COLLEGE PARK — Billy Edwards Jr. spent a few days of Maryland football’s bye week in Texas reviewing game film and his mechanics before returning to campus Friday. As nice as it was getting a break from the season, the redshirt junior quarterback couldn’t help but stew a little bit over the team’s 42-28 loss at now-No. 18 Indiana on Sept. 28.

“It’s hard going into the bye week and having two weeks to sit on a loss, but I think that pushes us even more to want to go back out there and correct the things we’ve had mistakes on up until this point,” he said. “And we also know we have to wait two weeks for another opportunity to go out and get this taste out of our mouths.”

Whether the Terps (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) can capitalize on the bye week will likely depend on how they fare Friday night against Northwestern (2-3, 0-2) on Friday at 8 p.m. at SECU Stadium. For a team looking for its first conference victory since last year, the time off was welcomed by many, including junior linebacker Kellan Wyatt.

“The bye week came at a perfect time,” the Glen Burnie resident and Archbishop Spalding graduate said. “We got time to recover mentally and physically because football takes a toll on you mentally and physically.”

Maryland fared well in outcomes against UConn, Virginia and Villanova, averaging 38.3 points and 505.7 yards on offense and allowing only 13.3 points and 303.7 yards on defense. But the team stumbled in setbacks to Michigan State and Indiana, surrendering 34.5 points and 497 yards on defense and mustering just 26 points and 370 yards on offense.

But coach Mike Locksley said he doesn’t want the players to dwell on what has happened.

“What I told our team is, our past doesn’t dictate our future, and what we’ve got to do is grab every opportunity that we have available to us, and the next one is against a team, Northwestern, that when you watch them on tape, a very similar team,” he said. “They’re a good team, they’ve got some good players.”

Going into a shell

Three senior starters — wide receivers Tai Felton and Kaden Prather and safety Dante Trader Jr. — suffered injuries in the game at the Hoosiers. Two of them have since returned to practice, but Locksley declined to reveal their identities.

“We’ll see how the one that hasn’t practiced, how he manages it,” he said. “It’s hard to say he’s out yet after leaving our staff meeting today. We’ll know a lot more today after the one guy gets checked out. But two of the three will be back and ready to go.”

Trader Jr., a McDonogh graduate, is tied for the team lead in total tackles (23), solo tackles (14) and pass breakups (two). Felton and Prather have combined for 66.7% of the offense’s touchdown catches (eight of 12), 59.8% of the receiving yards (911 of 1,524), and 52.9% of the receptions (72 of 136), and their presence would aid Edwards Jr.

“Obviously, I have a very good connection with both of those guys, a lot of experience, a lot of banked reps throughout the season,” he said. “[But] I think regardless of their circumstance, the offense knows we’ve got the next-man-up mentality. Some of these younger guys that obviously saw some time at the end of the Indiana game have made those strides, and it was good for them to get thrown into the fire to get that game experience. Obviously would like to have 10 and 1 in there with me, but regardless of who’s out there with me, I’ve got all the confidence in them.”

Stopping before it starts

With the NFL and college officials penalizing players for celebrating using gun gestures, Locksley sought to ensure that his players did not replicate those mistakes.

To get his point across during a meeting on Monday, Locksley cited the shooting death of his son, Meiko, on Sept. 3, 2017.

“In one of the games this week, you hear [it’s] for ‘brandishing a weapon.’ Well, I had a son killed with a weapon. It’s not funny,” he said. “So I had to share with my team that I get it. You look all across the country, the NFL, people are doing those actions, and sometimes people interpret things a certain way depending on who you are. For me, I just told my team the importance of us understanding that’s not who I want us to represent.”

High school vibes

Friday night’s game is the Terps’ first Friday game since Sept. 15, 2023, when they clobbered Virginia, 42-14. The game took Wyatt down memory lane.

“Night games are fun,” he said. “It kind of brings you back to high school a little bit, playing on Friday nights. Just to have that juice a little bit is nice to have.”

Edwards Jr. echoed that sentiment — except for waiting all day for the game.

“But those night games give us extra opportunities to meet all through the day, the morning, the afternoon to have those position meetings to watch some last-minute tape, to feel like the hay’s not out of the barn,” he said. “We can get some last-minute preparation before a night game.”

Seeking support

Fans who attend Friday night’s game are being asked to wear black as part of the program’s “blackout,” and the first 4,000 students in attendance will receive blackout T-shirts.

Locksley appealed to fans who are sitting on the fence about showing up.

“We need you here,” he said. “We need to create that environment as the season starts to come to an end, the recruiting, the portal window, all of those things. We need to make sure we’re putting our best foot forward as a program but also as a community supporting our program. We need that extra juice.”

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