Terps beat by #8 Clemson; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Up 35-17 early in the 3rd Quarter, Maryland was not able to hold the lead, in their upset bid of #8 Clemson. The Tigers would outscore the Terps 39-10 the rest of the way, to win 56-45. Based on the lead Maryland had, the outcome is a disappointment. However, considering the talent the Terps were playing without, and the talent they were facing in Clemson; there were some moral victories to take from tonight.

From the perspective of the Terps, the biggest takeaway from the game was the play of QB CJ Brown. When there were reports over the Spring and Summer of Brown challenging Danny O’Brien, and impressing the Maryland Coaching staff; I was dismissive. Even after watching Brown run 77 yards for a TD last week against Georgia Tech, I still wanted to see O’Brien get the start tonight.

Brown’s play tonight shows I would have made the wrong call, and that Coach Edsall and Coach Crowton had things right. I’m not sure how things will play out from here for both Quarterbacks, but Brown’s running ability obviously opened up a new dimension for the Terrapins offense tonight. Beyond that, Brown was running the Crowton offense with the tempo desired from the Maryland Offensive Coordinator.

With the loss, Maryland falls to 2-4 overall, 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and 0-1 in the Atlantic Division. The Terps will again be a significant underdog next week at Florida State. Each week is going to be a struggle for Maryland, and the focus is going to be building up the younger players on the roster and preparing for next year.

The Good:

1) The quick tempo from Brown was established early, with him completing passes to Furstenburg, Tyler, Dorsey, and McCree on his first four passes.

2) Furstenburg finished with 5 catches for 104 yards, and 2 TD’s. Included in those catches was a 40 yard play over the middle, a 22 yard grab for the TD, and the 32 yard TD in the 4th. He picked up considerable YAC after each of those catches.

3) Meggett would make Clemson pay for their early muffed punt, punching in Maryland’s initial TD. Later, Meggett would give the Terps a 21-10 lead when Brown beat the blitz to find the RB for a 7 yard TD grab. He picked up a tough 4th an 1 in the 4th.

4) Chism put the Terps up 14-3, when he intercepted Boyd for a 46 yard TD return. In the 3rd quarter he made a nice play in the end zone to break up a Clemson TD pass. The Tigers would be forced to settle for 3.

5) Brown was able to keep the chains moving several times by making plays on his own. Facing 3rd and 8 to end the 1st Quarter, Brown made a Clemson defender miss, and would scamper 23 yards. Later, he would pick up a tough 3rd and 2. He gave Maryland the 28-10 lead, with his 21 yard TD run.  After Clemson pulled within 3 at 38-35, Brown would pick up 3rd and 4. Clemson continued to stick with man coverage underneath, with nobody spying Brown, and the young QB just continued to run by the Tigers defense.
5a) Brown finished 17 for 35, 176 yards, 3 TD’s throwing, with 22 carries for 185 yards, and a TD on the ground.

6) Maryland was playing a Clemson offense which had overwhelmed teams athletically in their previous 6 games. With numerous defensive players unavailable for the Terps (inclusive of each of their starting LB’s) it was hard to imagine Maryland being able to match-up physically tonight. The RS Freshman LB’s Lorne Goree, Mario Rowson played well, and the true Freshman LB Alex Twine also made his presence felt.

7) After a monster game last week, Vellano played well again tonight.

8) Logan had a couple of nice returns tonight, and seemed just a step away from breaking something longer.

The Bad:

1) Starting from the 4 yard line on their initial drive, Clemson had a 13 play, 6 and a half minute drive for a FG.

2) After the Terps 2nd TD of the game, the kickoff coverage was poor, as the Tigers (Watkins) had a 70 yard kickoff return.

3) Up 28-10, Maryland allowed a 10 play, 3 minute TD Drive. After the Furstenburg TD early in the 3rd, the Terps were up 35-17. Over the remainder of the Quarter, Clemson would outscore MD 18-3.

4) Tyler dropped an easy pass for significant yardage.

5) McCree had alligator arms on his 4th Quarter drop.

6) Twine missed a tackle which allowed Clemson to pick up additional yardage, on the Tigers go-ahead TD drive in the 4th.

7) Maryland had to punt on their last two possessions of the 3rd Quarter. Besides not putting up points on those possessions, the Terps quickly turned the ball back over to the Tigers.

8) Max Garcia was charged with a crucial holding penalty late in the 4th.

9) The Terps allowed 5 sacks, 578 yards, and Clemson was 9 of 15 on 3rd down.

The Ugly:

1) Sammy Watkins had an abundance of hype coming into this game, and certainly lived up to the billing. It was one thing for Watkins to beat you as a receiver, it was another to allow him to kill you in the return game. After Fursternberg’s TD in the 4th to give the Terps the 45-42 lead, Maryland allowed Watkins to return the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for the go ahead score. Watkins had already had the 70 yard kickoff return mentioned above. The cameras showed Coach Edsall angry at Ferrara for kicking to Watkins. Was that point made abundantly clear prior to the kick?

2) Some strong individual defensive plays from several Maryland defensive players, but the Terps were giving up size, speed, and depth to the Clemson offense. The only way that the Terps could effectively slow the Tigers offense, was with their own offense sustaining drives and putting up points of their own.

3) Facing 4th and 9 on the Clemson 47, with just over 6 minutes left – I think Coach Edsall should have elected to punt. I disliked the decision to go for it, and I really disliked that a timeout was spent to discuss the play.