Maryland football quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. shot deep to Kaden Prather in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. Trailing Indiana by 14 points, a touchdown would have put the Terps within striking distance late.

Initially, Prather appeared to catch the ball inside the lines for a score. But the replay showed his knee was out of bounds when he came down, and the play was overturned. To make matters worse, Prather suffered an injury during the game and left the match. With Tai Felton also leaving the game early, Maryland was without both star receivers.

Three plays later, Edwards went deep on fourth down behind freshman Ezekiel Avit, who had not recorded a reception in his career, but the pass was broken up. Indiana scored on the ensuing drive to put the game on ice.

The Hoosiers then recorded a 42-28 victory over Maryland on Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.

Indiana (5-0) came into the game as one of only four FBS teams to surpass 50 points per game. It didn’t slow down against the Terps, finishing with 510 total yards. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke continued a stellar campaign, going 22-for-33 for 359 yards and three touchdowns.

But initially he didn’t seem in line for a good match. Rourke threw interceptions on each of Indiana’s first two drives, first to Jalen Huskey and then to Glen Miller.

But Maryland (3-2) failed to score on either turnover. Edwards, whose quick decision-making has been a strength in the team’s first four games, appeared indecisive. He was sacked twice on those drives — holding the ball for long stretches on both plays — and finished the first frame with just 12 passing yards.

The Terps hurt themselves repeatedly with penalties all afternoon. They finished with 10 — which cost 93 yards — compared to Indiana’s four.

The Hoosiers finally found the end zone early in the second quarter, completing a 12-play, 83-yard drive with a 1-yard run by Myles Price.

Maryland responded with a touchdown of its own on a 33-yard pass to Kaden Prather. Prather finished the game with a team-high 66 receiving yards on five catches. Felton had 38 yards and failed to surpass 100 yards for the first time this season.

The second quarter was sloppy for both teams. Maryland only took its first loss after halftime. Indiana did nothing on its three drives after the early touchdown, but scored just before halftime to take the lead, 14-7.

“This is the third game where we have given up points just before halftime,” said head coach Michael Locksley. ‘I’ll have to look into that. It’s on the tape. We have studied it. … I need to get that resolved.”

After catching just two balls for 7 yards in the first half, Felton caught back-to-back passes for a combined 28 yards on Maryland’s opening drive of the third quarter. Shaleak Knotts made an incredible catch to convert a third-and-17, and Dylan Wade caught a twice-deflected pass to cap the touchdown drive.

Edwards, despite his shortcomings in reading the field at times, threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. On paper it was another strong afternoon for him.

Roman Hemby erupted for a 75-yard touchdown the next time Maryland touched the ball. He finished with 117 rushing yards – his highest mark in 15 games – along with a 12-yard touchdown in garbage time.

The Hoosiers’ offensive line dominated Maryland in the second half. Indiana averaged 4.8 yards per carry during that span, and Rourke had plenty of time. That culminated in 167 passing yards in the second half on just 14 throws. Four of Indiana’s seven drives in the second half, not including knee-downs to end the game, ended in the end zone.

“(When the) defense did a really good job and gave us turnovers, the offense struggled,” Locksley said. “The offense was going to bite the bullet, and then the defense was struggling.”

Three things to know

1. Injuries piled up. Felton, Prather, Andre Roye Jr., Dante Trader Jr. and Brandon Jacob all left the game with injuries. Cornerback Jalen Huskey was moved to safety for most of the game – a position he has never played in college. Without Felton and Prather, Maryland didn’t have the weapons to stay late. Maryland losing four starters — Felton, Prather, Roye and Trader — in the first game of most of its Big Ten roster is a bad break, and it will need those four to get healthy quickly.

2. Maryland couldn’t capitalize on the turnover. The Terps intercepted Rourke twice and recovered two fumbles. However, they failed to score a single first on the four resulting drives. In a game where Maryland gave up 42 points, turnovers are only valuable if they produce points. They didn’t do that against the Hoosiers.

3. First 0-2 Big Ten start under Locksley. The “September Maryland” tag has followed every team led by Locksley. This marks the first time since 2019 – his first year at the helm – that the Terps suffered multiple losses before October. With USC, Oregon, Iowa and Penn State still on the schedule, all hope for a Big Ten championship appears to be lost.

“We have to move on,” said Ruben Hyppolite II. “We still have more games to play, so we have to take on the coaching, make the corrections and move on.”