Washington storms back from a 20-point deficit, hands Maryland first loss, 24-20

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — When Washington settled for a field goal late in the third quarter, it at least put the Huskies on the scoreboard. Still, their margin for error was essentially gone, since they were down by 17 points with just under 19 minutes to play.

“Our guys just kept believing, kept competing,” Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said.

The Huskies needed a dominant fourth quarter and got it, storming back to a 24-20 victory over Maryland on Saturday. What was remarkable was they did it without forcing any late turnovers. Washington simply shut down the Terrapins and then capitalized against a Maryland defense that wilted late.

Washington's final five drives: 45 plays, 298 yards, 24 points and a game-ending kneel-down.

Maryland's final four drives: 19 plays, 52 yards, no points.

“You have to learn to put people away,” Terrapins coach Mike Locksley said. “Especially a good team like Washington when you have them here at home.”

Jonah Coleman scored on a 1-yard run with 3:21 remaining, capping Washington's furious rally from a 20-0 third-quarter deficit.

Washington (4-1, 1-1) won on the road in Big Ten play for the first time since debuting in the league last season. It took a while for them to produce much of anything offensively, and Coleman finished with just 57 yards on 18 carries, but the Huskies scored on four straight possessions when they had to.

Maryland (4-1, 1-1) hadn't trailed all season before Coleman's touchdown, and it didn't look like the Terrapins would on this day either after freshman Malik Washington threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to AJ Szymanski on the first possession of the second half.

The Huskies then settled for a field goal and a 20-3 deficit at the end of a 16-play drive, but after that, Maryland's offense had no response. The Terps seemed oddly uninterested in running the ball with a big lead, and they went three-and-out on their next two possessions.

“We just did what we're supposed to do,” Fisch said. “We played sound football. We covered, we rushed the passer, we tackled really, really well when the opportunities were there. They didn't get any leaky yardage.”

Demond Williams Jr. threw touchdown passes of 3 yards to Denzel Boston and 34 yards to Dezmen Roebuck to make it 20-17. After one more Maryland punt, the Huskies drove 80 yards for the winning touchdown.

Maryland had one last chance on offense, but Jalil Farooq dropped a pass near the Washington 15, and the Terps turned the ball over on downs on the next play.

After an early interception led to a Maryland field goal, the Terps' Washington ran for a 4-yard touchdown to make it 10-0. They led 13-0 at halftime.

Washington: The Huskies could be second-guessed for not using Coleman more early, but once they started stopping Maryland on defense, they began to roll on offense. It's a big win after a cross-country trip.

“Just having our backs against the wall, and knowing that if we didn't do what we had to do, then we knew the game was over," Williams said. ”Just going out there with that mindset — take it one play at a time. Don't try to force ourselves back into the game, and I felt like the game just came to us."

Maryland: It was a huge missed opportunity for the Terps, who were coming off a big win at Wisconsin and had a good crowd on hand for this one. The coaching staff failed to come up with plays that would help Maryland keep the ball a bit when the defense began to weaken.

This game was the continuation of a bizarre trend in which Maryland has not won a game coming out of a regular-season bye week since 2016.

Washington hosts Rutgers on Friday night. Maryland hosts Nebraska on Saturday.

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