Maryland Football Iced by Boston College

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Maryland football team wanted to give their seniors a win last Saturday on Senior Day when the Terps faced Boston College in their last ACC home football game.

The ending was not what they hoped for. Instead of celebrating and jumping into the student section, the Terps looked on and headed right to the locker room after Boston College kicker Nate Freese hit a 52-yard field goal as time ran out to seal the win for the Eagles.

Maryland (6-5, 2-5) played hard throughout the game and they never gave up. For every great play they did make, it seemed as though it always came back due to a penalty which cost them scores and time. The Terps managed to rack up four more first downs than Boston College, but were hampered by not converting on third-downs.

Boston College (7-4, 4-3) showcased their 2,000-yard rusher Andre Williams, and boy did he put on a show. Williams rushed for 263 yards to become the 16th player in NCAA history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a single season.

Overall, the Terps defense did a good job of making sure Williams didn’t rush into the end zone every time he touched the ball. Everyone knew he would break a few big runs during the game, but it was his last one that put Boston College in position to win.

The Terps came up with a huge extra-point block which would have put the Eagles up 27-24. Anthony Nixon caught the ball after it was blocked and took it down the Boston College sideline all the way to the house which evened the game at 26-26.

In the closing seconds of the game, Andre Williams had one more big play in him, carrying the ball 36 yards down the field to set up a 52-yard field goal for Nick Freese. The crowd erupted with the Maryland bench calling for more noise as Freese set up to take the kick. He took a swing and missed, but would have one more chance to redeem himself after Randy Edsall called a timeout before the kick.

They call it “icing the kicker,” and a majority of coaches in every level of football would have done the same thing. The way I see it, this should be a part of a coach’s philosophy. If you want to ice the kicker, do it every time. Hindsight’s 20-20 though and sure enough, Freese corrected his mistake from his first kick and put the football through the posts for the win.

Take Away

This Maryland team has not given up despite being plagued by injuries. Without star receivers Stefon Diggs and Deon Longs, the offense doesn’t look for the big athletic plays. They instead grab a little bit of yardage here and there with hopes that eventually one guy will make the big play.

The attendance for the last ACC football game in College Park was very slim. Is it because people don’t like Randy Edsall? Kevin Anderson? Because the team isn’t winning? Whatever the reason, it reflected poorly on Maryland and did not help out a team that is still fighting and looks to finish the season strong.

Maryland will have one more chance to say good-bye to the ACC when it travels down the road to play N.C. State this Saturday. Trust me when I say that this team will come out ready to prove a point. Despite everything that has happened this season, the student athletes and coaching staff have not checked out. The Terps will look to finish the year strong with seven regular season wins and a bowl game victory.

Go Terps!