COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Virginia came into College Park looking to legitimize its top-20 ranking. The Cavaliers, however, looked nothing like an elite team in Saturday's 45-33 loss to Maryland and consequently now face increased scrutiny and uncertainty heading into a difficult portion of their schedule.
Powered by the arm of Sam Hollenbach and the legs of both Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore, Maryland's offense shredded Virginia's defense to pieces. The Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1 ACC) allowed Maryland (3-2, 2-1 ACC) to post 570 total yards on offense -- 320 through the air and 250 on the ground.
Ball accumulated 163 yards and found the end zone twice. Lattimore ran for 46 yards and scored two touchdowns as well. Lattimore's one-yard touchdown run with 1:50 remaining in the fourth quarter effectively sealed Maryland's first home victory of the season.
The long-awaited return of junior linebacker Ahmad Brooks had little impact on the game. Brooks got credit for two tackles before being sidelined in the third quarter with a minor ankle sprain. Normally an inside linebacker, Brooks split time with freshman Aaron Clark at outside linebacker because of the void left by Jermaine Dias' knee injury.
Virginia wasted a quality performance put forth by quarterback Marques Hagans. Hagans completed 17 of 35 passes for 270 yards. Junior wide receiver Deyon Williams hauled in five of those passes for 62 yards. Hagans found his tight ends Jonathan Stupar and Tom Santi open in the center of the field on several key plays. The two combined for a total of four catches and 81 yards.
Hagans also scored two rushing touchdowns and led the Cavaliers with 55 rushing yards. Virginia running backs Michael Johnson, Wali Lundy and Cedric Peerman were largely ineffective against Maryland's modified version of the 4-3 defensive scheme. Johnson ran for 46 yards on 10 carries while Lundy and Peerman were limited to 18 and 17 yards, respectively.
The one brilliant defensive highlight for Virginia was freshman defensive back Chris Cook's second quarter 30-yard interception return for a touchdown. Cook stepped in front of Hollenbach's intended receiver and gave Virginia a 14-7 lead with 13:42 remaining in the first-half.
Maryland was forced to punt only twice throughout the entire game. Going into Saturday's contest, Maryland was last place in the ACC in third-down efficiency. Against Virginia, however, the Terrapins converted on seven of 11 third-down opportunities.
Place kicker Connor Hughes' success on all four of his field goal attempts kept Virginia in the game as the offense struggled to consistently move the ball deep into Maryland territory.
"It's very frustrating," Williams said. "We need to score more in the red zone. Maryland won because they were scoring touchdowns and we were scoring field goals."
Lance Ball personally manhandled the Virginia defense in the fourth quarter, rushing for 70 yards and scoring twice in the final 15 minutes. Maryland gained a commanding 38-26 lead when Ball scored virtually untouched from 35 yards out with 8:44 remaining. He scored on a power draw play that Maryland ran numerous times throughout the game.
"It was the same play that was run frequently during the course of the game," Virginia head coach Al Groh said. "It was just one that we played more poorly than some of the others."
Virginia cut Maryland's lead to five when Hagans scored his second rushing touchdown of the day with 5:27 remaining. Maryland, however, answered with an 80-yard drive that was capped off by the Lattimore's game-clinching touchdown run.
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