Terps lose at BC; The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The University of Maryland fell to 4-4 overall, and 2-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 20-17 loss at Boston College. The Terrapins defense was tremendous for most of the 2nd half, but were unable to come up with a stop on BC’s last full series. True Freshman QB Caleb Rowe had some positives in his first Collegiate start, but his 3 picks proved too much to overcome.

The Good:

1) After a 3 yard gain from Brown, the Terps gained their first 1st down on their 2nd series, with Rowe finding Furstenburg across the field for 7 yards.

2) With BC on the verge of going up 14-0, the Terps received the gift of a BC fumble in the end zone, as Kilgo recovered. This gave Maryland the touch-back and new life.

3) Starting for the injured Marcus Leak, Nigel King picked up 9 yards on the Terps 3rd series. On 3rd and 6, Diggs gained a 1st down. After another Diggs catch, Rowe found Devonte Campbell for 13 yards and Campbell’s first catch of the year. Brown exploded through the tackles for 17 yards, taking the ball to the BC 38. On another 3rd down (with 5 to go), Rowe and Diggs connected again and moved the chains. Craddock would miss his FG attempt, but the Terps went 63 yards on 14 plays, over nearly 6 minutes, doing something positive for the first time.

4) BC’s 3rd series crossed into Maryland territory. With the Eagles facing 3rd and long, McDougle had a good play. On 4th and 3, BC elected to go for it, and Drakeford brought the pressure and caused an errant throw, allowing Maryland to take over.

5) Vellano ended the 1st Quarter, wrapping up Andre Williams after a 1 yard gain. After giving up a 22 yard pass to start the 2nd Quarter, the Terps forced a punt with Isaac Goins nearly coming up with the pick on 3rd down. A poor BC punt had Maryland taking over from their own 35.

6) Great defensive series from the Terps on BC’s first full series of the 2nd Quarter. Vellano finished things off with a 3rd down sack, forcing 4th and 25 on the BC 13. A 36 yard punt from Levano had the Maryland offense taking over from the BC 49.

7) Starting in BC territory on their 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter, the Terps disappointingly went 3 and out. Renfro did have a good punt though, pinning BC back to their 2 yard line. Cheeseboro had a nice play on the punt. AJ Francis would get his hands on the ball on 3rd down, forcing a BC punt.

8) Subsequent to Rowe’s first 2nd Quarter pick, the Eagles gained 29 yards on a pass, and moved to a 1st and 10 at the MD 20. The Terps defense then picked-up and forced a FG attempt – which was made, giving BC the 10-0 lead with 4:45 left in the 1st half.

9) Down 10-0 in the 2nd Quarter, the Terps got the ground game going a bit. Starting the drive from their 25, Brown picked up 8 yards on 1st and 10. That was followed by a 6 yard Brown gain for a 1st. Maryland should have had another 1st on a scramble from Rowe, but Diggs was charged with unnecessary roughness with a block.

10) With about 2 minutes left in the 1st half, Francis had a 3rd down sack, forcing another 3 and out from the Eagles.

11) Diggs had outstanding 2nd effort, picking up the 1st down on Maryland’s last series of the 1st half. His 7th catch of the 1st half came on 2nd and 8, as he fought for yards after contact.

12) BC advanced to the MD 14 to start the 2nd half, but Farrand came up with back-to-back positive plays for the Terps to help hold BC to a FG attempt.

13) Maryland’s first drive of the 2nd half started with a bubble screen to Diggs for 7 yards. Rowe was able to pick up the 1st, with a 3rd and 3 pass to Furstenburg for 13 yards. On 4th and 7, Maryland went for it, and picked up the 1st down with a strike over the middle to Dorsey. Dorsey’s 28 yard reception set up 1st and Goal. Rowe converted his 2nd 4th down of the series, with his 2 yard TD pass to King in the back of the end zone. The 13 play, 84 yard drive took nearly 6 minutes, and with the extra point pulled the Terps within 6 at 13-7.

14) Following Maryland’s first score of the day, the defense forced a 3 and out and got the ball right back to the offense.

15) The Terrapins 2nd drive of the 2nd half began from the MD 46. On 1st down, Rowe hit Diggs for 29 yards taking the ball to the BC 25. After Brown gained a yard, Rowe kept it and gained 8 more. On 3rd and short, Cierski opened up a running lane for Brown and gave the Terps a 1st down at the BC 11 yard line. Craddock would hit the short FG, pulling the Terps within 3 at 13-10.

16) Down 3 points to start the 4th Quarter, the Maryland defense made a 3rd and 2 stop, forcing BC’s 6th punt of the game. The Terps took over at their 24.

17) Great plays from McDougle and Tate on BC’s 2nd drive of the 4th. McDougle came on a corner blitz on 1st down, and just missed a sack. Tate wrapped up with a superb tackle in space on 2nd down.

18) Trailing 13-10, the Terps took over from their 27 with 10:23 left in the 4th. On 1st down, Rowe gained 8 yards on a scramble. On 3rd and short, Rowe found Diggs on the crossing route, with Diggs exploding for 66 yards and the MD TD. With the extra point, the Terps took the 17-13 lead.

19) Now playing with the lead, Hartsfield had a tackle for loss on BC’s next offensive series. After the Eagles gained one 1st down, Vellano forced a strip, that was recovered by Francis.

The Bad:

1) Maryland went 3 and out on their initial series. While I liked Maryland giving Rowe a short pass on 1st down to get comfortable, I did not like starting the game with 3 straight passes.

2) Nick Klemm was charged with a false start on MD’s 3rd series.

3) With 4:40 left in the 1st Quarter, Craddock missed from 35 yards out. Besides needing the points, you wanted to see Craddock immediately put last week behind him. When Coach Edsall and the Terps went for it on 4th and 7 from the BC 32 on the Terps first drive of the 2nd half, I’m sure he had Craddock’s misses from last week, and in the 1st Quarter today in his mind.

4) Jeremiah Johnson was charged with pass interference on BC’s 3rd series. Farrand was picked on a bit, with a wheel route by Amidon for 14 yards.

5) Maryland went 3 and out on their 1st series of the 2nd Quarter. Madaras struggled with pass protection on 3rd down.

6) The Terps started in BC territory on their 2nd series of the 2nd Quarter, but went 3 and out.

7) Maryland’s 3rd series of the 2nd Quarter, was the 2nd straight series to begin in BC territory. The Terps were again unable to make some thing out of the positive field position, with Cheeseboro missing a catch down the field, and Rowe being picked off on 3rd and 8. Rowe needed to take the sack if there was nothing there, and keep field position.

8) Following Rowe’s 2nd Quarter interception, Maryland’s defense got faked out on the bootleg from Rettig. Rettig would go down the field to Coleman, picking up 29 yards, taking the ball to the MD 20.

9) A tough unnecessary roughness penalty on Diggs late in the 2nd Quarter, wiped out a 1st down from Rowe.

10) Maryland again fell for a bootleg to start the 2nd half, with Rettig hitting Amidon for 38 yards. Several plays later Johnson did not wrap up on the outside, and BC gained 13 more yards, taking the ball to the MD 14. BC would get 3 points on the drive, increasing their lead to 13-0.

11) Brown had a poor pass block on Maryland’s first series of the 2nd half, helping cause Rowe be sacked on 2nd and goal from the Eagles 3 yard line. The 8 yard loss moved Maryland back.

12) The Terps had 1st and 10 from the BC 11 on their 2nd drive of the 2nd half. Brown gained 3 yards on the 1st down, and lost 2 on the 2nd down. On 3rd, Rowe overthrew Brown in the end zone.

13) Beginning their 1st series of the 4th at their 24, Diggs had his 10th catch of the game, gaining 8 yards on 1st down. On 3rd and short, Rowe was not able to pick up the 1st on the QB keeper. Maryland used a timeout to challenge the spot.

14) The Terps went 3 and out after BC’s 4th Quarter fumble, unable to increase their lead.

The Ugly:

1) Renfro’s first punt was returned 27 yards to the MD 39. That was followed by a 19 yard strike to Amidon, taking the Eagles to the Red Zone. On Boston College’s 2nd offensive play, Rettig found Dudeck for 20 yards and the score. With the extra point, BC went up 7-0 two minutes into the game.

2) The punt coverage on Renfro’s second effort was even worse, as BC’s Evans’ returned the ball 72 yards to the MD 19.

3) Rowe’s 2nd pick of the 2nd Quarter hurt. Maryland had a 1st and 10 from the BC 27 with about 1:25 left in the half. He forced a throw to the end zone instead of running for available yardage.
3a) Rowe had 27 pass attempts in the 1st half. I get using the passing game to open up the running game, but 27 attempts in Rowe’s 1st half as a starter was ridiculous.

4) BC picked up 3rd and 10 from their 15, with less than 5 minutes remaining, on a 13 yard pass to Pantale. A 12 yard completion to Amidon gave the Eagles a 1st down at their 40. Back-to-back completions to Amidon and Pantale moved the ball to the MD 48. On 3rd and 9, Rettig found Amidon once again, in the face of pressure. Amidon’s 9 catch moved the Eagles to the MD 20 with roughly 90 seconds remaining. A breakdown in coverage, gave BC an easy TD to cap the 14 play drive. With the extra point, the Eagles took the 20-17 lead with under a minute remaining in regulation.

5) Rowe’s 3rd interception of the game, effectively ended the game.

Notes:
BC was just 3 of 13 on 3rd down.
After a FG to start their 2nd half, BC punted 3 times, and fumbled another on their next 4 series.
Maryland’s defense had 5 sacks today.
The Terps were 5 of 18 on 3rd down, and 2 of 2 on 4th down.
The Terps out-gained BC 336 yard to 296.
Rowe was 23 of 42 for 241 yards, with 1 TD, and 3 picks.
Brown had 22 carries for 72 yards.
Diggs had 12 catches for 154 yards, and a TD.