Maryland Exposes Suspect Northwestern In Blowout Fashion
Marcus Washington // Terpsville • Published: October 28th, 2028
We're a few days before Halloween, but the Northwestern Wildcats played the part of a Scooby-Doo villain perfectly this season. That is, until the Maryland Terrapins played the role of the Mystery Inc and unmasked the Wildcats as mere victors of circumstance. Outside of a suspect Michigan squad—who lost again this weekend—and a USC squad who dismantled them, the Wildcats had yet to play an opponent over .500.
The Terrapins proved on Saturday that the Wildcats who got spanked 42-3 in Los Angeles are in fact the real Wildcats, repeating that score at SECU Stadium as Malik Washington tallied six touchdowns and the defense finally stepped up, led by Garrison Dobbs' 3.5 sacks.
Surprisingly enough, the Wildcats' first drive of the game actually passed midfield behind some timely runs by backup QB Jacob Bell, but the wiggle room he found early quickly evaporated as Dobbs ended the promising drive with his first sack of the game. The Northwestern punt pinned the Terps at their own 1-yard line.
14 plays and 100 yards later and Malik Washington sliced through the Northwestern front seven for the touchdown and the Terrapins rolled from there.
In his post-game presser Coach Leon praised Dobbs for being the difference maker that finally sparked a dominant outing from the defense.
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Question One - Aisha Thompson (Terp Magazine): "Coach, it's been well documented that your defense has struggled to generate pressure. That changed today with seven sacks. Do you attribute the surge to your personnel changes defensively, or the fact that Northwestern was down two starting linemen and had a backup QB under center?"
Armando Leon: "It's pertinent to point out the context, Aisha, with Northwestern missing starters, but at the same time I think that's a disservice to our guys. We've been moving Garrison around; and round of applause for him, he's taken each new role with gusto and the type of determination that's contagious. He started beating his man and forcing Jacob to move the pocket, and that's when everything started coming together. As I said, it's worth noting the injuries for Northwestern, but regardless; without him moving the pocket by his presence alone, I don't think we break through like this."
Question Two - Felix Gatoson (The Daily Northwestern): "Your team took a 35-3 lead right at the end of the third quarter. Northwestern pulled their starters at that point, yet you did not. Any reason why?"
Armando Leon: "As noted earlier, we made some personnel changes leading up to this contest. It was more making sure that everyone was comfortable in their roles and getting valuable reps in low-pressure situations, before they're thrown into the fire again. Coach Candle felt a bit slighted when we spoke at midfield, but just as I'm assuring you, I assured him, this was more about making sure my guys knew their roles, than running up the score to 'aura farm' as the kids would say."
Question Three - Ryan Parker (Big Ten Network): "With the win over Michigan losing luster as the Wolverines continue to struggle in Big Ten play, how important was it for your squad to notch another ranked win—your 3rd of the season—to build your resume in Year 1?"
Armando Leon: "I hate the narrative that when a premier program loses a few games, suddenly it isn't as impressive of a win. I heard the same thing last year when Oregon State beat Oregon, it was a landmark moment at first, but when they were 7-5 at season's end, no one batted an eye. Regardless of how they're performing this year, Michigan is loaded with talent. To beat them, in their own house, is a watershed moment for our team, regardless of what the mainstream media thinks."
•••
This was the kind of effort our team needed. Frankly, I don't care if the sacks are a result of the personnel changes, the Northwestern injury situation, or the lunar cycle. We finally broke through in a big way and hopefully, this is the type of performance that inspires the team down the stretch.
You saw the direct result of Leon's pass rush finally getting home in the game. Two interceptions, 183 passing yards total, and barely over 200 total yards of offense for the Wildcats. That's a complete game by the defense and it all starts up front.
I'm hoping Dobbs' performance is based on his role and not the injuries, because he looked like an absolute game wrecker on the inside. If he can keep up the pressure rate in the latter half of the season, it's going to have a dramatic effect on our results.
I don't want to overhype one game, but this could be the point we look back and say was the start of a dominant finish for the Terps.
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Northwestern | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Maryland | 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 42 |
| Q | Team | Time | Play | Northwestern | Maryland |
| 1st | Maryland | 1:25 | Malik Washington, 1 Yd Run | 0 | 7 |
| 1st | Maryland | 0:00 | Iverson Howard, 33 Yd Pass From Malik Washington | 0 | 14 |
| 2nd | Maryland | 0:48 | Malik Washington, 7 Yd Run | 0 | 21 |
| 2nd | Northwestern | 0:03 | Glen Easter, 47 Yd FG | 3 | 21 |
| 3rd | Maryland | 3:23 | JT Taggart, 7 Yd Pass From Malik Washington | 3 | 28 |
| 3rd | Maryland | 0:00 | Emanuel Ross, 25 Yd Pass From Malik Washington | 3 | 35 |
| 4th | Maryland | 1:54 | Emanuel Ross, 8 Yd Pass From Malik Washington | 3 | 42 |
Northwestern Maryland Passing | Stats Passing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Jacob Bell | 14/21, 134 Yds, INT Malik Washington | 27/38, 273 Yds, 4 TD Terrelle Shaw | 4/10, 49 Yds, INT Rushing | Stats Rushing | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Jacob Bell | 9 Att, 27 Yds Paul Colon | 9 Att, 86 Yds Dashun Reeder | 5 Att, 17 Yds Malik Washington | 6 Att, 29 Yds, 2 TD Receiving | Stats Receiving | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ Isaiah Robinson | 5 Rec, 45 Yds JT Taggart | 7 Rec, 77 Yds, TD Braden Blueitt | 3 Rec, 37 Yds Iverson Howard | 5 Rec, 52 Yds, TD King Davis | 2 Rec, 23 Yds Emanuel Ross | 4 Rec, 53 Yds, 2 TD Defensive | Stats Defensive | Stats ----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------ SS Keon Tolson | 6 Tkl, TFL DE Garrison Dobbs | 6 Tkl, 6 TFL, 3.5 Sacks SS Josiah Jones | 7 Tkl, TFL DT Caleb Wiliams | 3 Tkl, 3 TFL, 2.5 Sacks DE Callen Campbell | 4 Tkl, 2 TFL, Sack CB Braydon Lee | 7 Tkl, INT
Big Ten Week Nine Results
17 Michigan (5-3) @ #25 Wisconsin (5-3) 27
45 Rutgers (3-6) @ Tulsa (4-4) 24
41 UCLA (4-4) @ #17 Nebraska (6-3)
28 Illinois (5-3) @ Iowa (4-4) 14
24 Indiana (4-4) @ #9 Penn State (7-1) 34
24 Minnesota (5-3) @ #9 Ohio State (7-2) 45
10 #16 USC (6-2) @ #3 Oregon (8-0) 38
21 Purdue (3-6) @ Michigan State (5-4) 45
Notable Week Nine Results
33 #13 Ole Miss (6-2) @ #7 Georgia (7-1) 28
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