Some games are considered ugly because of mistakes that are made. Some are ugly because of dirty play. Some are ugly because of a lack of offense. Yesterday’s game between Maryland and UNC was mistake filled on both sides of the ball, dirty in a literal sense, and showcased little offense from either side. It was wet, sloppy, messy, and ugly.
An ugly win for the Terps is still a win, and yesterday’s 17-15 victory over #16 UNC was a big one. Da’Rel Scott was once again the rock, bringing consistency to the ground game with 129 yards and a TD on the ground. His effort kept the UNC offense off the field for most of the day. Chris Turner once again managed to accomplish the improbable in leading the Terps on another game winning drive. Turner improved to 5-0 against ranked teams in his career.
The defense bent but did not break. Moise Fokou led the team in tackles, and on a day where it was hard to get a good hold on anything he repeatedly came-up with drive stoppers, including three solo efforts. After UNC got out to a quick start off a Maryland safety and a FG drive within the first five minutes, the D settled down and kept the Terps in the game.
This game was up for grabs and the Terps took it. It’s tough to blame either side for their slip-ups considering that they were playing in a driving rain and on a swampy turf. An ugly win is a win, and we’ll take it.
As a side note, Josh Portis once again proved to be useless. I think he needs to stay on the bench for the rest of the year and learn the offense. The Terps are lucky that his fumble didn’t cost them the game.
It was nip and tuck the whole way…I was convinced the Terps were going to spit the bit. But they hung in there with the run game. Meggett had a good game, too.
This game could have gone either way. The one real bright spot was that they consistently threw at or past the first down marker on third down throughout the game. When they needed to convert in the second half they did because the coaches didn’t pucker-up like last week.
I also want to give a shout-out to Trey Covington, who once again proved that the Leo position, for all its hype, is only as good as the guy playing it.
He had an interception thrown directly into his chest. The ball actually seemed to rest right in the middle of his number for a second, as if it was actually stuck, and then Covington alligator-armed it away like a young boy swatting away a scary moth. Perhaps if the quarterback had dipped the ball in Gorilla Glue before throwing it, Trey could have come down with the pick.