Penn State may have played a conservative and close-to-the-vest game in its 20-7 win at Rutgers on Saturday, but the Maryland team that’s coming to town this week certainly didn’t against Ohio State.
The Terrapins flew all over the field against the Buckeyes, hanging an incredible 535 yards of offense (339 on the ground) and 51 points on OSU in what was their most explosive showing of the season.
Unfortunately, Ohio State countered with 688 yards of its own that included 94 plays, 405 yards passing and 36 first downs.
It also included a 5-yard touchdown run by Dwayne Haskins in overtime and a point after by Blake Haubeil that allowed the Buckeyes to escape, barely, by a final score of 52-51.
Maryland actually took the lead, 45-38, with just 1:41 to play in regulation on a recovery of a Anthony McFarland fumble in the end zone for a touchdown by Chigoziem Okonkwo.
It took Ohio State just one minute to respond and tie the game and send it into overtime.
Then Haskins’ touchdown put the Buckeyes ahead 52-45, but Maryland was game, scoring in just two plays on a 2-yard run by Tayon Fleet-Davis.
At this point, it might have been the culmination everything that has happened to the Terps this season, or maybe it was just the flow of this game, but Maryland didn’t want to tie. The Terps went for the win.
And quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome had a man open in the for the two points. His pass, however, was wide, and the game ended when it skipped harmlessly out of the back of the end zone.
McFarland, a 5-foot-8, 193-pound red-shirt freshman out of DeMatha High, put on a show. He ran 21 times for 298 yards and two touchdowns, an average of 14.2 yards per carry. McFarland scored Maryland’s first two touchdowns on runs of 81 yards and 75 yards, both in the first quarter. It was the second-biggest day ever for a Maryland running back.
Fleet-Davis, Okonkwo and Javon Leake also scored rushing touchdowns for UM, and receiver Jeshaun Jones caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from Pigrome. RaVon Davis had a 37-yard pick-6 in the third quarter, and Joe Petrino kicked a 36-yard field goal to round out the scoring for Maryland.
Pigrome completed six of 13 passes for 181 yards and the touchdown to Jones for the Terps.
The win for Maryland would have made it bowl-eligible, but now at 5-6 the Terps will have to win at Penn State for that to happen.
After their shocking opening-day win over Texas, 34-29, on September 1, the Terrapins won two of their next three to come into Michigan with a 3-1 record. That day did not go as planned, with a 42-21 loss, but they did run the ball for 150 yards and two touchdowns against the Wolverines.
After that, there was a 34-7 win at home against Rutgers and a blowout, 63-33, win over Illinois. But losses to Iowa, 23-0, Michigan State, 24-3, and especially at Indiana, 34-32, seriously hurt any chances to make waves in the Big Ten East.
Coming into Penn State, Maryland will field a dangerous offense that can strike from anywhere and put up points in bunches. In its last four games, the team is averaging 38 points, and it has 1,077 yards of offense in just its last two games.
McFarland has just begun to come on as a premier runner. He started only the last four games, and the OSU game just put him over 1,000 yards for the season on 127 carries. Ty Johnson and Fleet-Davis have also run for a combined 820 yards and eight touchdowns.
Pigrome started against the Buckeyes, and for the season he has completed 23 of 44 for 356 yards and two touchdowns. Kasim Hill did not play against OSU, but he started 10 games for Maryland and was 84 for 170 for 1,083 yards and nine touchdowns.
Taivon Jacobs, Jones, DJ Turner and Dontay Demus are the leading receivers with seven touchdown catches between them.
It’s on defense where the Terps have had problems. Besides the 688 to Ohio State, coming into that game teams were averaging 374 yards of offense (172 on the ground), 20 first downs and 28 points per game. That said, Maryland still does have 22 takeaways (18 interceptions) and 17 sacks.
In New Jersey on Nov. 17, Penn State’s 20-7 win over Rutgers was the complete opposite of an up-and-down affair.
According to Penn State head coach James Franklin, the Nittany Lions had a healthy respect for the 1-9 Scarlet Knights and how hard they play.
Accordingly, Penn State played a patient, conservative game on a very windy, blustery day. PSU took a 13-0 halftime lead, extended it to 20-0 early in the fourth quarter, and then let its defense hold off Rutgers the rest of the way.
How things may have been changed had wide-open Giovanni Rescigno caught the Eagles-Special pass on a fourth-and-2 in the third quarter is open to question. Suffice it to say that Rutgers would end with only one touchdown, 46 yards passing on five completions, and 188 yards running on 55 attempts. Raheem Blackshear did run 22 times for 102 yards and a 2-yard touchdown, but other than that, the PSU defense put in another solid effort.
Trace McSorley became the winningest quarterback in Penn State history with his 30th win as a starter, and he also reached 100 career touchdown passes which puts him just behind Drew Brees in the Big Ten record books.
McSorley, however, was not especially happy with his performance in the game. He finished with 17 completions in 37 attempts for 183 yards on the day. His two touchdown passes to freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth were enough to carry the day (along with two Jake Pinegar field goals), but he said after the game that his accuracy was off and he missed too many opportunities.
Miles Sanders led the PSU runners with 88 yards on 27 carries, and Freiermuth, KJ Hamler and Jahan Dotson led the receivers.
The Saturday, Nov. 24, game, even though it does not have Big Ten championship implications, still shapes up as an important one for both teams.
As noted, Maryland is not bowl-eligible, and at 5-6 the Terps need a win over Penn State to make that happen. With an offense that now has more than proved itself against a good Ohio State team, Maryland will be looking this week to keep things moving and complete the upset. There are big recruiting and bragging rights up for grabs as well.
For Penn State, depending on how the other teams make out, there is a real possibility of a New Year’s Six Bowl if the Lions can finish with a 9-3 season.
It will also be the final home game for the last group of seniors who saw the program through the dark days of the NCAA sanctions, and the Senior Day ceremonies will be emotional. There will be a huge desire to send this group off with a big win in their final appearance in Beaver Stadium.
Still, once things move onto the field, it will be another challenge for the young Penn State defense against another high-octane offense. How well Penn State can contain McFarland, Pigrome and the rest of the wide-open Terps’ attack will be a major factor in how the game unfolds, while Penn State will also be looking to reboot some of the dormant parts of its offense.
Maybe not 52-51, but there could be lots of points in this one.
Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. and it will be on ABC.
