Cavaliers crush Terps to become bowl eligible At halftime of a Maryland-Virginia basketball game earlier this year, newly hired Terrapins football coach Randy Edsall was introduced at Comcast Center. Grabbing a microphone, Edsall announced: “At Maryland, we don’t lose to Virginia.”
Oops.
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Edsall was wrong that night in March as Virginia dealt Maryland a hoops defeat. And on Saturday afternoon when the football teams met, he was wrong again. With Virginia rolling up 527 yards in its most complete offensive game under coach Mike London, the Cavaliers clinched a bowl berth and ended the bowl hopes of the Terps, winning 31-13 before an announced 37,401 at Byrd Stadium.
With the depleted Maryland defense missing starters and tackles, quarterback Michael Rocco completed 23 of 35 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns, distributing to wealth of weapons. The Terps had no answer for running backs Perry Jones (22 carries, 139 yards, two touchdowns) and Kevin Parks (102 yards rushing and receiving) and wide receivers Kris Burd (nine receptions, 112 yards) and Tim Smith (five receptions, 101 yards).
The loss was the fifth straight for Maryland (2-7, 1-5) in a season that is looking similar to 2009, when the Terps went 2-10. Late in the game, a small group of fans chanted “Fire Edsall.”
“I feel bad for the seniors not being able to go out with a win,” Edsall said. “We aren’t going to slog through [the last three games]. We are going to go out there, play hard and work to get better.”
Maryland quarterbacks Danny O’Brien (16-for-36, 241 yards) and C.J. Brown (4-for-7, 28 yards) had their moments in the first half, helping stake the Terps to a 13-7 lead. But Virginia (6-3, 3-2) took the lead for good late in the second period with a four-play, 65-yard drive, then extended it with scoring drives on their first three possessions of the second half.
Virginia safety Rodney McLeod, playing minutes from where he attended high school at DeMatha, had three interceptions in the second half to keep the Cavaliers in command.
“I just had a magnet today,” McLeod said.
In breaking its 13-game losing streak in games played in November, Virginia is bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
“We didn’t want to let the past two or three years affect now,” Jones said. “It’s good that we are bowl eligible, but we are trying to look for more wins.”
What a difference a year makes. Last November it was Maryland enjoying a raucous celebration after a 42-23 victory on Senior Day in Charlottesville, Va. This time it was the Cavaliers who ruined Maryland’s final home game.
One of the Terps’ heroes a year ago was short-yardage weapon D.J. Adams, who scored three touchdowns. On Saturday, he remained on the sideline when the Terps failed to score from first-and-goal at the 2.
“We just feel that the young men that are in front of him are doing the things in those situations that are the best for us,” Edsall said.
