Maryland Terrapins Lose to Marshall in Military Bowl

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

In what was really a home game for the Maryland Terrapins, they could’t halt Marshall from running away to victory in the 2013 Military Bowl.

Maryland (7-6) held their own early and went into halftime only down 17-13. The game was scoreless in the third quarter and in the fourth Maryland put together a 17-play, 99-yard drive early that took 7:44 off the clock and gave them their only lead of the game.

But, that would be the last time the Terps put points up on the board and Marshall answered right back in less than three minutes to retake the lead for good. The Herd would find the end zone one more time to make certain their victory as they rolled the Terps, 31-20.

Coach Randy Edsall on the loss…

"“We knew we needed to score touchdowns because of the way that Marshall’s offense is. We weren’t able to finish some drives and had to kick the field goals. Our kids played hard, and I’m proud of what they accomplished this season.”"

The Marshall Thundering Herd (10-4) put up 475 total yards of offense led by the 2013 Military Bowl MVP, Rakeem Cato. The junior quarterback threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns. This win gave Marshall double-digit wins for the first time since the 2002 season.

Maryland was led by quarterback C.J. Brown who threw for 197 yards and two touchdowns. Brown also ran for 38 yards to become Maryland’s single-season rushing leader for quarterbacks with 576 — breaking his own record of 575 yards set in 2011.

So what happened? Well, the Terps just couldn’t extend their drives, going two of 14 on third-down conversions; and the game’s only turnover was an interception that ended Maryland’s chance to get back into the contest.

Nobody is happy with losing, but with what this team went through this season and what they had to work with towards the end, the Terps left it all out on the field.

This young Maryland team can be proud of what they accomplished and can use this season to get ready for 2014.

Some positives…

They finished with a winning season. They held a Marshall team who averages 43 points per game to 31 points and gave themselves a chance to win a bowl game.

Quarterback C.J. Brown posted 25 total touchdowns tying former Terp Scott McBrien for second-most touchdowns in a single season at Maryland. Brown will be back next year and will have a healthy, talented, and potentially dangerous offense to lead in 2014.

With a fully healthy Terrapins team, this year might have looked a bit different. But, this year has come to an end and it’s now time to focus on the Big Ten.

C.J. Brown talked about getting ready for next season.

"“When it is all said and done, we had a great year. We had a winning season and were able to extend it to the postseason and go to a bowl game. We’ll be ready come next year. We’ll use this to prepare for the future.”"

We will break down the 2013 Maryland Terrapins football season next week and look forward to covering the Terps as they get ready for the 2014 season.

Go Terps!