At one point, the University of Maryland was down 34-10 against #18 West Virginia. Credit the Terrapins for rallying back and making a game of it. There are plenty of things to regret about the game today, but I imagine the Terps will be particularly sick about leaving 4 easy points on the board in the 3rd quarter. (A 4th down was stopped at the WVU 6 yard line – when they could have kicked the FG, and they also had a two point conversion stopped.)

This was a game Maryland could have won, and instead are left to think about all the self-inflected damage in this 37-31 loss.

The Good:

1) Safety Matt Robinson forced a fumble on West Virgina’s first series, and Chism picked up from where he ended the Miami game with the recovery.With under a minute left in the 1st half, Robinson broke up a sure TD pass to Austin down the sideline.

2) Elevated to the starting lineup with the suspensions of McCree, and Tyler; Kerry Boykins had a solid game with 4 catches for 61 yards.

3) West Virigina reached the Maryland Red Zone on their 2nd possession, Kenny Tate had an outstanding tackle for loss on 2nd down, forcing 3rd and long (picked-up with the pass interference penalty on Chism). Tremendous open field tackle in the 4th.

4) Up 17-3, West Virginia was facing 3rd and 9 on their 41 yard line. David Mackall was able to get to Smith, and force a fumble, while Tate delivered a blow which removed Smith’s helmet. Bradley Johnson recovered the ball to give the Terps excellent field position (starting at the 35).

5) Tony Logan’s first reception of the year was a quality one, giving Maryland 22 yards. Logan made several moves after the catch to extend the play and move the ball forward. Logan added 3 other grabs later, finishing with 4 catches for 41 yards.

6) Following up on Logan’s initial catch, O’Brien and Dorsey combined for an 18 yard TD down the sideline. This closed the gap to a two TD game, and gave the Terps new life.
6a) Dorsey finished with 9 catches for 79 yards, and that score.

7) Meggett, and Adams both had very good days running the ball. Meggett finished the day with 18 carries, for 114 yards, and a score. Kept his legs moving all day, great second effort. His 2 point conversion in the 4th was just effort. Adams had 12 carries for 64 yards, and two TD’s. Adams is just a beast around the goal line. Great running on the 4th down in the 4th quarter. Maryland was gashing West Virginia right up the middle throughout the day.
7a) Wilson and Pickett both had good days as Kick Returners.

8) Dexter McDougle had an important pick off a deflection in the 3rd quarter, doing an excellent job of keeping his feet in bounds.

9) Furstenburg has really looked good at TE so far this year. Today he had 7 grabs for 70 yards, including a long of 24. Big catch on 3rd down on the first series of the 4th quarter.

10) Andre Monroe had a sack.

11) O’Brien had a very poor start to the game. Typically he is very accurate with his passing, but he was missing receivers high, low, and wide. Below we mention each of his picks. I thought it was impressive that he was able to battle back and help give MD a chance to win. At one point, he had completed 14 consecutive passes. O’Brien finished the day 34 of 53 for 289 yards, a TD, and the three int’s.

The Bad:

1) For the second straight game, Meggett dropped an easy pass.

2) Maryland had a lot of success in the 1st half of the Miami game with the bubble screen. As the game progressed, the Hurricanes adapted. West Virginia was ready for it early today, and the Terps are going to need to show adjustments of their own in subsequent weeks.

3) After struggling in the red zone against Miami, you would have liked to have seen Maryland have immediate success in that regard against West Virginia today. Settling for 3 points, after obtaining a 1st down on the Mountaineers 11 yard line was a loss.
3a) Down 34 to 10, Maryland faced 4th down on the WVU 6th. They elected to go for the TD, and left with nothing. Way too early in the 2nd half to not put some points on the board.

4) After O’Brien’s pick 6, and Maryland went 3 and out on the next series.

5) West Virgina started the 2nd quarter with a 47 yard strike from Smith to Tavon Austin (Baltimore, Dunbar). Smith looked like he could count to 15 Mississippi back there, with the zero pressure from the MD defense. Entirely too much time to ask your Secondary to cover. West Virginia would kick a FG on that series to go up 17-3.

6) O’Brien was picked off for the 2nd time, when he attempted to throw into triple coverage. Coming immediately after Adams ripped off a 17 yard run for 1st down, this was another momentum killer.

7) Down 24-3 late in the 1st half, MD made a stop on 3rd and 3 that should have been a Robinson interception. West Virginia went for it on 4th down, and easily could have picked it up.

8) The Terps closed the gap to 24-10, with West Virginia taking over on their 30 yard line with 2:32 left in the half. You would have liked to have seen MD quickly get the ball back, or at-least not let up points. Instead, the Mountaineers moved to the MD 17 before kicking a FG to end the half.
8a) The 2nd half started with WVU going 78 yards for a TD, and a 34-10 lead.

9) I disliked the decision to go for the 2 point conversion, after the Meggett TD. I know that if the conversion had been successful, it would have been a 2 score game, but with that much time left in the game – I think you take the extra point. Getting two TD’s and a FG, is not any less likely than getting two TD’s and two more two point conversions. Besides, you had just left 3 other points on the board on the previous offensive series.

10) Chism missed an open field tackle on 3rd down in the 4th, which allowed Bailey to pick up 21 yards on 3rd and 4. On the same drive, WVU would also pick up 3rd and 9.

The Ugly:

1) With Drakeford injured and unable to play, the lack of depth at LB was a bit of an issue today.

2) After the FG which gave Maryland the initial 3-0 lead, they allowed a 4 minute, 10 play, 88 yard drive for a WVU touchdown. On that series, the Mountaineers faced just one third down.

3) Facing a team with a lot of offensive fire-power, you can not give them additional points. O’Brien getting picked, and taken to the house was pretty much as bad as it gets. The fact that the pick was made by Terence Garvin, a Baltimore native (Loyola) just made it worse.
3a) O’Brien’s last pass of the day, was the 3rd pass he had intercepted. The pass was forced, and was a tough way for the game to end for the Terps.

4) The absence of Tyler, and McCree clearly impacted the timing of the MD passing attack.

5) After the defense gave the MD offense the ball at the WVU 35 in the 2nd Quarter, Meggett rushed the ball on 1st and 2nd down picking up 6 yards. A false-start would move them back to 3rd and 9. Pickett would gain 2 yards on 3rd down, and MD decided to go for it on 4th. O’Brien fired incomplete down the field. I agreed with going for it on 4th down, but the Terps needed to do something positive with the ball on that series.

6) This was a horribly officiated game, with calls that hurt both teams. WVU was twice called for penalties on clean tackles.

7) Maryland spent too much of this game afraid to bring pressure. You went into this game knowing that WVU wants to spread you out and make plays in space. You have to attack WVU, and put Smith on the ground. If that leaves you vulnerable, and Smith beats you down the field – so what? He and WVU showed that if you just drop back into coverage they would beat you as well. They beat you because you can’t ask your Secondary to cover for seconds on end with no pressure from your Front 7. When MD finally decided to bring some extra rushers, they started getting defensive stops.

Up-Next:

Maryland hosts Temple, one of the favorites in the Mid-American Conference, who gave Penn State a fight today in their 14-10 loss.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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