The Terrapins football team’s 2013 campaign might have ended in disappointment after a rash of injuries to key skill players, a three-game losing streak and a 31-20 loss to Marshall in the Military Bowl, but along the way, the team provided some thrills of its own. So Terps football beat writer Daniel Gallen ranked the top 10 plays of the season.
10. C.J. Brown scores the Terps’ first touchdown of the season
After missing 2012 with a torn ACL, there were some questions about quarterback C.J. Brown’s return in August. Would he still be the same dangerous runner he was in 2011? Could he be a dynamic playmaker in offensive coordinator Mike Locksley’s offense?
Fittingly, Brown scored the Terps first touchdown in their 43-10 win over Florida International in the season opener. After faking a handoff, Brown took off to the left side and accelerated into the end zone from 29 yards out to put the Terps up 13-3.
While it wasn’t the most dazzling or most significant run, it set the tone of the Terps’ season. Brown was back, and he would be a focal point of the offensive attack. As he went, the team would go, and that was something that ultimately proved true.
9. Levern Jacobs’ 71-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown against Clemson
The Terps offense was missing five preseason starters when Clemson visited Byrd Stadium for homecoming in late October, but early on, wide receiver Levern Jacobs helped erase the thoughts of any absences. The sophomore speedster, filling in for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, put the Terps up 7-3 in the first quarter after he caught a pass from backup quarterback Caleb Rowe over the middle and accelerated all the way to the end zone. It was part of a career game in which Jacobs caught eight passes for 158 yards and his touchdown.
8. Nigel King catches a 53-yard touchdown pass at N.C. State
After Diggs and wide receiver Deon Long went down, the Terps offense expectedly lost some of its explosiveness. But occasionally — like on Jacobs’ touchdown catch above — a wide receiver would get free for a big gain. In the ACC finale at N.C. State on Nov. 30, it was Nigel King’s turn.
The sophomore beat his man up the right sideline, and Brown lofted a perfect pass that King snatched from his Wolfpack defender. It was one of Brown’s best passes of the year and one of King’s best catches. The Terps took a 14-3 lead and never looked back in a 41-21 victory to close at ACC play.
7. A wide-open Stefon Diggs catches a 66-yard touchdown pass against Florida International
After a sensational freshman campaign, Diggs was expected to produce even more highlights in 2013. But when a broken leg cut his season short in mid-October, Terp fans were left with only a few highlights from the first games.
In the season opener against FIU, Diggs didn’t disappoint. The Panthers defense blew a coverage assignment after a play-action fake, and Diggs was wide open, all alone in the middle of the field. Diggs stumbled momentarily, struggling to regain his balance before accelerating into the end zone to take a 33-10 lead.
6. Anthony Nixon returns a blocked extra point for two points against Boston College
After blown coverage allowed Boston College wide receiver Alex Amidon to score a 74-yard touchdown, the Eagles were poised to take a 27-24 lead late in the fourth quarter of the Terps’ home finale. But outside linebacker Marcus Whitfield tipped the ensuing extra point into the air, safety Anthony Nixon snatched it a few yards deep in the end zone and — after a moment of hesitation — he took off down the sideline. The Eagles were too late to react, and Nixon had a convoy into the end zone. Suddenly, the game was tied 26-26.
The Terps, though, would lose on a 52-yard field goal as time expired.
5. Will Likely’s punt return touchdown at Virginia Tech
The Terps were looking for a spark at Virginia Tech. They trailed 7-0, and the offense hadn’t been able to mount any sort of attack against a stingy Hokies defense. So it fell to special teams for a game-changing play.
Cornerback Will Likely returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown, weaving his way through the middle of the field before tying the game. Earlier in the game, he had been close to breaking another punt for a score, but he had been caught. This time, he wouldn’t be denied.
More from this game later.
4. Stefon Diggs’ high-step and dive against Old Dominion
Despite playing only about five-and-a-half games, Diggs still found his way onto this list twice. In the Terps’ second game of the year, the sophomore took a swing pass from Brown, shook and Old Dominion defender and was off to the races.
He high-stepped down the sideline and then somersaulted into the end zone to put the Terps up 24-3. Diggs drew the ire of coach Randy Edsall, but in an injury-shortened season, it provided plenty of excitement and eye to what the Terps can expect to return next season.
3. Dexter McDougle’s pick-six at Connecticut
The Terps were tested for the first time in the season at Connecticut on Sept. 14. They hadn’t played in a hostile environment yet, and in the third quarter, the Terps led by only one touchdown.
But cornerback Dexter McDougle jumped a route along the sideline and wound his way through UConn players for a 49-yard interception return for a touchdown. The score put the Terps up 27-13 in their eventual 32-21 win in Edsall’s return to Connecticut.
Minutes later, though, McDougle would be helped off the field afer suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
2. Deon Long’s 47-yard catch to set up the game-winning touchdown against Virginia
One week after a 63-0 loss to Florida State and playing without Brown, the Terps were locked in a battle with Virginia in their ACC home opener. The team’s offense was scuffling, and it couldn’t quite find the big play it needed to break through against the Cavaliers.
Facing a third-and-22 in the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Caleb Rowe rolled right and then heaved a prayer up the sideline. Wide receiver Deon Long settled under it and outjumped two Virginia defensive backs to come down with it inside the Cavaliers 15. Two plays later, Rowe found tight end Dave Stinebaugh in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
1. C.J. Brown scores game-winning touchdown in 27-24 overtime win at Virginia Tech
In the middle of a three-game losing streak with bowl eligibility hanging in the balance after seeming like a given, the Terps headed to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va., as two-touchdown underdogs.
But buoyed by Likely’s punt return and an inspired defensive effort, the Terps were locked in an overtime battle with the Hokies. After the defense allowed only a field goal on Virginia Tech’s possession, it was the Terps’ turn.
And Brown, who rushed for 122 yards in the win, delivered with a scamper around the left side and dive to the pylon, kicking off a raucous celebration. For the first time in Edsall’s tenure, the Terps were bowl eligible.
