After Maryland football quarterback Perry Hills suffered a blow to his shoulder Saturday and walked off the field with trainers, backup Tyrrell Pigrome took over the offensive huddle.
It wasn’t the first time the rookie had relieved the redshirt senior. Pigrome made appearances in three blowout wins. He also delivered the game-winning touchdown in double overtime against Central Florida on Sept. 17 when Hills went down with a shoulder injury.
The former Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year provided the same type of immediate production against Penn State, keeping the handoff on the first snap and wrestling seven yards into the end zone to cut the Nittany Lions’ lead to 17-14 right before halftime. But unlike the Terps’ non-conference triumph, they couldn’t secure the win at Beaver Stadium, admitting they failed to hit their stride after the Nittany Lions’ fast start.
“We handled a tight game and adversity well earlier in the season when we’re on the road in Central Florida,” coach DJ Durkin said. “For whatever reason, in this game, we didn’t. It went the opposite way.”
Before Hills, who Durkin said Monday was day-to-day, left the game with about a minute left in the second quarter, he completed five of his seven passes for 72 yards, 66 of which came on a checkdown to running back Ty Johnson for a touchdown.
Under pressure, Hills dumped a pass to the sophomore speedster behind the line of scrimmage, and Johnson darted around blocks from wide receiver Levern Jacobs and center Brendan Moore to break away down the sideline.
The move tied the game at seven midway through the first quarter after Penn State trounced the defense for a seven-play, 84-yard drive in the first two minutes and 27 seconds.
“We were like, ‘Hey, we’re here. Let’s compete. Let’s just keep going,'” Johnson said.
But Johnson admitted after the game the unit was frustrated by the Nittany Lions’ control. The Terps often failed to gain yards on first and second down, positioning themselves for long conversions on the later downs. The team finished 4-for-13 on third downs and posted 11 first downs to Penn State’s 28.
“We’d get stuck in the first or the second or the third,” Johnson said. “We were saying, like, ‘Why, can’t we do this?’ And we’d get mad at ourselves, down on ourselves.”
Durkin said on a conference call Monday he was proud of the way Pigrome played. The first-year coach didn’t think the road environment was much of a factor despite the more than 100,000 fans in attendance for homecoming. Durkin said the Pigrome showed poise while rushing 10 times for 39 yards and completing five of his nine throws for 28 yards.
The team didn’t change its game plan with Pigrome under center because Durkin said he and Hills have similar running styles, but the Terps tried simplifying the calls to make the freshman’s reads simpler.
“The biggest thing for him, with any young quarterback, is just the decision making,” Durkin said. “Putting the ball in the right place and not throwing in harm’s way.”
Still, the Terps went scoreless in the second half, while the defense surrendered two more touchdowns. The unit overcompensated against Penn State’s threats from running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley after the first drive, Durkin said, and strayed from defensive coordinator Andy Buh’s scheme.
Hills, meanwhile, watched from the sideline with his helmet on. Durkin said it wasn’t in the team’s best interest to let the Pittsburgh native re-enter, but the injury “won’t be something that lingers too long for him,” as the Terps begin their week of preparation to face Minnesota this weekend.
“We definitely had a lot of busts,” linebacker Jermaine Carter said. “But we have to go back and look at the film and just watch what we did wrong.”
