Over the past couple of seasons the Terps have been known to struggle early in the season and with inferior opponents. Maryland fans have seen the Terps get taken to overtime by James Madison, lose twice to Middle Tennessee State, and barely squeak out a win over Delaware in recent years. On Saturday afternoon however, the Terrapin faithful were treated to an all around dominant performance by the Terps from start to finish ending in a 62-3 rout of Morgan State.
Maryland once again established themselves on the ground by racking up 221 yards. DJ Adams led the way with 70 yards on 11 carries, Davin Meggett pitched in 50 on 8 carries, Da'Rel Scott had 8 carries for 42 yards, and QB Jamarr Robinson had 36 yards on 5 carries. Robinson struggled again in the passing game but he did toss two touchdowns passes, once each to Torrey Smith and Adrian Cannon. Backup Danny O'Brien saw a good amount of playing time and went 5-10 for 79 yards and 3 touchdowns. O'Brien looked more comfortable and decisive in the pocket than Robinson and the Terps seem to be heading towards a committee at QB unless Robinson improves his performance in the passing game.
While the offense performed well the defense was probably the story of the day for the Terps as they limited the Morgan State Bears to 86 total yards of offense and the starting unit allowed only 6 in the first half. The defense saw solid contributions for backups and younger players such as Bradley Johnson, Jevon Kearse, Matt Robinson, Dave Mackall and others. The defense as a whole seems to be more athletic, and much faster than in previous years which is essential in Don Brown's aggressive blitz-heavy scheme. Starting linebackers Adrian Moten and Demetrius Hartsfield each had an interception and Hartsfield took his back for a score early in the 2nd quarter. Another bright spot not to be overlooked in the blowout was the performance of kicker/punter Travis Baltz. With kicker Nick Ferrera still out with a groin injury, Baltz knocked through two 47 yard field goals in addition to pinning 3 punts inside the 20 yard line.
While Morgan State isn't exactly the stiffest of competition, it was important for Maryland to come out and win the game in big fashion as they did. It allowed for a lot of younger inexperience players, including a couple of freshmen, to earn valuable playing time and it serves as a confidence booster for the team. That coupled with the dramatic opening weekend victory over Navy should have Maryland feeling good about themselves heading into Morgantown next Saturday for a big rivalry game against West Virginia.
