COLLEGE PARK — As well as quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. played in Maryland’s first two games, the offense can’t forget about the running game.

The Terps learned that costly lesson in Saturday’s 27-24 loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten opener for both teams at SECU Stadium. Among the myriad factors that contributed to that setback was a rush offense that labored to 86 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries — a dramatic departure from the 248 yards and three scores in 46 attempts in a 50-7 clobbering of UConn the week before.

Redshirt junior running back Roman Hemby, who was limited to 12 carries for 35 yards, said Tuesday during the team’s weekly media availability that Maryland (1-1, 0-1 Big Ten) must rediscover the mindset against the Huskies and brandish it for Saturday’s game at Virginia (2-0).

“Just having that mentality that we’re going to out-physical the defense,” the Edgewood resident and John Carroll graduate said. “That’s something that we have to get back to. I don’t think we lost it, but in different scenarios, there are different things that are presented to us, and it’s time to get back to the drawing board with that and just put our best foot forward when it comes to that. I know that for myself, I preach being in the right places at the right times, and that’s something I’ve got to get back to the details of certain things just so that I can help my offensive line out. Hopefully, Saturday, it pays dividends for us.”

After the game against the Spartans (2-0, 1-0), coach Mike Locksley admitted that he didn’t have much confidence in Maryland’s blocking to open holes for the running backs, which might explain why the offense ran the ball only six times in the third quarter and seven in the fourth. He said Tuesday that tutoring the offensive line continues to be a work in progress.

“The consistency up front is what we’re working to continue to do and figure it out,” he said. “We had some growing pains a week ago with a really tough front seven with heavy-handed guys. Big Ten football. It was a very early segue into Big Ten play for our team, and to be able to deal with that early and be able to make the necessary corrections, I expect us to be able to establish the ability to do both — run and throw efficiently — as we continue to work through the season.”

The lack of a rushing threat put the onus on Edwards Jr. and a receiving corps headed by senior Tai Felton to fill the void. The redshirt junior said after the game that he didn’t question the playcalling.

“At the end of the day, there’s going to be times when you can’t run the ball,” said Edwards Jr., who ranks third in the Big Ten in passing yards (564) and is tied for fourth in touchdown passes (four). “You’ve got to win passing the ball 30, 40 times and vice versa. Offensively as a whole in both the running and passing game, we’ll have things we want to go look back on and know that it wasn’t stuff they did. It was just us coming down to executing it. I think across the board in both the run game and pass game, we’ll have things we want to correct. At the end of the day, you’ve got to do what’s working for the offense, and you’ve got to ride with the hot hands.”

Confidence in cornerbacks

The Terps’ struggles weren’t limited to the offense. The defense could only flail away as Michigan State racked up 363 of its 493 yards through the air and scored three touchdowns, including a 77-yard bomb from sophomore quarterback Aidan Chiles to freshman wide receiver Nick Marsh that tied the score at 24 with a little more than four minutes left in the game.

With starting redshirt sophomore Perry Fisher dealing with an injured hand, freshmen cornerbacks Kevyn Humes (St. Frances), Brandon Jacob and Braydon Lee were targeted by the Spartans. But Locksley refused to single out their youth, pointing out that Deonte Banks, a 2023 NFL first-round pick of the New York Giants, also struggled as a freshman.

“We have talented players on the outside, and they’re young,” he said. “So how do we help them grow without mitigating the risk of what happened on Saturday? I think that’s the part where we’ve got to keep somebody over the top, we’ve got to keep somebody in the middle of the field or sometimes just play man coverage and let these guys [play]. They’re talented enough to run around and cover people. We’ve looked at the things that happened on Saturday, and keeping the ball in front of us, the outcome of the game was dictated by who made the most big plays, and they executed and created the bigger plays.”

The cornerbacks’ education will continue at Virginia against sophomore quarterback Anthony Colandrea and senior wide receiver Malachi Fields. In Saturday’s 31-30 comeback victory at Wake Forest, Colandrea completed 33 of 43 passes for 357 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, and Fields caught 11 of 13 targets for 148 yards.

Fifth-year senior outside linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II said he and his teammates continue to have faith in the secondary’s most inexperienced members.

“We’ve just got to keep picking them up and make sure that as leaders, we’re encouraging them on a daily basis so that they can know and understand their ability and they can go out and make plays,” he said. “We’ve just got to finish and hold each other accountable, and we will do that.”

Eyes on Colandrea

While Colandrea’s prowess as a passer is well known — he ranks fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in passing yards (654) and is tied for fifth in touchdown passes (five) — he’s equally as dangerous with his feet.

Colandrea rushed for 225 yards in 73 attempts, which was good enough to rank fourth among the Cavaliers in that department. Although Maryland defeated Virginia, 42-14, last September, Colandrea impressed with his ability to extend plays, and Locksley said that is one aspect the defense must be aware of.

“The scariest runs for me is when a quarterback drops back, and we’re in man coverage or we’re underneath things, and now he has the open space,” he said. “He’s one of those guys that we’ve got to contain-rush him and keep him in the pocket, keep him within the confines of the box and make him win from the box. If you let him start running around and extending plays, it’s a tough cover for anybody — whether it’s a freshman or a first-round draft pick. So we’ve got to affect the quarterback.”

End of a rivalry?

Saturday’s game will mark the 80th all-time meeting between Maryland and Virginia, which is the longest series in program history. It will also be the last matchup for the foreseeable future.

The Terps will begin a four-game series with Virginia Tech from 2026 to 2029, but they haven’t faced West Virginia — another area foe — since 2021. Locksley, who has some authority in determining the team’s nonconference opponents, said he would like to restore as many of the regional rivalries as possible.

“I like Virginia, West Virginia, V-Tech,” he said. “Those are good for Maryland, they’re good for our program. They create some excitement because of some of the past. Obviously, UVA being a regional rivalry, we’ve got guys from their state, and they’ve got guys from our state. Any time we have a chance to keep some of these games alive because it’s the longest game we’ve played over the years, I think it’s good for us.”