Washington's big 4th-down throw helps Maryland put away Northern Illinois in a 20-9 win

“I thought we needed a game like this, where we were going to be tested and play for four quarters,” Maryland coach Michael Locksley said. “I never felt at any point that our team panicked.”

The Huskies (1-1) couldn't pull off a repeat of Week 2 last year, when they shocked Notre Dame in what was the lone regular-season loss for the Irish. Telly Johnson scored on a 74-yard run in the third, but Northern Illinois offered little on offense besides that.

Maryland led 13-9 late in the third and had the ball inside the Northern Illinois 10 before Washington lost a fumble. The Terrapins forced the Huskies to punt from their own 1, but Maryland failed to do anything with great field position and punted back.

On their next possession, the Terps faced fourth-and-5 from the 42, and Washington threw deep to Knotts, who slipped behind safety Jasper Beeler, caught the ball and strolled into the end zone.

Washington also threw a 12-yard TD pass to Dorian Fleming in the second quarter.

The takeaway

Northern Illinois: The Huskies didn't make too many major mistakes, and that enabled them to keep it close, but they had a hard time moving the ball. Running back Chavon Wright — a star last season at the Division II University of Charleston in West Virginia — managed 90 yards on 27 carries.

Maryland: The Terps had extended stretches in which the offense struggled, but Washington's two TD throws were highlights. On the first, he slipped momentarily before rolling out to the right and throwing to Fleming. The second was in a high-pressure situation where the coaching staff put a lot of trust in him.

“You've just kind of got to stay with it,” Washington said. “No matter how many possessions you get, you've got to make the best of them.”

Aggressive move

After Johnson's long touchdown made it 13-9 in the third quarter, Northern Illinois decided to go for 2. Josh Holst threw incomplete.

“The book recommended to kick the extra point, but I wasn’t trying to play for a tie ballgame. I wanted to at least have an idea of what we needed,” coach Thomas Hammock said. “We had a good play. We didn’t execute it to the best of our ability, but my thought was it would be a two-point game, a field goal would win the game or put you in a position to get the lead.”

Stingy

Maryland won its opener over Florida Atlantic 39-7. The 16 points allowed through the first two games marks the fewest for the Terps to start a season since they allowed 10 in the first two games of 2001. Maryland went on to win the ACC that year.

The Terrapins intercepted six passes against FAU, then held Northern Illinois to 91 yards passing.

“I've been really pleased with the way we've contested the ball in the passing game, which a year ago was an Achilles heel for us,” Locksley said. “Being able to play a better man coverage, a little stickier man coverage. Didn't affect the quarterback as much as I would have liked to see us do today, but when we needed to be in coverage position, I feel like we've been in great coverage position.”

Up next

Maryland hosts Towson next Saturday. Northern Illinois is off before taking another shot at a power conference opponent at Mississippi State on Sept. 20.

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports