Maryland over Miami; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Coach Edsall era officially began tonight, as the University of Maryland won their 2011 season opener with a 32-24 victory over the University of Miami.

The Good:

1) There was a lot of attention in the off-season from Terps fans towards new Offensive Coordinator Gary Crowton. Crowton told Maryland fans to not judge him by the pedestrian passing game that was employed at LSU, but based off of the prolific offenses from his prior destinations. The first drive of the 2011 season showed Crowton to be aggressive in his passing schemes, employing 4 and 5 WR’s, with O’Brien often often operating out of the shotgun. You had to love the tempo that was employed by the Terps offense.

1a) Loved the decision from Edsall and Crowton to go for it on 4th and 8 from the Miami 36 on the first possession of the game.

1b) Early on, Maryland took advantage of the cushion underneath, with O’Brien hitting his receivers on quick bubble screens to the outside.

1c) Tyler showed some extra effort to find the end-zone on the initial Maryland drive. He would finish with 6 receptions.

2) Furstenburg had a big game at TE, with 4 catches for 68 yards.

3) Meggett had 20 carries, for 88 yards running, and 4 receptions for 34 yards as a receiver.

4) As pointed out by ESPN’s Matt Millen, the Maryland receivers were doing an excellent job of pass blocking. Tyler rightfully got most of the credit, but Dorsey also had a superb block which helped Meggett on a 17 yard run.

5) After the first Terps TD, Kenny Tate had a strong Special Teams tackle. As the game wore on, Tate’s name was being called more often.

6) It did not take Kevin Dorsey long to emerge as major weapon for O’Brien. The Jr WR finished with 8 catches for 124 yards. In the 4th Quarter he got past the Miami CB for the 52 yard strike down the field.

7) McCree also had 7 catches.

8) On the Terps third drive of the game, Maryland faced 3rd and 9. O’Brien was able to escape pressure and pick-up the 1st down with his legs. On the first MD drive of the 2nd half, O’Brien scampered 24 yards on 3rd and 3.

9) True Freshman RB Justus Pickett did some good North/South running on his 6 carries. Also showed some promise as a KR.

10) On Miami’s 2nd drive, the Red-shirt Freshman Andre Monroe ran down Morris. Monroe’s name would be called several more times, as he showed a good motor and pursuit. In the 4th quarter, Monroe had a needed sack.

11) Understandably, Tate is going to command most of the attention of the Maryland LB’s, but both Drakeford and Hartsfield have really strong ability.

12) On the 2nd Miami drive, on the Hurricanes third 3rd down, Hartsfield and Mackall had contact on Morris which resulted in Vellano recovering the fumble. Mackall combined with Monroe on the 4th Quarter sack.

13) After Chism’s contact, Miami’s Miller would fumble, and Vellano would grab his 2nd fumble recovery and rumble into the end-zone for a TD.

14) Ferrara coming back after the miss, to hit his 4th FG of the night was huge. He was very solid in ’09, before dealing with the groin injury last year. Hopefully tonight will be the start of a strong year for him.

15) Boykins responded from his earlier drop for a 19 yard reception in the 4th.

16) The Hurricanes were depleted on their Defensive Line, but Maryland’s Offensive Line gets credit for blocking the guys they lined-up against. The O-line was helped by O’Brien regularly getting rid of the ball quickly.

17) O’Brien was very strong, finishing 31 of 44 for 348 yards, the 1 TD, and the 1 Int. He completed receptions to 6 different receivers, and was very decisive with the ball. Beautiful pass to Dorsey to set up the go ahead FG in the 4th.

18) Chism read Morris perfectly, getting the pick, and doing what was necessary to find the end-zone (though I understand the game would have been over had he stopped at the 5 yard line).

19) Maryland had 499 yards of offense, and was 6 of 14 on 3rd down, and 2 of 2 on 4th down.

20) I liked the Terps helmets tonight, much better than the Turtle shell ones.

The Bad:

1) Sophomore RG Josh Cary twice was penalized for a False Start.

2) On the Hurricanes 2nd drive, the Terps over pursued on 3rd and 15 and allowed Miami to pick up the 1st down when several MD players missed tackles. On the same drive, Miami would also pick up 3rd and 6 when Morris just had too much time in the pocket.

3) The Terps Kickoff coverage was not great tonight, with Miami often picking up too many yards. Twice this happened after Maryland FG’s, which somewhat limited momentum from being built.

4) On Maryland’s 3rd possession, a 3rd and goal at the 3 yard line was stopped when Pickett got no where. I would have wanted to go elsewhere with the ball on that play.

5) Campbell had a drop in the 4th quarter, on a play that should have been made.

6) After hitting the 3 previous FG’s, it was disappointing that Ferrara missed his 4th chip shot of the game.

7) On 3rd and 17 in the 4th Quarter, Chism was called for tough holding penalty.

8) The botched point after Chism’s Interception returned for the TD, prevented it from becoming a two possession game.

The Ugly:

1) In Maryland’s first 7 possessions of the game, they were in the Miami Red Zone 6 times and had just 23 points to show for it. Just a lack of execution when it mattered the most.

2) The O’Brien interception in the End Zone to end the second drive, obviously can not happen. You have to come away with some points in that situation.

3) Lamar Miller’s 41 yard TD run to tie the game 13 was partly a credit to Miller’s explosion, and partly a credit to poor tackling from Maryland.

4) Boykins dropped an easy TD pass on Maryland’s 4th possession, and the offense would stall again.

5) You don’t want to see any player injured, but a significant injury to Drakeford could really hurt a Maryland team that is thin at LB. Fingers crossed that he, and DE Isiah Ross will be ok.