COLLEGE PARK, Md.—The No.12 ranked Nittany Lions (10-2) took on the mighty Terrapins of Maryland (4-8) today for the first time since 1993 at capitol one field on senior day, and captured a dominating 66-3 victory.
The Lions would strike first with a 21-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Tommy Stevens giving the Lions and early 7-0 lead. On their next two defensive possession’s Maryland’s defense would come up with two good stops, giving their offense an opportunity to try to make this a game early on. However, the offense didn’t manage to put any points on the board until the third quarter.
Penn State dominated the entire first half scoring 31 points in route to a 66-3 victory. Senior quarterback Trace McSorely finished the regular season by throwing for 237 yards passing, two touchdowns and ran for one in today’s victory. McSorely finishes the regular season with over 3,000 yards passing, 26 passing touchdowns, 589 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Head coach James Franklin gave McSorely an early seat in the third quarter and put in Stevens.
The Terrapins had an unproductive first half only being able to produce 67 yards rushing, 118 yards passing while at the same time committing four turnovers, but only two of those turned into points for the Nittany Lions. They were not able to sustain much scoring drives, and Max Bortenschlager was under a lot of pressure, which inhibited his ability to produce much down field.
This put their defense in a bad spot all game long and Penn State took full advantage of the fatigued terrapin defense, which allowed over 500 yards of offense in today’s contest.
“I think it was pretty obvious that it was a poor performance.” said coach DJ Durkin. “Poor execution and it was a poorly coached team that went out there.” Durkin added.
Unlike last year Maryland (4-8, 2-7 big ten) is not able to get a bowl game this year, which will hurt the pockets of the athletic department a little. However, one of the bigger issues that needs to be addressed is the health of two of their quarterbacks, Tyrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill.
Both Pigrome and Hill tore their ACL’s in the beginning nine quarters of the season. This type of scenario will put any head coach in college in a bad spot, but coach Durkin managed to weather the storm and was able to somewhat salvage what was left of the Terrapins season.
“Sometimes there’s adversity and you just have to get over the hump” said Ty Johnson “we’ve had a lot of incidents that happened with Kasim and Pig” in reference to the injuries to Hill and Pigrome.
Even though there was not a lot to shout about this season, coach Durkin shared a bit of optimism and motivation about next fall.
“I think the great part for me is that I’m ready to get started with next season right now” said Durkin.
The Terrapins had to say goodbye to 19 seniors on the squad today. These are some guys that were considered leaders on the team, and people who coach Durkin thought very highly of during their time with the Maryland football program. One of which is linebacker Jermaine Carter, Jr.
“Jermaine Carter is a guy who just gives his all for his team and is about everything you’d want a young man to be” Said coach Durkin.
TAKEAWAY
Maryland: The Terps had very bad luck at the most prominent position on the football field, and it proved to cost them dearly as the season went on. This adversity that they went through did not stop them from going out every Saturday to compete, but it just wasn’t enough to keep them from going 4-8.
Penn State: Finish the regular season 3-0, and are now bowl eligible. They’re riding on a lot of momentum and have one of the best offenses in the big ten, and await their fate for who they will play against on New Year’s Day.
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