Maryland humbled at home by the Owls, 38-7
Most of the announced crowd of 39,102 had departed by the time Maryland finally scored against Temple on Saturday afternoon at Byrd Stadium. Watching the Terrapins get dismantled by the Owls of the Mid-American Conference was more than they could bear.
On a day when Temple’s Bernard Pierce ran for a school-record five touchdowns and Maryland’s Danny O’Brien ran for his life, the Terrapins suffered a humiliating defeat of historic proportions, 38-7. It was Temple’s first win ever over an ACC school.
“There is no need to sugarcoat things, we got our butts kicked today,” Maryland coach Randy Edsall said. “What happened today was unacceptable, and really embarrassing.”
Maryland (1-2) was dominated in every phase. Temple (3-1) had the ball 41 of the game’s 60 minutes as Pierce, a junior, carried 32 times for 149 yards and quarterback Chester Stewart, a career 49 percent passer, completed all nine of his attempts for 140 yards.
Junior Matt Brown added 75 yards on 12 carries as the Temple offensive line, averaging 319 pounds per man, steamrolled the Maryland front four, which averages 265.
“They could have given it to anybody, the way we played,” linebacker Kenny Tate said. “They didn’t do anything special. We knew that they were going to run the ball. They came and gave it to us.”
The Maryland offensive line was just as ineffective, providing little daylight for senior Davin Meggett (nine carries, 20 yards) or sophomore D.J. Adams, who was stuffed on a pair of fourth-down runs, once by senior linebacker Stephen Johnson (11 tackles, 2 pass break-ups)
“They were a good team. They were tough players,” senior guard Andrew Gonnella said. “And they wanted it more than we did.”
Sophomore quarterback O’Brien (17 of 33, 153 yards, one interception) was sacked three times, was called once for intentional grounding, and had his second straight rough game as it was apparent he misses suspended receivers Quintin McCree and Ronnie Tyler.
“We came into this game very confident because we prepared so hard,” O’Brien said. “Our focus was there, but maybe not out effort. We will see on tape. But this is a tough one.”
The Terps woes also extended to special teams as they surrendered their first blocked punt in 12 years, gift-wrapping a Temple score. Maryland also gave up a 78-yard kickoff return to Brown.
The outcome was never in doubt. Maryland went three-and-out on its first two possessions. Temple scored touchdowns the first four times it had the ball, and got a field goal on its fifth possession. Late in the first half, when Maryland finally crossed midfield, Temple had a 28-0 lead.
The tone was set on the opening series for both teams. On his first third down pass of the game, O’Brien hit Kerry Boykins (eight receptions, 76 yards) on the sideline, but the senior wideout didn’t get his foot down inbounds. On Temple’s first play, Evan Rodriguez (five receptions, 96 yards) took a tight end screen and rumbled 54 yards to set up Pierce’s first touchdown run.
On Temple’s next possession, Stewart scrambled 18 yards for a first down, then hit Rodriguez with short passes that the senior turned into gains of 19 and 18 yards, setting up another Pierce touchdown run.
After Maryland freshman wideout Devin Burns dropped a third-down pass, Nick Ferrara’s punt was blocked by 6-foot-4 senior Rod Streater. Three plays later and only 10 minutes, 22 seconds into the game, Pierce scored his third touchdown and Temple had a 21-0 lead.
Edsall said he didn’t see the flat start coming, but he had been disturbed by a lack of focus in practice this week.
“You can’t accept the pats on the back. You can’t drink the poison,” Edsall said. “I think some of our guys – even though we were 1-1 – maybe thought we were a little better than we were.”
In the second period, when Pierce blasted through a hole on the left side of the line, there was nothing but end zone in front of him. His 44-yard touchdown run put Temple up 28-0. As the Terrapins came off the field, Edsall sought out safeties Matt Robinson (13 tackles) and Eric Franklin (12 tackles).
In the second half, Temple sat on the ball and Maryland never made a run. The Terps lone score came when sophomore C.J. Brown replaced O’Brien and completed four of four passes for 42 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Devonte Campbell.
“C.J. did a great job against their [reserves],” Edsall said. “Danny is our starting quarterback. We can put that controversy to bed.”
Maryland will look for more fire when it plays host next Saturday to FCS Towson.
“Things like this can sometimes make or break a team,” Gonnella said. “We have to decide whether or not we’re gonna let it break us or if this will be a new beginning for us.”
Since Temple was booted from the Big East for ineptitude after the 2004 season, the program has two wins over BCS conference schools, both against Randy Edsall-coached teams.
“As a coach, this is hard to say. But it came down to will,” Edsall said. “Their will was a lot stronger than our will today.”
Notes: Maryland junior linebacker Demetrious Hartsfield had a game-high 17 tackles, including a sack … Freshman linebacker Lorne Goree had a sack and forced a fumble … Ferrara averaged 47.2 yards on six punts, including two that pinned Temple inside its own 10-yard-line … Maryland entered the game with a 6-0 record against Temple.
