Even in a victory that propelled them into The Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in more than two years, the Terrapins suffered two major losses.
No. 25 Maryland became bowl eligible by defeating NC State, 27-24, on Saturday, but lost its leading rusher, sophomore Da’Rel Scott, and standout linebacker, senior Dave Philistin, to shoulder injuries that have their status in question for the team’s game at Virginia Tech on Nov. 6.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said he’ll know the extent of the injuries after both players are examined today.
But this much is clear: the Terrapins’ road to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division title is much tougher if Scott (718 yards, 5 TDs) and Philistin (58 tackles) are on the sideline.
The Terrapins (6-2, 3-1) have four games remaining: at Virginia Tech (5-3, 2-2) on ESPN, against visiting North Carolina (6-2, 3-2) and Florida State (6-1, 3-1) and at Boston College (5-2, 2-2). And if the Terrapins win all four, they’ll head to Tampa, Fla., to play the Coastal Division winner in the conference championship game on Dec. 6.
“Like coach said, now it’s like the final four playoffs,” junior defensive back Jamari McCollough said. “It’s just like a playoff, a tournament.”
Maryland’s Obi Egekeze kicked a 20-yard field goal with six seconds remaining to lift his team over NC State (2-6, 0-3) in front of a crowd of 45,018 that included representatives from the Champs Sports Bowl. Maryland has emerged as a candidate to play in that bowl game against a Big 10 opponent in Orlando on Dec. 27. The Terrapins, however, want to play in a much more prestigious Bowl Championship Series game as the conference titlist in January.
“Our expectations were to get it out of the way early like this, because we have bigger goals,” senior defensive lineman Jeremy Navarre said. “It seemed like our goal was always: ‘Let’s get bowl eligible.’ That’s why we were expecting such bigger things for this team, because we weren’t focused on being bowl eligible. We’re looking way beyond six wins. There’s not much talk about it because expectations are so much greater for this team.”
Last season, Maryland became bowl eligible by winning its sixth game on its last day of the season, when it defeated the Wolfpack, 37-0, in Raleigh, N.C.. The Terrapins lost to Oregon State in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.
“We’re happy to be bowl eligible with six wins. It took us a long time last year to get six wins,” junior quarterback Chris Turner said. “At this point in the season, it feels good, but at the same time, we have bigger goals than to just be bowl eligible.”
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