Maryland trashes West Virginia
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia refers to its annual meetings with Maryland as a “barometer game,” meaning the outcome typically factors into its post-season fate. Since 1981, the Mountaineers are 12-9 against the Terrapins and have earned bowl bids 10 out of the 12 times they’ve beaten them.
When WVU has lost, it has only made it to bowls three times.
The barometer took a sharp dip for WVU (3-2) following a 48-17 loss to Maryland (4-2) in a non-conference game in front of 55,146 at Mountaineer Field Saturday. And the forecast for WVU, which had won two straight, is cloudy.
Quarterback Scott McBrien, a WVU transfer, ran and threw for first quarter scores and the Terps never looked back from a 35-0 lead. It was Maryland’s second straight win over the Mountaineers but its first in Morgantown since 1994.
“I said at the beginning I thought we had play makers and everybody kind of doubted me,” Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said.
“They’re starting to come to life now. That’s what I’m hoping will continue the rest of the season.”
Maryland scored touchdowns on three of its five first-quarter possessions, not including an 80-yard punt return by Scott Suter. The drives were more of the explosive kind than plodding.
McBrien started the scoring with a 21-yard bootleg on the Terps’ first series and, later in the quarter, tossed a 45-yard pass to Jafar Williams to boost the lead to 21-0.
Freshman Josh Allen added runs of 1 and 70 yards. Maryland led 35-0 before the Mountaineers, who had won two straight, knew what hit them.
“We had gotten better and better but this is a step back,” WVU coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Overall it was a dismal performance.”
McBrien’s final numbers were not overwhelming but he was sharp early. The junior from Rockville, Md., completed 8-of-18 passes for 162 yards.
Oddly, he was not available for pre- or post-game media interviews, apparently at the insistency of Friedgen. McBrien transferred abruptly from WVU to Maryland at the start of fall camp last year and sat out last season because of NCAA rules.
Teammates said McBrien didn’t seem fazed by his return to Mountaineer Field.
“McBrien is amazing,” Suter said. “As far as the pressure and the stuff he had to overcome this week, he handled it better than anybody on a team. Everytime I talked to him throughout the week he was cool and chill and calm. I would be getting nervous for him and he would be, ‘Relax, Steve.’ This kid, he’s for real.”
Maryland held WVU, the NCAA’s top rushing team, to 186 yards on the ground. Avon Cobourne, leading the nation in rushing per game with a 159.5 average, ran for 143 yards and a touchdown but was bottled most of the day. The senior was coming off a 260-yard performance against East Carolina last week.
“All week that’s all we were talking about,” linebacker E.J. Henderson said of the Mountaineers’ profile. “If we can come in here and put some good hits on Cobourne and shut down this offense I think we can pretty much do it any Saturday. I think this defense came out and had a good showing.”
WVU quarterback Rasheed Marshall struggled as well. He completed 12 of 24 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked four times and intercepted once.
“Offensively, we weren’t pressing the line of scrimmage,” Rodriguez said. “Rasheed’s rhythm was way off. We were hit and miss mostly on offense.”
The Mountaineers rallied for two scores at the end of the first half and seemed to harness some momentum by the third quarter.
Cobourne’s 43-yard run and Marshall’s 23-yard pass to Travis Garvin, keyed a six-play, 76-yard drive for WVU’s first score. Cobourne capped the drive with a 6-yard run with 4:25 left in the half.
With less than a minute left before intermission, linebacker Adam Lehnorrt recovered an errant McBrien pitch, setting up Todd James’ 37-yard field goal as time expired.
The Mountaineers cut the lead to 35-17 on Marshall’s 4-yard toss to tight end Tory Johnson with 8:20 left in the third.
But McBrien had an answer for that too. He moved the team 60 yards in 5:53 to set up Nick Novak’s 37-yard field goal, hitting Suter for a 22-yard gain on a third-and-seven to deflate any momentum the Mountaineers had. Novak added a 46-yarder at the start of the fourth quarter and Chris Downs a 72-yard touchdown run.
“They had the momentum early and they kept it,” WVU cornerback Brian King said. “They came out with the better team today. You can’t let five or six big plays go for touchdowns. You’ve got to force them to drive the ball and score.”
WVU opens Big East play against Rutgers Oct. 12 at Mountaineer Field. Maryland hosts Georgia Tech Oct. 17.