COLLEGE PARK, MD-The Maryland Terrapins faced the Nittany Lions of Penn State in their first Big Ten conference game of the season in prime time under the Friday night lights. After suffering a 20-17 loss against the Temple Owls a couple weeks ago, the terrapins were hoping to bounce back, but they ended up getting shutout 59-0 at home.
Nothing productive happened for the Terrapins when it came to their offense or defense production throughout the game. The Nittany Lions had their foot on the gas from the opening kickoff, and the Terrapins did not have an answer for anything Penn State threw at them.
The only blemish Penn State had during this game came in the form of a disqualification. OLB Micah Parsons hit Josh Jackson with the crown of his helmet after Jackson threw the ball and was penalized for roughing the passer and targeting. Even still, this did not slow the Nittany Lions momentum down one bit.
The terrapins came into this game with the 8th ranked rushing offense in the country, but they were up against the 9thranked rushing defense that swarmed the ball down after down.
The Terrapins started their first offensive series with an interception thrown by Josh Jackson who finished the game 10/21for 63 yards passing and two interceptions. This led to Penn State scoring on the very next play with an eight-yard run from Sean Clifford. Clifford showed up big under the prime-time lights again throwing for 398 yards passing, with three touchdowns and has seven carries for 55 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.
On the Lions second offensive possession the Terps managed to stop their rushing attack briefly, but on third down Clifford connected to junior wide receiver KJ Hamler for a 58-yard touchdown catch and run. Hamler added to his highlight reel for the NFL scouts that were in attendance. He had six catches for 108 yards receiving and a touchdown. Hamler also ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 81.7 yards receiving per game and continued to show why he is a down field threat for opposing secondaries.
“They were well prepared and played at a high level” said Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley.
Coach Locksley would go on to say that they are not going to overreact to this loss and that they will look at the film and see what corrections need to be addressed.
“We’ve got to figure out what our quarterback is capable of getting executed, we got to make sure our best players are touching the football” said Locksley.
The Terrapins offense was not able to get the ball in the hands of a lot of its playmakers due to the heavy pass rush from Penn State’s front. The time of possession battle was won by the Nittany Lions with 33:25 while Maryland possessed the ball for 26:35.
There’s still a lot of football left in the season for the terrapins to turn things around. However, things will not get easier. Maryland has only scratched the service on what other Big Ten opponents will bring on gamedays. With the talent coach Locksley has on this team, there is still a glimpse of hope that they can be competitive in the Big Ten this season.
BWILL MEDIA TV 