In his first career start, former walk-on Bryson Kuzdzal rushed for 100 yards and three touchdowns to propel No. 18 Michigan to a 45-20 win over Maryland, Saturday in College Park, Md.
Bryce Underwood threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns as the Wolverines (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten) kept their hopes alive for a berth in the College Football Playoffs.
Underwood completed 16 of 23 passes without an interception. His top target, Andrew Marsh, caught five passes for 76 yards and a touchdown to help Michigan beat Maryland for the ninth straight time.
Malik Washington completed 19 of 39 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown as the Terrapins (4-7, 1-7) lost their seventh straight and saw their hopes of becoming bowl eligible disappear.
The skid matches the longest of coach Mike Locksley’s seven-year tenure at Maryland. Early this week, the school said that Locksley would return next season.
On the game’s opening possession, the Terrapins drove 75 yards, scoring on a 1-yard pass from Washington to Dorian Fleming on a fourth-and-1 play.
Two of Michigan’s scoring drives started in Maryland territory as the Terrapins failed to recover an onside kick and Michigan’s Mason Curtis picked off a Washington pass.
The Wolverines tied it 7-7 when a tightly covered Marsh made an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.
On the second play of the second quarter, Kuzdzal capped an 83-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7.
Donaven McCulley increased the lead to 21-7 when he took a wide receiver screen from Underwood and raced 22 yards to the end zone.
Kuzdzal went 19 yards untouched on an off-tackle play to make it 28-10.
After Sean O’Haire kicked his second field goal for Maryland, Kuzdzal scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 35-13.
Kuzdzal, a junior who had not carried in a game before this season, was in the lineup because Michigan was without the injured Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall, who have rushed for a combined 1,728 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Michigan fullback and captain Max Bredeson did not play in the second half. He emerged from the locker room in the third quarter on crutches.
The Wolverines’ backfield injury woes continued in the fourth quarter as Jasper Parker departed minutes after scoring on a 6-yard run.
–Field Level Media
