Duke's first three offensive drives went for 86, 59, and 39 yards respectively with each advancing deep into Maryland territory. Yet the end results were the same each time as Duke mustered just 9 points out of those possessions allowing Maryland to hang around despite the Terps sluggish start. It would come back to haunt Duke who saw the Terps big play ability strike twice in the second half as the they rallied from down 9 to earn a 21-16 victory at home over the Blue Devils.
Maryland freshmen quarterback Danny O'Brien, making just his second career start, struggled to get into a rhythm all game long but would be helped out by his teams big play ability as well as a resurgent effort from the defense in the second half. Down 9-7 early in the 3rd quarter Tony Logan fielded a Duke punt and exploded for an 86-yard touchdown return to give the Terps their first lead of the game. Logan, who leads the FBS in punt return yardage, made one cut and accelerated through a crease going the distance for his second punt return touchdown of the season, swinging the momentum entirely in Maryland's favor. The big play ability would strike again as running back Da'Rel Scott took a dump off from O'Brien 71 yards for a score 3 minutes into the 4th quarter. The touchdown gave Maryland what seemed like a commanding 21-9 lead.
Duke, however, would make things interesting midway through the 4th as Renfree would find Donovan Varner for a 35 yard completion on 4th and 19 setting up a touchdown pass two plays later to Brandon King. With less than 5 minutes left Duke would regain possession at their own 20 trailing by 5. The Blue Devils methodically marched down the field before stalling on the Maryland 38 when Alex Wujciak and Antwine Perez combined to break up an attempted pass to Austin Kelly on 4th down.
Maryland's totaled just 62 yards of offense on their first four possessions leaving Terps fans rather uneasy given the struggles of Duke's defense thus far this season. Trailing 9-0 with Duke driving inside the Terps 20, Maryland was in dire need of a big play from their defense. Senior safety Antwine Perez would answer the call picking off Sean Renfree in the endzone. The Terps would take advantage of the turnover driving 80 yards in 8 plays capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Davin Meggett to pull the Terps within 2 at 9-6.
Duke racked up just under 400 yards of offense with Renfree picking apart the Maryland secondary for 351 yards. The Terrapins, however, continued their success in the turnover battle generating two interceptions while not committing any turnovers on offense.
Maryland, on bye next week, will have two weeks to make improvements while preparing for a showdown in Death Valley against Clemson on October 16th.
