2010 Maryland Terrapins Football: Maryland vs Morgan State

Remember that momentum Maryland generated after its exhilarating season-opening win over Navy?

It’s still very much intact.

Morgan State was clearly overmatched against the terrifyingly tough Terrapins on Saturday afternoon. Maryland’s defense, which has proved itself to be surprisingly stout so far this season, held the Bears to only 85 yards all game, the lowest such number in the Ralph Friedgen era. The Terps’ pass defense was sensational, albeit against an overmatched 1-AA opponent. Morgan State quarterback Donovan Dickerson was held to only 7 completions on 28 attempts. More impressively, the seven completions Maryland allowed were for only 48 yards. Maryland’s yards-per-attempt ratio was an off-the-charts 1.7 YPA. The Terps also intercepted two passes.

Morgan State did no better on the ground, as Maryland held the Bears to only 37 rushing yards (though if you don’t count the minus-28 yards on sacks, the total rushing yards would have added up to 65 yards, still a tremendous defensive effort). It should be noted that Morgan State is not terrible. The Bears were 6-5 last year (4-4 in MEAC play) after opening 5-1 before losing four straight.

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For as much of a blowout as the game was on the scoreboard, Maryland didn’t have a huge offensive game. The Terps gained 370 yards, only 149 of which were through the air, which has to concern coach Friedgen. The Terps were 11 of 25 passing with an interception thrown by quarterback Jamarr Robinson. Three different quarterbacks played for the Terps. Robinson started and was 6 of 14 for 70 yards, 2 TDs, and an INT. Danny O’Brien came in midway through the second quarter and looked to be a slight improvement, though his numbers weren’t eye-popping either. He was 5 of 10 for 79 yards and three TDs. (C.J. Brown played some in the fourth quarter, but only attempted one pass, which was incomplete.) Maryland’s 221 rushing yards were spread among 10 different rushers (including quarterbacks).

Due to solid defensive play and turnovers, Maryland worked with a short field for much of the game, partially accounting for the high score despite a relatively low yardage total. The Terps also really took the foot off the gas in the second half after leading 45-0 at halftime. Very few second-half passing attempts, and a number of second and third stringers received significant playing time. It was a solid win against an average 1-AA team. There was nothing to worry about all that much, except maybe the accuracy issues at quarterback. Then again, there was nothing to get excited about either, especially after Navy followed the Maryland game with a clunker of a (13-7) win over Georgia Southern.

Maryland is 2-0. The two wins match the win total for all last season. The Terps play a rivalry game at noon next week against West Virginia, which survived a scare this past weekend against Marshall. Morgan State travels to the Fargodome to take on North Dakota State two weeks after NDSU shocked Kansas.

Maryland Terrapins vs Morgan State Bears Football Recap