Maryland’s offensive explosion vs. Illinois, in historical context

Maryland football won a football game and scored 63 points this weekend. The Terps’ offense was firing on all cylinders against Illinois, as the Terps won by 30 and moved to 5-3 this season.

The offense has been boom-or-bust all season, and the Terps were on the wrong end of a 23-0 shutout last week. When they went three-and-out and lost seven yards on their opening drive, it looked like another tough week might be in store. But Maryland caught fire, scoring 28 points in the first half and 49 in the first three quarters. Seven of the Terps’ eight offensive touchdowns were from longer than 25 yards, and Chigoziem Okonkwo’s 54-yard rush in the final minute brought Maryland over 700 total yards in the contest.

The 63 points are the most Maryland has scored in any conference football game ever. It’s a total that the Terps reached last year against Towson, but they haven’t dropped this many on an FBS opponent since 1954, when they beat Missouri 74-13.

The 712 yards, meanwhile, are Maryland’s most in a single game since at least 1982, according to the team. The school record is 802 yards, which came against Virginia in 1975. Maryland’s game notes include mentions of the last time the Terps went over 400 yards, 500 yards and 600 yards of offense, but doesn’t have a section for 700.

And perhaps the best way to put Maryland’s inconsistency in context: in the Terps’ three losses, they have a total of 14 offensive points and 530 yards.

Maryland hosts Michigan State at noon Saturday. The Spartans’ defense is closer to those of Iowa and Michigan than to Rutgers and Illinois, but it’s still hard to say which version of the Terps’ offense shows up.

In other news

Here’s what Justin took away from the game.

Lila has a photo galley here, while Max Marcilla brought us the sights and sounds from the win.

Yesterday was a busy day for a handful of Maryland sports. Field hockey moved on to the Big Ten semifinals with a 6-0 demolition of Michigan State.

Women’s basketball beat Kutztown 90-63 in its first exhibition of the year. Here’s what we learned.

Volleyball swept Iowa to start its three-match homestand.

Men’s soccer lost a heartbreaker at Michigan in overtime. That loss means the Terps are the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament, and they’ll face a tough Michigan State squad in the quarterfinals.

Maryland Madness was Friday. It was admittedly dull compared to previous incarnations, but we’ve still got the highlights in photo form here and in video form on social media.

And ... yeah, we’re still waiting on decisions from the Board of Regents after the full report on Maryland football’s culture was released last week. Could this be the week? Possibly, but we won’t be sure until something happens.