UMD drops a heartbreaker; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

With under 40 seconds left, NCST hit a 43 yard FG, giving the Wolfpack the 20-18 lead. Maryland moved down the field with their 3rd string QB, with a chance to to kick a potential game winner of their own. However, the Freshman Kicker Brad Craddock (who earlier missed an extra point) missed from 33 yards out, hitting the cross bar. NCST left College Park with the win. With the loss, the Terrapins fall to 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Good:

1) The Terrapins defense forced a 3 and out on the Wolfpack, during NCST’s first series; getting the ball back for the Maryland offense.

2) On the 2nd Terps series, Maryland had what would have been a 1st down waived off by illegal motion from Furstenburg. Hills and Diggs would connect on the next play, moving the chains anyway. Following that, Albert Reid gained 5 yards. On 3rd and 1, MD went to a quick tempo, and gained another 1st and Reid gained 2 tough yards. After the Gilbert penalty, Maryland got a 47 yard gain as Hills and Leak connected. Craddock would finish the drive with a 36 yard FG, giving MD the 3-0 lead.

3) On NCST’s 2nd series, Safety Eric Franklin made a nice open field tackle for a 3 yard loss. On 3rd and 10, the Maryland D-line got their hands up on the pass attempt from Glennon.

4) Starting on their 4 yard line on their 3rd possession, Hills hit back-to-back-to-back passes to Furstenburg, Diggs, and Furstenburg moving the Terps out to the 24 yard line.

5) Maryland’s defense forced a 3rd NCST punt late in the 1st Quarter.

6) After missing last week, and being listed as questionable for this week; Wes Brown gained 8 yards on his first carry in the 2nd Quarter.

7) Drakeford came up with a huge sack on NCST’s 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter. The Wolfpack had begun the series at the NCST 47. With the sack, they were backed deeper into their own territory and faced 3rd and 16. After NCST picked up the 1st on the following play (and 2 more 3rd downs on the series), Hartsfield and Francis made nice plays near the goal line to force a FG attempt. Considering NCST had a 1st down at the MD 4, limiting NCST to a FG there provided some redemption on a horrible defensive series.

8) Maryland started their 2nd drive of the 2nd Quarter from their own 21 with just under 6 minutes left in the half. With Hills facing pressure up the middle, he delivered a 19 yard strike to the sideline to Levern Jacobs.

9) The Terps defense forced the 4th NCST punt (and 1st of the 2nd Quarter) with a needed 3 and out late in the 1st half. A poor NCST punt allowed Maryland to take over from the NCST 47.

10) With NCST seemingly in position to take control of the game as the 2nd half began, the Maryland defense against stepped up and made some plays. As the Wolfpack attempted to punt on 4th down, Baumann dropped the snap, and Maryland (Jacobs) recovered the block, taking over at the NCST 44.

11) Using the option to start the 3rd Quarter, Burns went to his right for 16 yards, and then to his left for 5 more. On 1st and 10 from the 23, Burns found Leak on the outside for 12 yards and another 1st down. On 3rd and 11, Burns and Furstenburg drew the pass interference penalty in the end zone. this set up 1st and goal from the 2 yard line. Brown would pulled Maryland within 1 (10-9) on his TD run.

12) Burns again used his legs to move the chains, picking up Maryland’s longest rush of the season with a 23 yard carry on the Terps 2nd series of the 3rd Quarter. On 3rd and 10, Burns pitched to Brown on the option for a 15 yard gain. Burns would connect with Leak down the sidelines for a 38 yard gain, giving Maryland a 1st and Goal from the Wolfpack 2 yard line. On the naked bootleg, Burns scored. Denied on the 2 point conversion, Maryland pulled within 2 (17-15) on the Burns TD.

13) Vellano came up with a stop on 3rd and 3 on NCST’s 3rd series of the 3rd Quarter.

14) Maryland began their 3rd series of the 3rd Quarter at their own 27. On 2nd and 7, Brown ran through a would be tackle for 8 yards. On 3rd and 4, Brown picked up another 1st down with a 22 yard run. Brown ended the play delivering a blow. Craddock would hit from 48 yards out, giving Maryland the 18-17 lead early in the 4th Quarter.

15) Outstanding kickoff coverage from Maryland after Craddock’s 4th Quarter FG. Hartsfield leading the charge down the field.

16) Following Craddock’s 4th Quarter FG, NCST picked up several 1st downs, advancing from their own 8 yard line to the Maryland 43. On 3rd and 2, Vellano and Drakeford combined for a sack, and a 7 yard loss. The Wolfpack was forced to punt, and Maryland took over with the lead, and less than 10 minutes remaining on the clock.

17) Brown picked up a 1st down on 2nd and 4 from their 22 with an 8 yard run. This kept the ball for the Terps and help Maryland work the clock. On 2nd and 9, he picked up 8 setting up 3rd and short. On that 3rd down he again moved the chains, and went over 100 yards rushing. (Maryland’s 1st 100 yard rusher of the year.) On 3rd and 8, Brown drove for 6 yards on the pitch.

18) Good punt coverage from the Terps in the 4th. The Renfro punt, and Maryland coverage had NCST starting from their own 7 yard line with 5 minutes left.

19) Outstanding defensive play from Drakeford, Hartsfield, and Jeremiah Johnson on NCST’s 2nd drive of the 4th Quarter. With the forced 3 and out, Maryland took over at the 50 with 3:34 on the clock, clinging to their 1 point lead.

20) Hartsfield came up with a tackle for loss, following the pass interference on McDougle. Maryland’s defense again stood up, this time making a 4th and 13 stop, getting the ball back for the offense, and taking Brown off the hook for his fumble.

21) Dorsey’s 17 yard catch (from Rowe, on Rowe’s first career attempt) on Maryland’s last series, gave Maryland a chance on their last series. Rowe followed with an 11 yard run. Rowe then completed his 2nd career attempt with a 33 yard pass to King. This set-up Craddock’s potential game winner.

The Bad:

1) Maryland went 3 and out on their first series. On 3rd down, Hills faced pressure off the right edge, and delivered a pass which was off the mark to Dorsey.

2) On the 2nd Terps series, Maryland had their initial 1st down waived off due to illegal motion from Furstenburg. Following a couple of MD 1st downs, Gilbert back the Terps back to the 26 with a 10 yard penalty. After the 47 yard gain to Leak, the Terps got cute and attemped a flea-flicker with Diggs throwing down the field. On 3rd and 6 from the NCST 23, Dorsey gained 5 yards with a route short of the 1st down marker. Unable to gain the 1st, Maryland was forced into a FG attempt.

3) NCST’s 2nd punt was allowed to bounce by Diggs, eventually downed at the 4. This had Maryland pinned back to begin their 3rd series.

4) After gaining a 1st down on a NCST pass-interference, Hills was sacked for 8 yard losses on both 2nd and 3rd down.

5) The Terps faced 4th and 3 from the NCST 41, with 13:23 left in the 2nd Quarter and decided to punt. While I may have gone for it, I did not mind that decision. What I disliked is that after Diggs gained 25 yards for a 1st and 10 at the NCST 48, and followed that with 6 yards on that 1st down; Maryland had 2nd and 4 from the Wolfpack 42.  With 2 plays to gain 4 yards, Maryland gained 1 yard on a rush from Reid on 2nd down, and Hills passed incomplete to Dorsey on 3rd. It was good field position that was wasted from the Terps.

6) NCST’s first possession of the 2nd Quarter had them facing 1st and 15 from their own 20. NCST would pick up the 1st, and on 1st and 10 from the 39; Glennon found Payton for 34 yards to the Maryland 27. Two plays later the Wolfpack found the end zone with Glennon hitting the FB Logan Winkles over the middle, putting NCST up 7-3 with the extra point. 5 plays, 81 yards, just over 2 minutes on the drive.

7) Hills was sacked for the 3rd time in the game on Maryland’s 1st series of the 2nd Quarter, on 2nd down. This moved Maryland from 2nd and 2, to 3rd and 5. On 3rd down, he was harassed again and charged with intentional downing. Already leading 7-3, NCST started their 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter from the Maryland 49.

8) The Terps faced 3rd and 6 from their own 41 during their 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter. Klemm was charged with a false start, moving the Terps into 3rd and 11. Hills was sacked for a 2 yard loss, and Maryland was forced to punt for the 5th time.

9) Arnett was charged with a penalty late in the 1st half, putting Maryland into a 2nd and 15. On Maryland’s 2nd series of the 3rd Quarter, Arnett was charged with another penalty, wiping out a large run from Burns.

10) Maryland allowed their 5th sack of the 1st half, with Burns being brought to the turf during his first series.

11) Eric Franklin and the Terps were charged with a block in the back on their kickoff to begin the 2nd half.

12) The attempted 2 point conversion play call, after Burns 3rd Quarter TD, was poor.

13) Burns was sacked for a 2nd time in the 4th Quarter, the 6th sack allowed by the Terps. This sack would stall Maryland’s drive, and put the Terps into a difficult 2nd and 18 position.

14) Subsequent to Brown’s fumble, McDougle was charged with pass interference. This gave NCST a 1st down in Maryland territory.

15) After coming up with the 4 down stop late in the 4th, Maryland took over from their 44 with 2:40 on the clock. The Terps were not able to come up with a 1st down, and NCST got to take over still down just 1, with 2:17 left in the game on their own 20. On 3rd and 10 from the State 37, Glennon found Payton for 14 yards. NCST would 54 yards over 10 plays, culminating in the 43 yard FG from Sade, which gave the Wolfpack the 20-18 lead.

The Ugly:

1) On NCST’s 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter, Drakeford sacked Glennon to force the Wolfpack into a 3rd and 16. Glennon picked it up, finding Underwood for 28 yards and a 1st down at the Maryland 27. Horrible pass defense, and a terribly deflating play. Several plays later, the Wolfpack converted 3rd and 4. A 3rd consecutive 3rd down was converted when Thornton picked up 2 yards on 3rd and 1 from the 6 yard line.

2) Maryland had a 1st and 10 at the NCST 21 with about a minute left in the 1st half. Hills was picked off with a poor look over the middle. The play got even worse when Hills was hurt trying to make the tackle, and carted off the field. The potential pick 6 was taken off the board due to an NCST block in the back, but Maryland went from being potentially tying the game, to losing their QB. Another deflating moment for the Terps.

3) Following Brown’s 3rd Quarter TD run, Craddock missed the extra point which would have tied the game at 10.

4) Coming off Maryland’s 3rd Quarter TD, NCST had a 1 play, 68 yard TD ‘drive’ of their own – when Glennon found his receiver Underwood in-stride. Just like that, NCST was back up 17-9.

5) Bad call from myself after the Hills injury. I said I thought the Terps should burn the Redshirt* of Caleb Rowe, because I did not think Burns would be able to use his legs with little threat of an aerial game.
5a*) Rowe obviously did enter the game on Maryland’s last series.

6) Brown had a great game, but his 4th Quarter fumble erased some of the good feelings, as he put the defense into a difficult position.

7) I hate to kill a college kid, but Craddock had to make that game winner.

Notes:
NCST was 7 of 19 on 3rd down, MD was 6 of 16.
After not having 100 rushing yards combined in the previous 3 games, Maryland ran for 197 today. Burns had 50 yards on his 12 carries.
Leak had 4 catches for 94 yards.
Diggs had 6 catches for 61 yards, but none after half-time.
Maryland had 463 total yards, NCST 347.
Maryland had 23 1st downs, NCST 17.
Both teams were penalized 8 times.