Maryland’s ground game opened the season with a statement, and sophomore running back Iverson Howard is in position to keep cashing in on that momentum.
After the Terps piled up 365 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a blowout win over Hampton, Howard emerged as one of the backs who can help keep the offense rolling in Week 2 against UConn. He turned in a career-best 66 yards and two touchdowns in the opener, scoring for the first time as a Maryland player and giving head coach Mike Locksley another reason to believe the Quince Orchard product can help establish the run.
Howard played in all 12 games as a true freshman, but his role was limited in conference play, when he never got more than four carries in any of the nine Big Ten games. Now, with a bigger opportunity ahead, he says the game has started to slow down.
“I feel like everything got more natural this year,” Howard told IBG. “Obviously new running backs coach, coach [Andre] Powell, he just taught me a lot of things that I didn’t know so it kind of made the game slow down for me.”
That offseason work centered on tightening up the details. Howard said Powell pushed him to lean into his elusiveness instead of trying to overpower everyone in front of him.
“Making guys miss, not trying to run through everybody. It's better to make somebody miss,” Howard said of Powell’s message.
The addition of offensive coordinator Clint Trickett has also changed the feel of the offense, and Howard believes the scheme gives Maryland a chance to spread the ball around and create openings.
“He knows how to get the ball to his playmakers,” Howard said of Trickett.
“A lot of RPOs you do, where you don't know who's getting the ball and that can confuse the defense, sets us up for bigger plays.”
Howard said the Week 1 outburst may have surprised some outside the program, but it didn’t catch the running backs off guard.
“We know what we did this offseason. I feel like it’s going to get better from here on out,” Howard said.
Against UConn, Howard also sees a chance to show another part of his game. The Huskies are expected to bring pressure, and he’s eager for the chance to prove himself in pass protection.
“I'm excited because UConn sends a lot of blitzes. I get to show off my pass blocking ability.”
Maryland will try to build on its early success on the ground before a primetime matchup with Virginia Tech next week and then turn toward conference play. For Howard, that means a chance to keep growing into a bigger role while helping a hometown program that believes it can make a run in a season where every week matters.
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Maryland Faces A Bigger Test Than Fans Realize This Week
A 62-0 opener can make just about any team feel like it has everything figured out, and Maryland certainly left Saturday with plenty to like. The Terps piled up 365 rushing yards against Hampton, their biggest ground output since 2018, and finished with six rushing touchdowns, the most in a game since 2019. DeJuan Williams and Iverson Howard each found the end zone twice, giving the offense a physical, downhill identity it hopes to carry into the rest of September.
UConn arrives next, and the challenge is different even if the momentum feels the same. Maryland will try to keep leaning on the ground game against a defense that should be a far stiffer test than the one it saw in Week 1, which makes this a useful early measuring stick for how real the run-game surge is. If the Terps can keep that balance and efficiency going, the opener may look less like a one-day outburst and more like a sign of what this offense can become. [Read more 🡒]