For the fourth consecutive week, the Maryland football team’s defense hasn’t stopped anyone. No. 18 Nebraska, the third straight top-20 team the Terps have played, has 270 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in the first half at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Here’s more on Maryland’s putrid defense and two more takeaways from its 21-0 halftime deficit.
1) Defense struggles (again)
Indiana exposed Maryland’s defense in its 42-36 win Oct. 29, and the Terps’ opponents have feasted ever since.
The Hoosiers managed 650 yards, more than 400 of which came on the ground. The Terps kept it close with a solid offensive performance, but that production dipped in back-to-back blowout losses to No. 4 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State. The Wolverines and Buckeyes accumulated 660 and 581 yards, respectively.
Maryland had the luxury of facing Cornhuskers backup quarterback Ryker Fyfe — starter Tommy Armstrong Jr. is out with a hamstring injury — but Fyfe, a former walk-on, carved the Terps defense the first two quarters.
He orchestrated Nebraska’s first two possessions, and running back Terrell Newby capped both drives with short rushing scores. Newby ran the ball 10 times for 45 yards in the opening 30 minutes. Fyfe, meanwhile, completed 14 of his 20 passes for 153 yards.
2) Max Bortenschlager
Starting quarterback Perry Hills has left each of the past two games with shoulder injuries, and quarterbacks Tyrrell Pigrome and Caleb Rowe earned time as the Terps’ endured 50-plus-point losses to Michigan and Ohio State.
Coach DJ Durkin listed Hills as day-to-day entering Saturday’s game, but the redshirt senior isn’t playing because of a left shoulder injury. But when Maryland jogged onto the field for its first possession, the Terps’ an untested player took the huddle. Durkin turned to freshman quarterback Max Bortenschlager, who had attempted four passes in limited action in the Terps’ opener. He entered the break 6-for-13 for 58 yards.
3) Touchdown drought continues
As time expired in Maryland’s 42-36 loss to Indiana Oct. 29, Hills hit wide receiver Teldrick Morgan for a five-yard touchdown, marking the last time Maryland found the end zone. The team haven’t recorded a touchdown in 10 quarters.
The Terps best scoring chance of the first half came on its first drive. Starting at their own 33-yard line, Bortenschlager led a 10-play, 39-yard drive inside the Cornhuskers’ 30. But instead of using kicker Adam Greene for what would have been about a 45-yard field goal, the team attempted the 4th-and-10 look. In an odd formation, quarterback Caleb Rowe took the snap, didn’t see anyone open and threw the ball away. Nebraska scored the game’s first points a few minutes later.
The Terps had just 52 yards after that first drive.
