Northwestern fails to hold an early 10-point lead and falls to Maryland 31-24 — its 6th loss in a row

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Roman Hemby ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns, including a sensational 75-yard sprint with 3 minutes, 22 seconds remaining that gave Maryland a 31-24 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.

The Terrapins (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) overcame the absence of standout quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who aggravated a knee sprain last weekend. This is the earliest they’ve become bowl-eligible since 2001, when they did it on Oct. 11.

It wasn’t easy. Northwestern tied it at 24 with 3:34 remaining on a 9-yard scoring run by Andrew Clair. On the first play of Maryland’s next drive, Hemby slipped through a hole on the left side and outran everyone for the touchdown that put the Terps back in front.

“We saw the front that we wanted, and I just came through the mesh, and the linemen got their blocks, the wide receivers worked to the secondary to get their blocks,” Hemby said. “I just had to run and beat two people, and I was able to outrun their angles.”

Brendan Sullivan’s deep pass was intercepted by Maryland’s Beau Brade with 3:02 to play.

Billy Edwards Jr. — who helped Maryland win at Indiana last weekend after Tagovailoa was carted off — threw for 166 yards and a touchdown against Northwestern.

The Wildcats (1-6, 1-3) led 17-7 late in the second quarter but dropped their sixth straight game since winning the opener against Nebraska in Ireland.

Evan Hull ran for 119 yards and caught a touchdown pass for Northwestern.

Edwards was under constant pressure in the first half and had to scramble out of trouble quite a bit. The Terps were unable to turn first-and-goal from the 2 into a touchdown at the end of the half. They settled for a field goal and trailed 17-10.

An Dante Trader Jr. interception early in the third quarter set Maryland up near midfield, and Hemby’s 18-yard scoring run eventually tied the game. The Terps took a 24-17 lead later in the quarter on a 30-yard touchdown strike from Edwards to Rakim Jarrett.

Maryland had a chance to take a two-score lead in the fourth, but a drive that took 6:15 off the clock produced no points when Chad Ryland missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt. The Terps had second-and-1 from the 5 but a fumbled snap resulted in an 8-yard loss, then Edwards took a sack for a loss of 15 that made the field-goal attempt much longer.

Northwestern then drove the other way to tie it at 24.

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Maryland had scored on its first possession in every game this season — the only FBS team that could make that claim. That streak ended Saturday, and Northwestern took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard Sullivan run.

The Terps tied it on Hemby’s 14-yard touchdown, but the Wildcats scored the next 10 points and went up 17-7 on a 10-yard scoring pass from Sullivan to Hull with 4:50 left in the half.

Northwestern: It was a decent effort by the defense, even against Maryland’s backup quarterback. But the Wildcats eventually gave up the big play on the ground.

“Defensively, I thought we played well except for a handful of plays,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said.

Maryland: Edwards played fine, making plays with his legs and avoiding any turnovers, and Hemby picked up the slack offensively with Tagovailoa out.

Northwestern: Saturday at Iowa.

Maryland: Nov. 5 at Penn State.