MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Max Brosmer threw two of his season-high four touchdown passes early, Justin Walley added a pick-six and Minnesota scored three first-quarter touchdowns and easily beat Maryland 48-23 Saturday.
Winners of three straight, the Gophers (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) got nine catches for 117 yards and two scores from Daniel Jackson. Elijah Spencer added a couple touchdown receptions as the Gophers scored their most points in a conference game since beating the Terrapins 52-10 Oct. 26, 2019.
“Coming off a bye sometimes teams can get lackadaisical, not spend as much time preparing, but our team prepared to the best of their ability for two weeks and that showed,” Brosmer said.
Maryland (4-4, 1-4) has lost three of four, and dug itself a deep hole early in this one.Six plays after stopping Maryland on fourth down of its opening series, a 10-yard pass from Brosmer to Jackson got Minnesota on the scoreboard, its first opening drive touchdown of the season.
Brosmer to Spencer made it 14-0 Gophers, a lead that increased to 21-0 just 38 seconds later when miscommunication between quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. and his receiver resulted in a ball thrown directly to Walley, who took the interception 32 yards untouched into the end zone.
Minnesota has allowed just five passing touchdowns this season and entered the game with 13 interceptions, tied for second-most in the country behind James Madison’s 15.
Koi Perich added his third interception in the past two games, upping his conference-best total to five, the most ever by a Minnesota freshman and is now just two picks behind the program’s season record.
Averaging a Big Ten-best 301.9 passing yards per game, the Terrapins finished with 323. Edwards was 19 of 35 for 201 yards in three quarters against the nation’s fourth-ranked defense. MJ Morris was 7 of 8 for 122 yards with the game well out of reach. Tai Felton, who has a Big Ten best 73 receptions, caught nine balls for 104 yards.
“They played hard for four quarters, just don’t always play smart and then we got to be more consistent,” said Maryland coach Mike Locksley.
Brosmer was 26-of-33 for 320 yards for Minnesota. He did not throw an interception, nor was he sacked. His four passing touchdowns were the first for a Gophers quarterback since 2019.
“You keep him back there clean, he can do what he just did,” said Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck.
Minnesota led 34-10 at half, its highest total through two quarters of a conference game since having 35 in a 55-14 win over Iowa on Nov. 8, 2014.
“Our players made plays. … Our playmakers were going to have to outplay their playmakers and I thought we were able to do that,” said Fleck.
Darius Taylor made it 48-10 with a 51-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
The Takeaway
Maryland: The passing game is more than adequate but the Terrapins need to find offensive balance. Partly due to the lopsided score early, Maryland ran just 25 times for 104 yards. It entered averaging 121.1 yards per game, 102nd among FBS schools.
Minnesota: Perich has already proven to be one of the most dynamic players of the eight-season Fleck era. The Esko, Minn. native returned his interception 45 yards and had two punt returns for 27. He’s averaging 15.1 yards on 11 punt returns this season.
Up Next
Maryland: At top-ranked Oregon Nov. 9.
