Game 3: Maryland at Virginia Preview - University of Maryland Athletics (2024)

Football 9/10/2024 10:00:00 AM

Maryland (1-1, 0-1B1G)vs.Virginia(2-0, 1-0 ACC)

September 14, 2024

Scott Stadium

8:00 p.m.

ACCN

COLLEGE PARK, MD--Marylandhits the road for the first time this seasonwhen ittravels to Virginia to face the Cavaliers on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Scott Stadium. The game is set to kickoff at 8:00 p.m.and will be broadcast on the ACCNetwork and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.

Non-conference Success

The Terps have won 13 straight games against non-conference opponents, the second-longest streak in the country (Georgia). Under head coach Michael Locksley, the Terps are 15-1 in non-conference games with wins over Power Five teams Virginia Tech, West Virginia, #23 NC State, #21 Syracuse, Virginia and Auburn. This is the longest such streak for Maryland within the last 40 years.
In the Locksley era (2019-pres.), Maryland's average of 42.4 points per game in non-conference play ranks fifth in the nation, only trailing Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma and LSU. The Terps have scored 30-plus points in 14-of-16 non-conference games under Locksley.

Maryland's 43-point win over UConn in the season opener was the school's largest in a season opener that was against an FBS school since Division I went to two distinctions in 1978.

Rivalry renewed

This Saturday will mark the 80th all-time meeting between Maryland and Virginia with the Cavaliers being the Terps' most commonly played opponent in program history. Maryland leads the series by a record of 45-32-2.
Last year's game was the first time the two teams met since 2013, Maryland's final season in the ACC. During that game in College Park, Maryland came away with its largest win in the series since 1986, 42-14. The Terps rallied from a 14-point deficit and scored 42 unanswered points behind Taulia Tagovailoa's 342 passing yards.

Against Virginia last season, true freshman Braeden Wisloski returneda kick 98 yards for a touchdown,the first Maryland kickoff return for a TD since 2019.

Touchdown tai

Senior WR Tai Felton has gotten off to a blistering start this season. Through two games, he leads all FBS players in receiving yards with 330. Additionally, his 18 total receptions are tied for second most among all FBS players and are the most in the Big Ten. His three receiving touchdowns are tied for tops in the Big Ten (Washington's Denzel Boston and Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith).
Felton is the third Big Ten player in the last 20 years to record 300+ receiving yards through his team's first two games of the season, joining Purdue's Rondale Moore in 2019 (344) and Michigan State's Tony Lippett in 2014 (300).
The 2023 All-Big Ten honoree is also the first Big Ten player in the last 25 years to record 150+ receiving yards in each of his first two games of a season.
Felton is the first Terp since Jermaine Lewis in 1995 to have 150+ receiving yards in any two consecutive games.
With three TDs in the first two games of the season, Felton is the first Terp with three receiving TDs in the first two games since DJ Moore in 2017. Felton is also just the second Maryland playerto do that since at least 1996.
Felton notched a career-best 11 receptions on Saturday. That number marked the most by a Terp since current Tennessee Titan Chig Okonkwo had 12 catches against Penn State on Nov. 6, 2021. It was the first time a Terp had double-figure catches since Rakim Jarrett had 10 vs. Michigan State on Nov. 13, 2021.
Through Week Two of the 2024 season, Tai Felton is PFF's second-highest graded wide receiver in all of FBS with a 92.4 grade. Felton is only behind Ole Miss' Tre Harris (93.8). Only one other WR has a 90+ grade (Skyler Bell, UConn).

The Ashburn, VA native has 100+receiving yards in each of the first two games this season, becoming the second Terp since 1996 to accomplish that feat (Dontay DemusJr.)