good and bad of our league.”
