Maryland Terrapins Don’t Have Fun at Camp Randall, Lose 52-7 to Wisconsin
By Cory Forsyth
Wisconsin welcomed the Maryland Terrapins to the Big Ten with a blowout win.
The images below sum up the kind of day it was for the Maryland football team.
Let’s check in and see how the day has gone for Maryland: pic.twitter.com/viauY2baYL
— Brocktoon (@_Brocktoon_) October 25, 2014
What these images don’t show is how the Terps made Testudo go belly up on the sidelines at Camp Randall Stadium in their first Big Ten match up against the Wisconsin Badgers (5-2, 2-1).
Maryland started with the ball first and marched all the way down to the Wisconsin 31 yard-line until a third down sack moved the Terps back to the 35 yard-line and brought up 4th and 12.
This left Maryland with two options. Send Brad Craddock out for 52 yard field goal (he hasn’t missed a field goal all year) or punt the ball away and pin Wisconsin back against their own end zone.
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Coach Edsall took a time out to review his options and at the end of the time out, decided to go with option number three.
Nobody knew there was an option number three in this situation.
In a mind boggling attempt to get some momentum going or to stick it to the Badgers, Edsall declined going with the first two options and instead tried to pass the ball for the first down.
The fourth down conversion failed after C.J. Brown’s pass to Stefon Diggs was broken up by Wisconsin’s Michael Caputo.
Wisconsin was then able to take over at their own 35-yard line and fly down the field in four plays which ended in a touchdown.
The Badgers didn’t look back and went into halftime leading the Terps 24-0.
Running the football was a big key to this game and at the end of the day, Wisconsin, led by star running back Melvin Gordon did it a whole lot better.
Gordon led the Badger rushing attack with 122 yards and three scores which helped Wisconsin run for 311 yards on 49 attempts.
Wisconsin quarterback, Joel Stave threw for 155 yards and two touchdowns. The Badgers went on to win the game 52-7 with Maryland’s only touchdown coming from Stefon Diggs in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard pass from C.J. Brown.
So, did Maryland’s failed fourth down attempt doom them from the start? Unfortunately, yes.
After that first drive, Maryland only managed to get 3 first downs in 12 drives until finally getting on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter with less than five minutes to go in the game.
Wisconsin made the big plays and kept drives alive to run all over the Terps. The Badgers got 25 first downs while Maryland only moved the chains 10 times. Wisconsin also caught the Terps off guard with two fourth down conversions including a fake punt that led to a jump pass and a first down. See it below.
FAKE PUNT ALERT! Drew Meyer breaks out the jump pass for the @BadgerFootball first down. #DQFanFavorite http://t.co/Dporr42UQI
— Wisconsin On BTN (@WisconsinOnBTN) October 25, 2014
Coach Edsall was trying to help his team on the road in a fierce environment but ended up crippling them to a point from which they could never recover.
The bad news is that this was a horrible loss for which Randy Edsall only had two explanations…
"“We didn’t play well. We didn’t coach well.” -Randy Edsall"
The good news is. There’s always next week.
Maryland is 5-3 and only one win away from becoming bowl eligible. Maryland is also 2-2 in the Big Ten. Considering their opponents thus far, they’ve won the games they should have up till this point.
The Terrapins head to Penn State next Saturday where they will face a good Penn State team. This is a game in which Maryland should compete and have a chance to win if they come ready to play.
What are your thoughts on the game? What are your predictions for next Saturday?