Maryland recovered from their devastating loss to Wake Forest last week with a 34-24 win over #10 Rutgers in Piscataway, NJ. I didn't get to see a lot of this game as we had a family outing to go to but I was able to sneak out and listen to old reliable Johnny Holliday and the Terrapin Football Radio Network call the upset. Terps back up Quarterback Chris Turner completed 14 of 20 passes for 149 yards and twenty second half points after he came in for an injured Jordan Steffy (concussion). The Terps beat a top 10 team for the first time in three years (Florida State, October 2004) and doing so on the road was more impressive. You have to go back to 1990 at Virginia for the last time the Terps beat a top 10 team on the road.
There were several stars of the game and I probably will leave a few out since I did not watch the game. Keon Lattimore rushed for 124 yards and a TD. Lance Ball (picture below) rushed for 90 yards and two TD's. Overall the Terps rushed for 239 yards so give game balls to the Offensive Line.
Darrius Heyward-Bey had five catches for 60 yards and a TD. The Terps defense, which got stomped on by Wake Forest in the fourth quarter and OT last week, responded and held Heisman Trophy candidate Ray Rice to 97 yards rushing. This was a Rutgers team that had averaged 46 points a game coming into today's game. Mack Frost and Jeremy Navarre were two defensive standouts today for the Terps. Frost and Navarre each had key fourth quarter sacks of Rutgers Quarterback Mike Teel.
Driving home we listened to Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen's news conference (again, thank you Terrapin Football Radio Network!). Friedgen called this one of his biggest wins at Maryland and said today's game showed the character of his team. Driving over to our friend's house for example, the Terps blew a 14-3 lead late in the first half and when we arrived they were losing 17-14. Friedgen said that instead of making adjustments with his coaches after that, he spoke with his players and said that it was anybody's ballgame; you're down three points at the half to the #10 team in the nation. Stop sulking and stop worrying about what just happened. Worry about what you're going to go out and do in the second half. They responded and the result was a huge, much needed victory.
In closing, three big statistics stand out in the Terps favor here:
Rushing: Maryland 239 yards, Rutgers 82
Turnovers: Maryland 0, Rutgers 3
Time of possession: Maryland 36:57, Rutgers 23:03
Next game is Saturday October 6 at Byrd Stadium. The Terps (3-2) take on Georgia Tech (3-2), who beat #13 Clemson today 13-3. Game time is 12:00 PM.
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