Danny O’Brien threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and Maryland emerged with a 28-3 victory over visiting Towson on Saturday in a game that was closer than the final score indicates.

Maryland (2-2), which was coming off a 38-7 loss to Temple, looked far from impressive in its final tune-up before heading into the meat of its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. Randy Edsall's team has a lot to work on before it visits No. 21 Georgia Tech next week.

The Terrapins were outplayed in large part by Towson (3-1), an FCS school located about 47 miles north of College Park. The Tigers dominated time of possession (21:30-8:30) and total yardage (225-11) in the first half, but four second-half turnovers and several other miscues cost them a shot at their first win over an FBS school.

Towson, which entered ranked 23rd in the FCS coaches’ poll, had been outscored 193-44 in three previous games against FBS foes. Still, Maryland couldn’t put the Tigers away until O’Brien’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Dorsey made it 21-3 with 7:09 left in the fourth. O’Brien added a 5-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Cierski after fumble on the ensuing kickoff return.

The Tigers, who trailed 7-3 at the half, shot themselves in the foot on their first drive of the third quarter. Kenny Tate intercepted Peter Athens’ pass and returned it to the Towson 45-yard line. Eight plays later, Maryland extended its lead to 14-3 on a 5-yard touchdown run from Justus Pickett.