There’s been plenty of uncertainty about the Maryland Terrapins program this offseason, with head coach D.J. Durkin placed on administrative leave during an investigation into the offseason death of 19-year-old lineman Jordan McNair following a workout. That led to offensive coordinator Matt Canada being named the interim head coach, but there were still plenty of questions about how things would go for the Terrapins. Well, on Saturday, they started this campaign with an impressive 34-29 win over the No. 23 Texas Longhorns at Landover, VA’s FedEx Field. And, once again, they seem to have Texas’ number:
Maryland is 2-22 against ranked teams since 2011. Both wins come against Texas.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) September 1, 2018
Canada’s been a long-time offensive coordinator at Indiana, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, LSU and now Maryland, but this was his first game as a collegiate head coach, and it ended in a win for him. That’s pretty good, especially against a ranked team. But it was a close-run thing, with Texas driving late and the victory only secured by an interception from Maryland junior linebacker Antoine Brooks Jr.:
Here’s a look at the replay:
That’s a poor throw from Longhorns’ quarterback Sam Ehlinger, but it was also a remarkably athletic defensive play by Brooks, not only to make the catch but also to then land inbounds. And that let Maryland kneel and run out the clock. This was quite the challenging day for them, including a 86-minute weather delay near the start of the fourth quarter and an impressive late drive by Texas (which included a fourth-down conversion), but they prevailed in the end. We’ll see where the Terrapins go from here, but they certainly got off to a good start. The same can’t be said for the Longhorns.
[Clippit]
