Kerry Boykins hadn't scored a touchdown in nearly three years until he was on the receiving end of a 6-yard Danny O'Brien strike on Oct. 23 at Boston College.
It was a pivotal moment not just for Maryland, but for the redshirt sophomore as well.
"It was amazing," Boykins said. "I'd waited so long to get my first collegiate touchdown. When it happened, it left me speechless. I was just so excited."
Boykins is one of seven Maryland players to score his first career touchdown in the last five games, joining Tony Logan, O'Brien, Quintin McCree, Haroon Brown, Kenny Tate and Ryan Donohue. And nowhere is the spread-the-wealth philosophy more apparent than in the Terrapins' passing game, where 10 receivers have already caught a touchdown.
Since 1994, Maryland reached that total just once (2002). And much of the credit goes to O'Brien, who has has thrown his 13 touchdown passes to eight different receivers. In just the last two games --- both Maryland wins --- five players have combined for six touchdown passes.
Some context: Maryland has had between five and seven players catch scoring passes in each of the last six years. Consider the following chart, which includes season, number of Maryland players with TD receptions and the team leader in the category.
| Year | Rec. w/TD |
Leader |
| 1994 | 6 | Jermaine Lewis (9) |
| 1995 | 5 | Jermaine Lewis/ Mancel Johnson (3) |
| 1996 | 5 | Geroy Simon (3) |
| 1997 | 5 | Omar Cheeseboro (4) |
| 1998 | 4 | Moises Cruz (4) |
| 1999 | 7 | Eric James (3) |
| 2000 | 5 | Guilian Gary (7) |
| 2001 | 6 | Guilian Gary (6) |
| 2002 | 10 | Scooter Monroe/ Jafar Williams/ Latrez Harrison/ Chris Downs/ Steve Suter (2) |
| 2003 | 9 | Latrez Harrison (6) |
| 2004 | 5 | Vernon Davis (3) |
| 2005 | 6 | Vernon Davis (6) |
| 2006 | 6 | Darrius Heyward-Bey (5) |
| 2007 | 5 | Darrius Heyward-Bey/ Jason Goode (3) |
| 2008 |
7 | Darrius Heyward-Bey (5) |
| 2009 | 5 | Torrey Smith (5) |
| 2010 | 10 | Torrey Smith (7) |
In 2002, there was no clear-cut No. 1 wideout, so it made it easier to spread things around.
That's different this fall, with Smith already collecting the most touchdown catches in a season for the Terps since Guilian Gary got there in 2000 --- and did so with a three-score day in the regular-season finale against Georgia Tech.
Of the seven receivers Maryland uses on a regular basis, only Kevin Dorsey has yet to visit the end zone. A tailback (Da'Rel Scott), a fullback (Brown), a tight end (Matt Furstenburg) and a quarterback (O'Brien) have also scored off a reception.
"I think it's very important for morale because it keeps so many guys involved," offensive coordinator James Franklin said. "And I think it makes it very difficult for the defense because they can't just key on one guy. When Vernon was here, you had a pretty good idea that if you stop Vernon, you've got a pretty good chance to stop Maryland. When you're able to spread the ball around to so many guys and be able to be balanced with the run and the pass and the play action and those things, you have a chance to be a pretty good offense."
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