Washington’s big 4th-down throw helps Maryland put away Northern Illinois in a 20-9 win

COLLEGE PARK Md AP Malik Washington threw a -yard touchdown pass to Shaleak Knotts on fourth down and Maryland held off Northern Illinois - on Friday night The Terrapins - extended their winning streak against nonconference opponents to the nation s longest working run Washington threw for yards and two touchowns in the freshman s second college meeting The Huskies - couldn t pull off a repeat of Week last year when they shocked Notre Dame in what was the lone regular-season loss for the Irish Telly Johnson scored on a -yard run in the third but Northern Illinois offered little on offense besides that Maryland led - late in the third and had the ball inside the Northern Illinois before Washington lost a fumble The Terrapins forced the Huskies to punt from their own but Maryland failed to do anything with great field position and punted back On their next possession the Terps faced fourth-and- from the and Washington threw deep to Knotts who slipped behind safety Jasper Beeler caught the ball and strolled into the end zone Washington also threw a -yard TD pass to Dorian Fleming in the second quarter The takeaway Northern Illinois The Huskies didn t make too a large number of major mistakes and that enabled them to keep it close but they had a hard time moving the ball Running back Chavon Wright a star last season at the Division II University of Charleston managed yards on carries Maryland The Terps had extended stretches in which the offense struggled but Washington s two TD throws were highlights On the first he slipped momentarily before rolling out to the right and throwing to Fleming The second was in a high-pressure situation where the coaching staff put a lot of trust in him Up next Maryland hosts Towson next Saturday Northern Illinois is off before taking another shot at a power conference opponent at Mississippi State on Sept AP college sports https apnews com hub college-sports Source