One of the biggest questions in the first half of Maryland's sad showing against West Virginia was "Where is Danny O'Brien?" After it was said repeatedly that the Terps would use two QBs against the Mountaineers, O'Brien's absence very strange, especially considering how bad Jamarr Robinson looked in his time on the field.
One possible answer is that O'Brien reinjured his ankle in practice. That's Diamondback beat writer Mike Lemaire tweeted pre-game, and it would make some sense; playing a still-injured O'Brien would be a bad idea indeed.
Actually, they did it anyway. O'Brien entered the game with just seconds remaining before halftime and the ball at Maryland's own 40-yard line for reasons unbeknownst to the world. He looked shaky coming in, and then he was clobbered by West Virginia's Keith Tandy. He limped off the field, visibly (and painfully) injured.
Obviously, he sat out the rest of the game. According to IMS, he reaggravated his injury on that sack, and it looks like "at least a couple weeks" before he's good to go. My guess is that the earliest he'd be available would be against Clemson, when the Terps are coming off a bye week. That's in week 6, so he'd be unable to play against Florida International and Duke, if my guess is right.
Given Robinson's triumphant second half (comparatively), that probably wouldn't be a huge deal, were it not for the fact that other backup C.J. Brown is already lost for the year and Robinson even played the second half with a shoulder injury. It's supposedly not serious, but the fact that there's already an injury there is scary. Maryland is one bad play away from playing true freshman Devin Burns.
We'll delve more into the QB controversy in the coming days, but it seems that - for the next two games, at least - it's settled. Maryland has exactly one option, and his name is Robinson.