COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Maryland Terrapins improved to 2-0 on the season with a 20-9 victory over Northern Illinois on Friday, extending the nation's longest non-conference winning streak to 17 games.
Head coach Mike Locksley said he doesn't take the team's early success for granted as they continue to develop.
"We definitely have to acknowledge that we've been able to handle the first two opportunities and get out with wins while still being able to grow, learn, and mature as a team," Locksley said.
The Terrapins showed significant improvement in discipline after committing 16 penalties in their season opener. That number dropped dramatically to just three penalties against Northern Illinois.
Hear from Coach Locksley and QB Malik Washington as they speak on the team's growth heading into action against Towson
"I think they're buying in. You know, we have a standard, and again, good teams don't beat themselves," Locksley said. "We played a lot cleaner as a young team to be able to get that corrected in a one week window shows me that they're listening to us as coaches."
True freshman quarterback Malik Washington has made an impressive transition to college football, leading all FBS true freshmen with 512 passing yards and five touchdowns through two games.
Washington said the team needs to focus on maximizing every opportunity as they prepare for conference play September 20.
"Really just capitalizing on every possession, you know, in this game, sometimes it gets hard. Those possessions become few and far in between just with the way the game is played later in the season," Washington said. "Just taking advantage of every possession that we get and capitalizing in the red zone."
The Terrapins will face Towson on Saturday in their final non-conference game before beginning Big Ten play. The matchup holds special significance for Locksley, who is a former Towson Tiger.
"“Towson on deck is my alma mater, a place I have an affinity for. It’s because of Towson I’m able to stand here before you guys, so I got a lot of respect for Coach [Pete] Shinnick, the Towson program and a lot of fond memories from my days as a tiger. Coach Schnnick is a winning guy. A guy that’s won national championship at the division 2 level. He’s built programs and you can tell that he’s got this program going in the right direction," said Locksley.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1:20 p.m. at SECU Stadium.
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