BALTIMORE — For the first time since the 2004 Gator Bowl, the Terrapins football team beat West Virginia, but the result from a rain-soaked Saturday afternoon in M&T Bank Stadium meant much more than simply snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Playing in a fertile recruiting area, the Terps thrashed their border-state rivals, 37-0, recording their first shutout since 2008 and improving to 4-0 for the first time since 2001. It was the type of win that could start to change the perception of coach Randy Edsall and the program as a whole.
With that, here’s some takeaways from the Terps’ big victory:
1) TURNOVERS
After the Terps’ second drive of the game resulted in their second three-and-out, things didn’t look so good. The offense couldn’t find a rhythm, quarterback C.J. Brown didn’t look comfortable and the offensive line had already committed two false start penalties.
But before Brown and the offense could get cozy on the sideline, the game’s momentum shifted. Nate Renfro’s punt bounced on the turf and hit West Virginia returner Ronald Carswell. Safety A.J. Hendy pounced on the loose ball to regain possession for the Terps, and the team wasted little time turning the short field into a 26-yard touchdown drive.
That was the first of the Mountaineers three first-half turnovers, each of which lead to a Terps touchdown. West Virginia finished with six total giveaways, but there’s no doubt that the trio of turnovers in the first half was the difference in the blowout victory.
On West Virginia’s first drive after Carswell’s miscue, Hendy jumped in front of a pass thrown by Mountaineers quarterback Ford Childress, picked it off and sprinted 28 yards for a touchdown, the second pick-six of his career.
“Whenever the defense gets a turnover it fires everyone up,” Brown said. “And then when A.J. got the pick-six , that was huge for us, everyone had so much energy and we were fired up.”
Later in the half, Childress threw a pass from his own goal line, but Terps linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil jumped to tip it and then corralled it in the air. The Terps’ second interception gave them possession at the West Virginia 6-yard line, and three plays later, Brown took a quarterback sneak into the end zone for the score.
Without the Terps’ 21 points off of turnovers in the first half, the score at the break could have been 9-0. Instead, the Terps were up 30-0 and well on their way to a blowout victory.
2) DOMINANT D
Midway through the second quarter, West Virginia was searching for momentum facing a second and 1 at their own 30-yard line. So in attempt to pick up a first down, Mountaineers quarterback Ford Childress handed the ball to running back Dreamius Smith.
Smith, though, was stuffed by a swarm of Terps defenders before he could even get to the line of scrimmage. On The next play, Childress again gave the ball to Smith, and again, a group of Terps, this time led by inside linebacker L.A. Goree, met the tailback in the backfield to force a West Virginia punt.
That became a theme. The Mountaineers couldn’t muster any progress against a relentless defense as The Terps held their border-state rival to 175 yards of total offense and forced the them to go 2-of-12 on third down conversions.
“Our number one goal on defense is just to stop the run and that’s what we do well,” outside linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil said. “They were primarily run, more this year than last year, we just tried to stop the run and force their quarterback to throw the ball.”
The Terps front seven kept Smith from finding any running lanes and consistently pressured Childress. That effort provided relief to a banged up secondary, which held its own without starting cornerbacks Dexter McDougle and Jeremiah Johnson.
Childress, who threw for three touchdowns against Georgia State in his debut a week earlier, was 11-of-22 for just 62 yards and two picks.
The Mountaineers were shutout for the first time since they fell 35-0 to Virginia Tech in October 2001.
“Definitely satisfying,” Cudjoe-Virgil said. “That’s a big confidence booster.”
3) DECENT O
It seems hard to criticize the Terps’ offense considering they scored 37 points against a team that held mighty Oklahoma to 16, but that total was inflated by several Mountaineers turnovers. The Terps offense, in fact, had its least productive game of the year totaling just 330 yards.
Just look at the Terps three first-half touchdowns. The first one was scored on a drive of just 26 yards after West Virginia returner Ronald Carswell muffed a punt, and C.J. Brown’s ensuing touchdown pass could easily have picked. The next one was a defensive touchdown (Hendy’s return) and the third touchdown came on a drive that totaled six yards.
Brown had some bright moments Saturday, but the quarterback also made some poor decisions in option reads and could threw some dangerous passes. Not to mention, the squad started with a pair of three-and-outs before Hendy’s fumble recovery kick-started the scoring.
“Once we get a rhythm going we’re fine,” Brown said. “But we can’t have two three-and-outs off the bat, that’s never a good sign.”
Meanwhile, star receiver Stefon Diggs couldn’t get into a rhythm at all. He finished with just two catches for 13 yards and added a five-yard rush. Still, that allowed for some other players to produce as seven different Terps had catches.
So no, the Terps offense wasn’t dreadful. They ended some key drives with touchdowns, finished 9-of-19 on third-down conversions and didn’t turn the ball over in the first half.
But it could have been better, and if they the defense doesn’t force six turnovers a game, it might have to be.
“We know that our defense is good, but we understand that as on offensive unit we should go out there and carry our own weight,” Brown said. “We don’t want to put too much pressure on the defense.”
4) GOOD VIBES
After a bye week, the Terps will play at No. 8 Florida State on Oct. 5. And after plastering West Virginia, they’ll be heading to Tallahassee, Fla., with plenty of confidence.
The Terps haven’t been 4-0 since 2001 when they reached the Orange Bowl, the only BCS game in school history. So they deserve to feel good, and don’t underestimate the importance of that.
“Us being 4-0 going into Florida State and having this bye week, we feel very confident,” Cudjoe-Virgil said.
For a young team in a program that had won only six games combined in the past two seasons, that confidence factor is big. Yes, the Seminoles present by far the Terps’ greatest challenge yet, but after a win like they had in Baltimore, why would the Terps back down from anybody?