Terps fall behind 28-0 in border beat down
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — At practice this week, Maryland blasted a wall of noise to replicate the sound of West Virginia’s Milan Puskar Stadium. Unfortunately for the Terrapins, there was no way to replicate the speed of the Mountaineers.
Dominating the Maryland defense from the opening possession, West Virginia led all the way en route to a 31-17 victory as quarterback Geno Smith dealt to a diminutive trio of perimeter threats – Noel Devine, Tavon Austin, and Jock Sanders – before 60,122 in Morgantown.
West Virginia (3-0) scored on three of its first four possessions to roll to a 21-0 lead, then extended it to 28-0 early in the third period after Sanders returned a punt 66 yards.
Maryland (2-1) had no answer for senior running back Devine, who carried 27 times for 131 yards, sophomore slot receiver Austin, who caught 7 passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns, and senior wideout Sanders, who had 6 receptions for 86 yards.
“It’s not like you can simulate that in practice,” said Maryland defensive coordinator Don Bown. “There’s only a few of those guys around.”
Orchestrating the Mountaineers’ spread was senior Smith, who completed 19 of 29 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns. He hit his receivers in space and took advantage of the Terps’ mistakes.
“We blew two coverages. I could have gotten open on those two,” said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen. “The guy who was supposed to be covering was rushing.”
After an impotent first half, in which it gained four first downs and failed to penetrate the West Virginia 40, the Maryland offense rallied. A pair of touchdown bombs from junior quarterback Jamarr Robinson (13 of 24, 227 yards) to junior wideout Torrey Smith (3 receptions, 149 yards) cut the deficit in half. Smith had a chance to whittle the lead further, when a defender fell at his feet in the end zone, but he dropped the pass late in the third period.
Robinson was under siege throughout. He was sacked seven times. When redshirt freshman Danny O’Brien entered at the end of the second period, he was throttled on his first play on a blind-side hit by reserve defensive end Bruce Irwin (three sacks). O’Brien fumbled and didn’t return.
It was a terrible performance by the Maryland offensive line, the prime culprit for last year’s 2-10 showing. Compounding the woes for Friedgen was an injury to sophomore left tackle Justin Gilbert, who left Mountaineer Stadium on crutches.
“We still have a lot of work to do and we suffered a few injuries that are going to be difficult to figure out,” said Friedgen. “But we need to find a way.”
There was no way for Maryland to deal with the array of speedsters employed by West Virginia. The Terps got an early dose when Austin, a former standout at Dunbar of Baltimore, caught a short pass over the middle on 3rd and 14, juked cornerback Trenton Hughes to the turf, and made the first down.
On the next play, Devine got around the left corner and swept his way up the Maryland sideline 50 yards, setting up a 6-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Austin.
“We were just getting used to their speed,” said Maryland senior linebacker Alex Wujciak. “We were just trying to figure out their tempo of what they were doing.”
No answers were forthcoming on the Mountaineers’ second possession as Smith and Sanders hooked up for a 33-yard gain, setting up an easy 5-yard scoring pass to an uncovered Austin.
“We had a couple mistakes early – a couple of young guys that are in their first juice, big game, in a really, big, tough environment,” said Brown. “We struggled a little bit with that.”
Consecutive passes from Smith to Austin, a Maryland recruit, netted 51 yards as West Virginia was back in business, inside the Maryland 20. But Wujciak (16 tackles) gave the Terps a reprieve, forcing a fumble that sophomore tackle A.J. Francis pounced on.
The relief was just temporary, however, for the Maryland defense as it was back on the field after a quick three-and-out.
On 3rd and 17, Smith found freshman wideout Stedman Bailey (4 receptions, 60 yards) in the back of the end zone on a 26-yard touchdown reception, his first of two, as he split junior defensive backs Cameron Chism and Kenny Tate for a 21-0 lead.
At that point, Smith was 10 of 10 for 173 yards and three touchdowns, for a quarterback efficiency rating of 344.3.
“It was a long day for us, for sure,” said Brown. “It’s a growing process.”
Despite practicing in the noise, the Terps were undone by it on their first possession as they sustained three delay-of-game penalties and one false start.
“That put us in a hole in a beginning. I don’t think we bounced back quick enough after that,” said Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin. “I think some of our guys lost their poise.”
Maryland struggled to move the ball on offense, finishing with minus 10 yards on 27 carries. The negative total was due to 46 yards of sacks. Junior Davin Meggett (9 carries, 30 yards) and senior Da’Rel Scott (4 carries, 6 yards) had little daylight.
Thanks to the work of Robinson, the Terps were in the game in the fourth quarter. A 35-yard field goal by senior Travis Baltz made it 28-17 with 11 minutes, 59 seconds left.
But West Virginia shifted gears and played power football, retaining possession for the next 8:52 and getting a 23-yard field goal from Tyler Bitancurt (West Springfield) to ice it. The primary weapon on the clock-sapping drive was sophomore fullback Ryan Clarke (DeMatha), who finished with 65 yards on 15 carries.
“We tackled terrible,” said Friedgen. “Even when we did wrap them up, they’d fall ahead for two, three more yards. The last drive I don’t know if we were out of gas.”
