Wide receiver Kevin Dorsey and the offense were losers in the Red-White spring game Saturday.

To someone who caught a passing glimpse of them this weekend, the numbers on the Byrd Stadium scoreboard Saturday afternoon might have meant progress for the Terrapins football team’s offense.

With 120 combined points in the annual Red-White spring game, it seemed as though some of the scoring issues that plagued the Terps so often in coach Randy Edsall’s first season in College Park were finally put to bed.

That wasn’t the case, at least not Saturday, when the lofty numbers were more a product of the game’s unusual scoring system than they were of actual offensive production. The afternoon offered action that was equal parts intrasquad scrimmage and Whose Line is it Anyway, a game in which the points – awarded for accomplishments such as first downs and drive stoppages – really didn’t matter.

So even though the Red team (defense) defeated the White team (offense), 67-53, only 17 of those points actually came by way of a touchdown or field goal.

“The guys had a lot of fun out there today, and they had the chance to go out there and play the game again with their teammates,” Edsall said. “I’m just very, very pleased with what took place.”

The Terps defense’s 14-point victory highlighted the offense’s struggles. Though quarterbacks C.J. Brown and Ricky Schultz each showed flashes of individual success, both had trouble sustaining drives.

Brown led a 67-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 1-yard score from running back Brandon Ross at the end of the first quarter, and Schultz followed with a 9-yard pass to wide receiver Nigel King on the next drive.

A lone field goal from Michael Tart in the second quarter would be the game’s only other score. Neither quarterback drove the offense into field-goal range in the second half.

“We just didn’t come out in the second half with the same mindset that we needed to and we weren’t able to finish,” Brown said. “That’s on me and on the offense, and we have to pick that up because that can’t happen.”

Schultz, a walk-on transfer from Shepherd University set to graduate this spring, finished the game with 146 yards and a touchdown on 13-for-19 passing. Brown went 17-for-33 for 199 yards with no scores, and he was picked off by cornerback Dexter McDougle in the second quarter.

“C.J. was so mad,” McDougle said, laughing. “He said, ‘Keep sitting out there.’ I said, ‘OK, I will if you’re going to keep throwing it to me.'”

They didn’t get many opportunities to: The quarterback duo was sacked a combined 13 times. While those numbers were inflated by their yellow non-contact jerseys, which forced officials to blow dead any play in which a quarterback was touched, the defense was admittedly shorthanded. Injured standouts such as defensive end Joe Vellano and linebacker Kenny Tate stood and looked on from the sideline, where they took in the game with former Terps Shawne Merriman and Vernon Davis.

“Honestly, [on] probably three of [the sacks], C.J. would have made the guy miss,” nose tackle A.J. Francis said. “Those sacks just prove we were coming [on the rush] and we have to give credit to the whole defense.”

Running backs Justus Pickett and Ross saw similar issues. Though the pair combined for 120 yards and a touchdown out of the backfield, both finished the afternoon with less than 4 yards per carry.

“They both got downhill, they’re not scared to hit somebody, and we really like that,” offensive tackle Justin Gilbert said. “It really helps knowing the harder we play, the harder our backs are going to play.”

Just like the unusual numbers on scoreboard, Saturday’s spring game will likely prove a far-from-true representation of what’s in store for the Terps this season.

The most important takeaway from the afternoon, in fact, might have been this week’s dinner menu. The defense will be rewarded with steak and lobster. The offense won’t.

Said Gilbert: “We’re going to have to take our beans and franks on Wednesday.”

vitale@umdbk.com