Middle Tennessee State Upsets Maryland Again, 32-31

by Ben Broman on Sep 19, 2009 7:05 PM EDT in Football Comment 3 comments

Maryland's players and coaches all said they expected a close, hard-fought game against Middle Tennessee State. Well, they got that and then some.

The Blue Raiders invaded College Park and walked away with a victory on the strength of 3 Dwight Dasher touchdowns, four Maryland turnovers, and a last-second field goal, topping the Terps 32-31.

This is a continuation of a poor start to the season for Maryland, who was destroyed by Cal and snuck by JMU by 3 in overtime. This game wasn't any better for UMD, who was plagued by big mistakes and a rather emotionless second half.

The start of the game was encouraging - MTSU garnered only 46 yards in the first quarter, and Maryland took a 7 point lead off a 48 yard Da'Rel Scott TD scamper into the second quarter. And that's when everything went wrong.

The next two quarters saw only two Maryland touchdowns, but four Maryland turnovers, plus a blocked FG. MTSU, on the other hand, put up 23 points in those quarters, and took a two point lead into the final stanza. Maryland would respond with ten points in the fourth quarter, seven from a 63 yard Torrey Smith touchdown pass and three from the foot of Nick Ferrara on a clutch 43 yard FG.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be enough: MTSU scored off of a 40 yard TD pass and a send a 20 yard field goal through the uprights as the clock struck zero, marking the second time in as many seasons Middle Tennessee State upset Maryland.

Torrey Smith was the only positive on the day for Maryland on the day, with two huge touchdowns. He was basically the only reliable threat on offense.

More analysis and grades to come today and tomorrow.

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Trouble

So if Maryland can barely beat JMU, and they lose again to MTSU, how screwed are we for the ACC schedule? Because if we can scrape by JMU in OT and we lose again to MTSU, I can’t see the beating anyone in the ACC other than Virginia and maybe Duke.

by Joshv37 on Sep 19, 2009 7:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I mentioned something along these lines in the game thread

MTSU is BY FAR the worst opponent we’ll face this year, IMO, outside of maybe JMU. I’m not saying we will go 1-11, but it’s not out of the question right now.

by Ben Broman on Sep 19, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

1-11 is definitely not out of the question. The defense cannot stop anything, so the odds of them stopping teams with legitimate division 1-level offenses are pretty low. My preseason prediction was pretty optimistic, as I thought they could win 6-7 games on their schedule, but after their performance thus far this season, I can’t see them winning any more than 3 games (UVA and Duke being the possible wins).

That being said, however, I really hope the Terps can somehow step it up and learn how to play football at some point this season. Throughout the offseason coaches and players talked about there being a lot of talent on the roster this year, though other than a few guys on offense, we have yet to see it. If the offensive line learns how to block and the defensive line learns how to play football in general, then the Terps could win a few games this year.

I like 2-10 for the season though, sadly.

by Joshv37 on Sep 19, 2009 7:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs