Maryland Terrapin football is a complete mess in 2011. With one of the best returning ACC QB’s in Danny O’Brien, I felt this could be a darkhorse team in the ACC Atlantic, but Randy Edsall’s squad is in total disarray.
Our resident Maryland expert contributing writer Josh Burton has put together a very fair assessment of the month October for the Terps. You can find Josh on twitter at @vcarternj. Great work Josh!
Tomorrow we will post our posts from around the ACC Blogosphere.
Terps Football October Month-In-Review
Record: 1-4 in the month, 2-6 overall
October 1st- Win vs Towson 28-3
The final score doesn’t do enough justice to how close this game was. The Terps were only winning 7-3 at half over Towson, a lowly FCS opponent, and even though Maryland ended up winning by 25 points, the game left a bad feeling in Terp’s fans mouths. Starting quarterback Danny O’Brien only threw for 123 yards on 14 completions against a less-than-stellar Towson defense.
However, there were some bright spots to the game for Maryland. The defense was able to force four turnovers in the game, including two interceptions of Towson’s QB Peter Athens. Another bright spot for the Terps was on the ground, where five rushers combined for 198 yards on 37 carries highlighted by Davin Meggett’s 102 yards and Justus Pickett’s 86 yards. Overall, a needed win for the Terps but far from a signature one.
October 8th- Loss at Georgia Tech 21-16
The Terps fought hard in this game and nearly came back from being down 18 points, but Georgia Tech’s running game was simply too good for Maryland’s D to handle. Tech’s explosive QB Tevin Washington was held to only 114 yards through the air, but he did gain 120 on the ground. Washington also added 2 rushing TDs.
This was basically the same story for the Terp’s offense as DOB and back-up C.J. Brown only combined to throw for 87 yards (ouch), with two interceptions (double ouch), on 6-24 passing (mega-ouch). However, Brown was able to gain 124 yards on the ground on only nine carries and Meggett added 86 yards and a touchdown. This game would start a 4-game ACC losing streak for Maryland that has yet to be broken.
October 15th- Loss vs Clemson 56-45
In this crazy barn-burner at Byrd, Clemson freshman wide receiver Sammy Watkins dominated the game with 345 all-purpose yards by kick-returning, rushing, and receiving. Maryland’s offense showed it’s fair share of explosiveness as quarterback C.J. Brown, replacing the benched Danny O’Brien, threw for three touchdowns and ran for one more. Tight-end Matt Furstenburg exploded with 5 catches for 104 yards and two TDs. Defensive back Cameron Chism also added a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Not everything was all so rosy as Maryland’s defense was absolutely brutal. I understand that Clemson is a very athletic and talented team, but 56 points is way too much to give up especially in a home game. In addition to Watkins’ dominance of Maryland’s defensive system, Clemson running back Andre Ellington ran for 212 yards on 24 carries and added two touchdowns. The offense was spectacular, but the defense left a lot to be desired for in this game.
October 22nd- Loss at Florida State 41-16
Now we come to the big stinker. The Terps were never within two scores on the ‘Noles the entire game and the game ended up being much close than that. The only two possible bright spots for the Terps in this one were quarterback Danny O’Brien who threw for 180 yards and a score and wide receiver Quintin McCree who put up 177 yards on nine catches. There was no semblance of a Maryland running game at all as Terps’ rushers averaged a measly 1.6 yards per carry.
The defense was absolutely brutal against Florida State. FSU put up nearly 500 yards of total offense on the board and made the Terps look like a FCS team that was completely overmatched. The Seminoles also exploited the seemingly weakest aspect of the Maryland defense as they ran for a whopping 218 yards as a team. An absolutely terrible effort from almost (excluding DOB and McCree) the whole team and a game to forget.
October 29th- Loss vs Boston College 28-17
The humongous stinker. The other three games this month were slightly excusable because they were all against teams that were ranked in the Top-25 at the time. Boston College was from being ranked before, and even after Saturday’s game. Another terrible performance by the Terps and the relatively close final score doesn’t do justice as to how bad Maryland compared to BC. With surprising October snow hitting Maryland and the rest of the East Coast, the game was based around the rushing attacks and BC’s was a whole lot better than the Terp’s. Due to starter Montel Harris being injured, back-up running back Rolandan Finch got the start and he didn’t disappoint, racking up 243 yards and two TDs. Davin Meggett was able to rush for 99 yards on 17 carries with a TD for the Terps and was the main source of offense on the day.
Now we get to the defense. For the Terps, there was little to none of it especially in the run defense. BC quarterback Chase Rettig was held to 32 yards passing but as mentioned above, the Eagles’ running game led them to victory. Finch along with a few other rushers combined to gain an absurd 372 yards on the ground on 62 carries, leading to a 6.0 average per carry. That’s an absolutely unacceptable performance against a team that was 1-6 entering the game.
Individual Statistics Through Eight Games
Passing:
Danny O’Brien- 57.4% CMP (120-209) 1,275 YDS 6 TD 7 INT 111.4 QB-RAT
C.J. Brown- 47.6% CMP (40-84) 375 YDS 4 TD 3 INT 93.7 QB-RAT
Rushing:
Davin Meggett- 127 CAR 625 YDS 3 TD 4.9 AVG
C.J. Brown- 46 CAR 332 YDS 2 TD 7.2 AVG
Justus Pickett- 55 CAR 236 YDS 1 TD 4.3 AVG
D.J. Adams- 19 CAR 80 YDS 3 TD 4.2 AVG
Danny O’Brien- 27 CAR 45 YDS 2 TD 1.7AVG
Quintin McCree- 8 CAR 42 YDS 0 TD 5.3 AVG
Receiving:
Kevin Dorsey- 29 REC 361 YDS 2 TD 12.4 AVG
Matt Furstenburg- 24 REC 298 YDS 2 TD 12.4 AVG
Quintin McCree- 23 REC 265 YDS 0 TD 11.5 AVG
Kerry Boykins- 23 REC 257 YDS 0 TD 11.2 AVG
Ronnie Tyler- 13 REC 116 YDS 1 TD 8.9 AVG
Davin Meggett- 13 REC 99 YDS 1 TD 7.6 AVG
Marcus Leak- 12 REC 85 YDS 1 TD 7.1 AVG
Adrian Coxson- 3 REC 78 YDS 1 TD 26.0 AVG
Tony Logan- 9 REC 68 YDS 0 TD 7.6 AVG
Surprise Player: Kerry Boykins, WR
One of only a few bright spots currently on the Terp’s roster, Boykins has played very well even through the Terp’s recent struggles. The junior from Chesapeake, Virginia is long, lanky, and has very solid hands. His receptions and yards have already more-than-doubled that what he had last season as a sophomore. Danny O’Brien and C.J. Brown have started to consider him a go-to-guy which is very important because those quarterbacks need a solid receiver to help build their depleted confidence. I predict an increased role for Kerry in these last few games of the season.
Disappointment Player(s): Maryland Quarterbacks (C.J.Brown and DOB)
What more do I have to say? In an area that was supposed to be Maryland’s one undeniable strength has turned into one of the team’s biggest weaknesses. Coming off of a sensational freshman season, Danny O’Brien should have had another stellar season as a sophomore but that hasn’t worked out at all and he has been benched in a few games for back-up C.J. Brown. It’s never a good sign when your supposed star quarterback has throw for more interceptions than he has touchdowns. It’s tough to win football games when a team can’t rely on their quarterbacks for consistent production and that is plaguing the Terps right now.
Grade for October: F
An all-around brutally bad month with the only win coming against a FCS team. Four straight conference losses to end the month should have Coach Randy Edsall considering pulling a Brian Kelly and flat out verbally abusing his players. I’ll accept that this team wasn’t going to win the ACC this season, but now there is no chance of us even making a bowl. Now that is pathetic. When is basketball season again?
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