College Park, Md. -- At halftime, it appeared to be a reprise of the story in last year's Virginia-Maryland game. Only this time the roles were going to be reversed. The host Terrapins appeared to be on pace to treat their guests in a manner reminiscent of the 35-point drubbing Virginia gave Maryland at Scott Stadium a year ago.
Maryland (7-3, 4-2 ACC) raced out to a 24-7 halftime lead before the Cavaliers (5-5, 3-4) closed the gap to 24-17. Nick Novak sealed the game for the Terps, booting a 45-yard field goal with under six minutes to play. Maryland went on to win by a 27-17 margin.
On the cold, blustery night in the mid-Atlantic, normal Terrapin second string running back Josh Allen gave Maryland fans something to feel warm about. Allen was the story of the game, catching fire and rumbling for 154 yards and two touchdowns on only 19 carries in the first half. Allen stayed hot in the second half, finishing with 257 yards on 38 attempts.
"I think it was just a terrific back making terrific plays," defensive end Chris Canty said. The defense "just didn't make enough plays to win."
Coming out of halftime with the Terrapins leading 24-7, the Cavaliers were able to halt Maryland's first drive at midfield and then proceeded to march 75 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown, narrowing the deficit to 10. Junior Alvin Pearman starred on the drive, touching the ball seven times and gaining 59 yards, including the drive-ending 14-yard TD reception. Pearman had caught only one pass for zero yards in the entire first half.
"We really wanted to run the ball with authority," offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson said. "We knew the passing game might be affected by the wind."
Virginia's defense escaped without allowing any points on the next drive after reserve safety Lance Evans blocked a Novak field goal attempt.
The Cavaliers kept the pressure on, tallying the game's next points with a 61-yard scoring drive, culminating with a Connor Hughes field goal into the wind. The big play on the drive was a 39-yard completion to Heath Miller on 3rd-and-2. Miller, Virginia's most visible target particularly in short yardage situations, was lost down the middle of the field where a scrambling Schaub found him with a soft touch pass for the big tight end's first and only reception of the game. With the completion, Schaub surpassed Shawn Moore as Virginia's career passing leader.
Schaub finished only 13-of-26 for the game but enjoyed some success late in the second quarter. On a 3rd-and-6 at its own 35, Virginia successfully anticipated a Maryland blitz, as Schaub threw a screen pass to Lundy in the left flat. Some good downfield blocking sprung Lundy for 62 yards before being caught at the Maryland three. On 3rd-and-goal, the Cavaliers set up in a four-wide set, with Schaub deep in the shotgun. Schaub took the snap on a quarterback draw, plunging into the endzone for a four-yard TD run.
Smith's strong kickoff into the wind gave the Cavaliers a touchback and gave the Terrapins the ball at the 20-yard line, but Maryland wasted no time in answering the Cavaliers' score. Allen took the first handoff, ran into the line off the right tackle, bounced outside and sprinted his way to an 80-yard TD, extending Maryland's lead to 21-7.
Though the Cavalier defense limited the Terps to a field goal in the second half, Virginia endured a stretch, beginning in the N.C. State game and not ending until halftime last night in which the defense allowed 75 points in six quarters.
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