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

At first, Prather appeared to catch the ball in the field and score a goal. But replay showed his knee was out of bounds when he went down, and the play was called off. To make matters worse, Prather suffered an injury during the game and left the game. With Tai Felton also leaving the game early, Maryland was without its two star receivers.

Three plays later, on fourth down, Edwards went deep to redshirt freshman Ezekiel Avit — who had yet to record a reception in his career — but the pass was broken up. Indiana scored on the ensuing drive, putting the game on ice.

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

Indiana (5-0) entered the game as one of only four FBS teams to top 50 points per game. Things didn’t slow down against the Terps, finishing with 510 total yards. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke continued his outstanding season, going 22-33 for 359 yards and three touchdowns.

But at first he didn’t seem prepared for a good game. 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 was a strength in the team’s first four contests, appeared indecisive. He was sacked twice on those drives – he held the ball for long periods on both plays – and finished the first frame with just 12 yards.

The Terps continued to hurt themselves with penalties throughout the afternoon. They finished with 10 yards rushing for 93 yards, compared to Indiana’s four yards.

Early in the second quarter, the Hoosiers finally found the end zone, capping 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 deep ball to Kaden Prather. Prather finished the game with a team-high 66 receiving yards on five catches. Felton had 38 yards, failing to surpass 100 yards for the first time this season.

The second quarter was sloppy for both teams. Maryland didn’t get another first down until after halftime. Indiana did nothing on its three drives after the early touchdown, but scored just before halftime to take a 14-7 lead.

“This is the third game where we have given up points just before halftime,” said head coach Michael Locksley. “I have to see that. It’s on the tape. We investigated it. … I need to get this fixed.”

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

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

The next time Maryland touched the ball, Roman Hemby rushed free for a 75-yard touchdown. He finished the game with 117 rushing yards – his best mark in 15 games – as well as a 12-yard receiving touchdown in garbage time.

The Hoosiers’ offensive line dominated Maryland in the second half. Indiana averaged 4.8 yards per carry in that span, and Rourke had plenty of time in the pocket. The result was 167 passing yards in the second half on just 14 throws. Four of Indiana’s seven second-half drives, excluding the game-ending kneel-down, ended in the end zone.

“When the defense was doing a really good job giving us turnovers, the offense was struggling,” Locksley said. “The offense has to get it done, and then the defense struggles.”

Three things you should know

1. Injuries increased. 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 compete late into the night. Losing four starters — Felton, Prather, Roye and Trader — for Maryland in the first game of the bulk of its Big Ten schedule is a bad loss, and those four will be needed to get healthy quickly.

2. Maryland failed to capitalize on turnovers. The Terps intercepted Rourke twice and recovered two fumbles. However, they did not manage a single first down on the four resulting drives. In a game in which Maryland gave up 42 points, turnovers are only valuable if they lead to points. They didn’t do it against the Hoosiers.

3. First 0-2 start in the Big Ten under Locksley. The September Maryland tag followed each 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 hopes of competing for a Big Ten championship appear to be lost.

“We have to keep going,” said Ruben Hyppolite II. “We still have more games left, so we have to do the coaching, make the corrections and keep going.”