In case you haven’t heard, Maryland football upset No. 23 Texas on Saturday for the second time in the past two years. The game was also Matt Canada’s head coaching debut — under circumstances he described as “unique” — and his first game calling plays for Maryland.
Canada has long been a jet sweep enthusiast, and that showed against Texas. In the fourth quarter, there was a six-play sequence in which Maryland ran a jet sweep five times. Let’s go to the tape.
The jet sweep party started with running back Tayon Fleet-Davis, who started the Terps’ drive by cutting left for a 12-yard gain to earn a first down.
Then, Canada called another jet sweep for Fleet-Davis to run to the left side, which resulted in a loss of two yards.
You’d think Maryland would try a different type of run or a pass at this point, but that’s not Canada’s style.
On second down, the Terps tried a jet sweep going to the other side of the field. Wide receiver Taivon Jacobs got the carry, picking up one yard.
Four jet sweeps in a row simply would have been too much, so Maryland passed the ball!
Kasim Hill and Jeshaun Jones teamed up to earn a pass interference penalty and a new set of downs, something that former Terp Torrey Smith would have been proud of.
Oh hey, look, another one. The jet sweep jamboree continued with Jacobs picking up a solid five yards.
Can we get a drum roll for the grand finale?
For the fifth time in six plays, Canada called a jet sweep. It went to Jacobs, again, for a one-yard gain.
And after all the jet sweeps, what was Maryland’s next play? A 35-yard catch-and-run from wide receiver Jahrvis Davenport.
Overall, the Terps picked up 17 yards on five jet sweeps in the midst of an 11-play, 90-yard drive that ended with kicker Joseph Petrino drilling a short field goal just a few yards away from the goal line.
The jet sweep has been a big part of Canada’s offense elsewhere, but using it five times in six plays was pretty wild. We’ll have to see if Maryland continues to run them in rapid succession like that.
