IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Tenth-ranked Iowa continued its march toward a Big Ten West crown by running all over Maryland 31-15 on Saturday.

Iowa moved to 8-0 (4-0 in the Big Ten) with the victory, marking the second time in seven seasons it has begun a season winning its first eight contests. Meanwhile, Maryland dropped to 2-6 (0-4 in the Big Ten) with the loss.

The Hawkeyes won using a simple formula of running the ball on offense in the first half. All three of Iowa's scores during the game's first 30 minutes came courtesy of three different running backs. Making this even more impressive is Iowa received these contributions while not having the services of an injured running back Jordan Canzeri, who missed Saturday's game with an ankle injury suffered two weeks earlier against Northwestern.

"It's emblematic of the way the team has been playing," Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. "It seems like when someone can't go or can't contribute, then somebody else jumps in there and does it."

The first touchdown of the afternoon came from junior running back LeShun Daniels, who followed up a fumble recovery by sophomore defensive back Miles Taylor by scoring from a yard out to put Iowa ahead 7-0.

Taylor also intercepted a pass from Maryland junior quarterback Perry Hills, but fumbled the ball back to the Terrapins on the return.

Then in the second quarter, sophomore running back Akrum Wadley -- who made his first career start for the Hawkeyes on Saturday -- got in on the fun as he ran in from 12 yards out to extend the lead to 14-0.

In the closing minutes of the first half, Iowa capitalized on a blocked punt by redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron Mends when sophomore Derrick Mitchell, Jr. scored on a 2-yard run to give the Hawkeyes a 21-0 lead at halftime. Maryland head coach Mike Locksley described the blocked punt as "a momentum swing."

"We were pinned back in there and we let them come through inside," Locksley said. "We should have got it off a little quicker, but that was definitely a critical play for us because it was a momentum play that allowed them to score some points right before the half when I thought, for the most part, we had fought through the adversity of them controlling the pace of the game."

The second half did not start kindly for the Terrapins, as junior quarterback Perry Hills threw his second of three interceptions on the day to Iowa senior defensive back -- and Maryland native -- Jordan Lomax.

"I was pretty much just playing a Cover-3 free safety, reading the quarterback," Lomax said. "I had seen where his eyes wanted to go and I was able to make a good play on the ball."

But while the Hawkeyes were not able to respond, Maryland inched closer at the fourth quarter when Hills found sophomore wide receiver Taivon Jacobs for a 7-yard touchdown completion with 14:37 remaining.

The Terrapins attempt to catch the Hawkeyes off guard with an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff that ended up being recovered by Iowa true freshman receiver Adrian Falconer. From there, senior kicker Marshall Koehn was able to tack on a 49-yard field goal to extend the Hawkeye lead back to 17 points.

Hills then threw his third interception of the game to Iowa junior cornerback Desmond King, who returned the pick back 88 yards for a Hawkeyes touchdown. The interception was King's seventh of the season, which currently leads the Big Ten.

"I dissected the formation, seeing if there was Trips, 3 x 1, 3 x 2, if it was empty and just reading my player because I was locked on with him," King said of his interception return. "When he went back, I knew it was a screen and I just went to the reception area and the ball was there."

Maryland would score once more on the ensuing kickoff, as Will Likely returned the ensuing kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown. Hills then ran in on the 2-point try to get the Terrapins within two possessions. But Maryland stalled from that point on.

"We got to play a complete game," Maryland junior defensive lineman Quinton Jefferson said. "I feel like a lot of these past games, we played like a half or we didn't finish. We have to come out and play a full ball game, put a full ball game together in order to compete and win. It's tough when you only play a half of football."

Iowa will seek its ninth consecutive victory next week at Indiana, while Maryland returns home to face Wisconsin. While conversation about where the Hawkeyes will be ranked in the first College Football Playoff rankings released on Tuesday, Ferentz is keeping tunnelvision on the upcoming match-up with the Hoosiers.

"Our goal the first week was to win a game and then ever since then, it has just been to win another game," Ferentz said. "We're trying to keep it as simple as that.

"When you win, it's beautiful, and when you lose, it's not so good. So that's kind of how we look at the world and it's about as simple as that."

NOTES: Iowa's 110 rushing yards against Maryland were the second-fewest by the Hawkeyes this season. The only time Iowa has rushed for fewer yards this season came in its 27-24 victory over Pittsburgh on Sept. 19 when the Hawkeyes had 105 yards on the ground. ... One of the few bright spots on the day for Maryland was Likely's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was Likely's third special teams touchdown of the season, as he entered the game with a conference-high two touchdowns on punt returns, which came in the Terrapins' first two games against Richmond and Bowling Green. ... Prior to kickoff, Iowa recognized British Open champion Zach Johnson, as he was the Hawkeyes' honorary captain. The Cedar Rapids native brought the Claret Jug with him to the game and held it at midfield during his recognition.