Clemson Tigers vs Maryland Terrapins Football Recap

Clemson 31, Maryland 7

There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. The events which transpired Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, offered validation of that timeless truism.

Just consider the cold numbers that emerged from this conference clash between two ACC Atlantic Division rivals: Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker finished the day 7-of-20 for 106 passing yards with no touchdowns. Clemson threw for just 119 total passing yards and ran the ball for under 100 yards (94, to be precise). The Tigers' offense scored only two touchdowns and went 4-of-16 on third downs. Maryland outgained Clemson, 350 yards to just 213. The Terps had five more first downs (18 to 13) and slightly more than three times as many pass completions (25 to only 8).

Final score: Tigers 31, Terrapins 7.

My, how a box score can lie. And my, how nice it must be for Clemson to have a terrible quarterback performance coexist with a 24-point win. Just imagine what the Tigers could do if their offense ever did perform with consistent competence and measurable quality.

So, just how did Coach Dabo Swinney's Clemson crew manage to blow this game open and win by such a substantial margin despite its discernibly poor play on the offensive side of the ball? In a word, lightning.

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Clemson caught big-play lighting on both defense and special teams in this game. Right after Maryland had taken a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, Tiger return man Andre Ellington took the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the house, immediately giving the home team a positive injection of momentum while also robbing the Terps of the lead they worked so hard to attain. That play was clearly the most significant one of the entire day, and it prevented Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen from being able to play this game with the tempo and flow he wanted.

Ellington's electric dash wasn't the only thunderbolt in the Tigers' arsenal, however; far from it. In the fourth quarter, Clemson cornerback Xavier Brewer nabbed a pick-six, jogging 61 yards with the pigskin to account for the game's final margin. Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien threw a long out route to the left side of the field and didn't drill his pass with a requisite amount of velocity. Brewer hauled in the floater and ran at half-speed down the sideline for the easy score. The Davey O'Brien Award is given to America's best college quarterback, but Danny O'Brien didn't do anything worthy of a prestigious award on Saturday afternoon. Maryland's O'Brien (not the more famous O'Brien, who played college ball at TCU and enjoyed a productive NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles) threw three interceptions in this game, and that's reason number one why the statistical tote board told so many misleading stories on Saturday. Clemson might have gained just 213 yards, but with O'Brien handing the Tigers both points and possessions, no wonder the boys in orange were able to foil the Turtle instead of fearing it.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer