It was a game the Terrapin football team was supposed to win. Within a span of three possessions Saturday, it already had.
In a blowout that further distanced the program from its unpalatable memories of a year ago, the Terps scored on their first three drives in their home opener at Byrd Stadium and continued the rampage throughout a 62-3 victory against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Morgan State. It marked the program’s highest point total in 35 years, when the Terps also scored 62 points in a shellacking of Virginia.
In 2009, the Terps’ (2-0) two wins were by a combined six points, including an overtime victory over the Bears’ FCS compatriot, James Madison. Saturday, the Terps’ second win in as many contests, came with an uncharacteristic dominance.
“Last year, we struggled even against teams that we were supposed to beat on paper,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said. “Coach [Ralph Friedgen] challenged us all week, saying, ‘What are you going to do? Are you the people I think you are?’ And we came out of the gate ready to play.”
In what amounted to a warm-up for next Saturday’s game at West Virginia, the Terps took the chance to establish an offensive balance conspicuously absent from their win against Navy on Sept. 6, compiling 221 yards on the ground and 149 yards through the air.
Even in victory, though, the Terps’ quarterback situation might have been increasingly muddled. After completing just two passes against Navy, Jamarr Robinson again started for the Terps, throwing touchdowns on each of the team’s first two possessions and ending with six completions for 70 yards.
But when backup quarterback Danny O’Brien stepped in for Robinson in the second quarter, he put on a show. On the first pass of his collegiate career, the redshirt freshman threw a rocket to tight end Matt Furstenburg for a 27-yard touchdown. Helped by good field position, two of his next three passes also went for scores.
After just one snap last week, O’Brien’s bigger role in a lopsided game was guaranteed. But Robinson’s gaffes — one woeful interception and occasional failures to find open receivers — could jeopardize the security of his starting job.
Terp coaches said Saturday they wanted to look over the game film before fully evaluating the situation.
“At this point, we’ll play both quarterbacks like we’ve been doing and see what happens,” offensive coordinator James Franklin said.
Third-string quarterback C.J. Brown also played two series after relieving O’Brien in the third quarter but broke his collarbone and will likely be out eight weeks. Backup defensive lineman Marcus Whitfield was also injured, dislocating his kneecap.
Yet as the number of new faces on the field mounted for the Terps, so did the score.
The Terps’ 17 first-quarter points were the most for the team since 2003. The team’s 45-0 lead at halftime tied the biggest of Friedgen’s tenure as coach.
“We were up in their faces pretty much the entire night,” defensive coordinator Don Brown said.
The Terps had no problems sharing the wealth. After running backs Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett combined for nearly 100 yards on just 16 carries early Saturday, running back D.J. Adams continued the barrage, rushing for 73 yards on 11 carries, including a 23-yard touchdown run that put the Terps up 51 points.
“It was almost the same play down the field,” Adams said. “If it’s working, why stop? It was fun.”
It wasn’t for Morgan State. After enduring shutouts in their two previous games against Football Bowl Subdivision teams, the Bears managed to break into the scoreline with a 39-yard third-quarter field goal.
Still, it came more as a result of Terp penalties than Bear plays. The Terps committed two personal foul penalties on third downs to keep alive a Morgan State scoring drive during which the Bear offense gained only 14 yards.
But by that point, many of the 40,099 at Byrd had already emptied out, the win well in hand.
The dominance came as a relief to Friedgen, who had been concerned about his players’ physical and emotional standing after a roller-coaster 17-14 win against Navy that left the team with a shortened week to prepare.
“It was a worry of mine that we would just come out, lay the ball on the ground, abandon our techniques and just think we could roll over them,” Friedgen said. “But I don’t think we did that.”
Following last week’s win, and after last season’s dismal showing, the Terps knew they still had something to prove.
“Maybe last week after Navy, people were saying, ‘Oh, they got lucky. If it weren’t for a couple of key plays, Navy would have taken that game,'” center Paul Pinegar said. “I think putting up as many points as we did and holding them to three points, we said maybe Navy wasn’t a fluke, maybe we are the real deal, and maybe you should watch out.”
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