For the first time this season, Maryland star wide receiver Tai Felton didn’t reach 100 receiving yards, snapping his streak in Saturday’s 42-28 loss to Indiana. Instead, Felton spent most of the third quarter, and the entire fourth quarter on the sideline due to an apparent head injury.
Felton did manage to haul in five catches for 38 yards before the injury in the third quarter. The injury appeared to occur when Felton caught a pass in the third quarter. He got swung to the ground by Indiana’s linebacker Aiden Fisher.
The replay showed that Felton’s helmet made contact with the turf as he got tackled. He did not return to the game after the play.
Throughout the game, Maryland’s offense was sloppy. Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards didn’t have much time to stand in the pocket, allowing him to push the football down the field. Instead, he settled with short passes for Felton.
Three of his five catches were designed screens. However, his last three catches occurred on his final drive of the game. After snagging in a three-yard screen, Felton beat the coverage with a great route and a better pass from Edwards between two Hoosiers’ defenders for a 21-yard gain.
Unfortunately, his fifth catch would be his final, as he got wrapped up before his head hit the turf.
Tai Felton wasn’t only Maryland star player injured
Not only did Felton get injured in the contest, but so did his fellow teammates, Dante Trader Jr. and Kaiden Prather.
Prather, who caught a 33-yard touchdown in the second quarter, left the game after a gruesome fall on a play that appeared to be another touchdown. After grabbing what looked to be a touchdown, Prather’s knee and elbow slammed into the turf hard. He curled up in pain immediately. The touchdown got overturned to an incomplete pass after an official review.
Big Ten Networks Brook Fletcher provided an update on the situation:
“Yeah, some updates on the few Maryland guys here, Tai Felton, I was told that he did go back into the injury tent. He came out, he was walking, and it seemed like he was okay. But he does not have his helmet. Uh, so it looks like he’s not going to be coming back in the game, based on what I see.”
Maryland didn’t provide an official word about their exact injuries. Hopefully, nothing is too serious. Felton has emerged as one of the best wide receivers in the nation this season.
He entered Saturday’s game second in the nation with 41 receptions, third with 604 yards, and tied for fifth with five touchdown catches.
