Maryland is off to a hot start this season, defeating Syracuse on Saturday September 7th 2019 in College Park, MD by a score of 63-20. Maryland’s junior quarterback, Josh Jackson, led the offense as he threw for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sophomore running back Anthony McFarland Jr. continued a strong start to the year, totaling 120 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day.  Although Maryland’s offense was very effective their defense was just as good, holding a potent Syracuse offense to only 20 points. Led by Keandre Jones, the Terrapins linebacker accounted for 8 tackles, as well as 2 sacks, and a forced fumble on the day. 

When speaking about the game, Maryland alumni and Roosevelt English teacher Patrick Gleason stated “I feel like the offense is strong this year – they’ve got a lot of skilled players.” Gleason is right, as many believe that Maryland being led by Jackson and McFarland will be able to continue to score the ball throughout the year especially as they get into Big Ten play. 

Syracuse’s head coach Dino Barbers said “there were a lot of missed tackles,” allowing Maryland to score 63 points on a usually sound Syracuse defense. 

Syracuse’s offense also had trouble getting going, as quarterback Tommy DeVito went for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns on the day, although the Orange rushing attack was held to only 70 yards on the day. 

Maryland improved to 2-0 on the season and ranked 21st in the country, thanks in large part to two straight weeks putting up at least 60 points. In Week 1, they scored an outstanding 79 points against Howard University, and now in week 2, they managed to score 63 points against a top 25 team in Syracuse which set a program record for points against a ranked team. After the win, Syracuse’s head coach Dino Barbers said “This is a humble pie, I don’t know what it tastes like, but it probably tastes exactly the way I feel right now.”

Syracuse, after being ranked in the top 25 at #21, will move out the top 25 due to the beat down by unranked Maryland. Syracuse does not get a break as next week they host the reigning National Champion Clemson Tigers, as they look to rebound from this loss. 

As for Maryland,  they look to improve to 3-0 on the season, as they will travel to Philadelphia to play Temple University on Saturday, September 15.