Maryland football lost to Indiana because it couldn’t defend the run

Maryland football’s loss to Indiana wasn’t particularly similar to the Terps’ defeats at the hands of Penn State and Minnesota.

In those games, the Terps seemed outmatched by the third quarter. Against Indiana on Saturday, Maryland wasn’t quite out of it until Zander Diamont ran for a 52-yard touchdown with 49 seconds left.

The Terps had a real shot to win this one. They led at halftime, 21-16, but a 19-3 Indiana run proved to be too much.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of who’s up and who’s down after the loss:

Stock up

D.J. Moore, Maryland wide receiver. I mean, holy crap:

Via WatchESPN

Moore’s 23-yard touchdown catch right before halftime gave Maryland a 21-16 lead that didn’t stick, but it was a highlight he’ll surely remember. He had 81 yards, more than any other receiver in the game, on five catches.

Ty Johnson, Maryland running back. Johnson had 142 yards on 13 carries, good for an average of 10.9 yards per rush. His 66-yard touchdown in the first quarter was much-needed, as it got the Terps on the board and stopped a 13-0 Indiana run.

Stock holding

Perry Hills, Maryland quarterback. Hills’ play wasn’t equal to what we saw against Michigan State, but 22-of-33 for 248 yards is still a fairly good performance from him. He had two touchdowns, and 33 attempts is more than Maryland would ideally want him throwing. Still, he underthrew several deep balls, threw one pick and had one killer fumble late. Though his play regressed, sure, his stock isn’t moving down much. He also lost his shoe during a fairly hilarious sequence of events in third quarter.

Stock down

Maryland’s run defense, again. I’m pretty sure Maryland’s run defense has been in “stock down” every single week, but there’s nowhere else for it to go after this game. Devine Redding finished with 130 of Indiana’s preposterous 414 yards. The Hoosiers ran right through the Terps with a wildcat attack that featured 260-pound running Tyler Natee just plowing through defenders and quarterback Zander Diamont going around them. Indiana finished with an astounding 414 yards on the ground. You’re probably going to lose 90 percent of games when that happens. This was a game full of poor tackling, worse defensive positioning and bad execution all around.

Indiana had three separate players rush for over 100 yards, and Maryland couldn’t get a stop when it needed to in the fourth quarter. The worst part: Indiana came in with just the 101st-best rushing attack in the nation, according to S&P+.

This really can’t be overstated: if Maryland had any semblance of a run defense, Saturday’s game ends in a win.

Maryland’s hopes of getting to seven wins. The Terps still have a good shot at getting their sixth win and becoming bowl-eligible, but seven wins is going to be a mighty hard task. Michigan, Ohio State and Nebraska are on the slate before that final Rutgers game, and Maryland’s going to be heavy underdogs in each matchup.