The Terps defense smothered the West Virginia offense as the Terps shut out the Mountaineers, 37-0, on Sept. 21, 2013 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.
BALTIMORE — Shortly before the Terrapins football team took the field against West Virginia at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, the sky opened up. The resulting rain relented on occasion, but by the second half, it was a deluge, sending fans from their seats to the concourses or even home.
At times, the play on the field mirrored the gloomy conditions. At one point in the second half, four consecutive possessions ended with fumbles, and both offenses endured periods of ineptitude.
But despite the conditions and occasional struggles, the Terps still blanked the Mountaineers, 37-0, on a nationally televised matchup at an NFL stadium in the state’s largest city. They unveiled flashy new uniforms. They ended a seven-game losing streak against a border rival to post their best start since 2001.
And for coach Randy Edsall, in his singular focus, that was enough. The weather? That was just an inconvenience.
“I don’t think the day could have gone any better,” Edsall said. “We couldn’t have scripted it any better in terms of what happened here today.”
Facing a West Virginia team renowned for its offense under coach Dana Holgorsen, the Terps defense handed the Mountaineers their first shutout since October 2001. Quarterback Ford Childress looked every bit the redshirt freshman making his second career start, throwing for 62 yards along with two interceptions on 11-of-22 passing.
West Virginia’s rushing attack couldn’t get going in an attempt to bail out Childress, either. Outside of a 30-yard rush by running back Wendell Smallwood and a 51-yard run in the fourth quarter by running back Dreamius Smith, the Mountaineers were largely ineffective, and a cluster of red jerseys surrounded the ball nearly every play. West Virginia mustered six first downs while turning the ball over six times.
“Offensively, we’re as inept as we can possibly be in college football,” Holgorsen said.
In building a 30-0 halftime lead, the Terps scored three touchdowns off of West Virginia turnovers. First, punt returner Ronald Carswell misjudged a boot from punter Nate Renfro, and the Terps recovered the loose ball at the West Virginia 24-yard line. After wide receiver Deon Long rushed for 18 yards, quarterback C.J. Brown hit tight end Dave Stinebaugh in the back of the end zone from six yards out for his first career touchdown catch.
On the next possession, Childress tried to force a third-down throw on the outside, but safety A.J. Hendy jumped the route, intercepted the pass and returned it 28 yards for his second career pick-six. On the strength of two turnovers, the Terps suddenly had a 14-0 lead.
“Quarterback is a tough position when you got guys flying at you from all from all cylinders,” inside linebacker L.A. Goree said. “You’re not having the game you want to because you’re getting hit all day and you’re scared to get hit.”
Three field goals from kicker Brad Craddock, including a 50-yarder, put the Terps ahead 23-0 before the defense struck once again before halftime. With West Virginia pinned deep in its own territory, outside linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil tipped a pass from Childress into the air and cradled it as he fell to the turf for an interception. Three plays later, Brown pushed through the Mountaineers defensive line for the touchdown from a yard out.
The defense posted its first shutout since October 2008 and allowed fewer than 200 yards of total offense for the second time this season. The six turnovers were the most the Terps have forced since 2001. Hendy also had two fumble recoveries in addition to his interception.
“A.J. was a beast out there today, man,” cornerback Will Likely said. “Congrats to him. He made plays. He’s one of the many reasons that we had turnovers.”
For the fourth straight game, the Terps have scored more than 30 points, something they hadn’t accomplished since 2002, when they did it six consecutive times. And they did it mostly without the contributions of wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who had five touches for 17 all-purpose yards. He took a number of significant hits from West Virginia defenders and was looked at by trainers on the sideline.
Still, the Terps offense rolled on, thanks to Brown (16-of-25, 217 yards, one touchdown), running back Brandon Ross (20 rushes, 67 yards, one touchdown) and Long, who caught six passes for 98 yards against his former program and took a number of big hits from defenders as well.
“Our offense, it’s just not one person,” Stinebaugh said. “We got a lot of dudes. You’ve got Stef, you got Deon, you’ve got the running backs, our O-line’s playing incredible. That’s the scary thing. You shut one person down, we got three or four more options that we can go to, so it doesn’t surprise me that we’re able to click when they shut one person down or another person down. We’re just that multitalented out there.”
The Terps have now matched last season’s win total one-third of the way through the season and have broken a significant losing streak to a rival. It’s the type of win that could help define the program’s season, a marquee win in the season’s first month.
But soon it’ll be old news for the Terps. They’re looking beyond the first month of the season, beyond four wins. In two weeks, they’ll be right back out there in Tallahassee, Fla.
“Not for a couple weeks, but maybe for a couple days,” Goree said. “Florida State, they’re a tough team. They’re one of the top teams in the division, so we definitely have to be focused.”
