The Terps were played with by the nation’s best team.
EUGENE, Ore. — In a game of cat-and-mouse, Maryland football chased and chased but could not keep up with No. 1 Oregon, who continuously toyed with the Terps.
Nothing epitomized this more than the Ducks’ second drive of the second half. On fourth-and-3, defensive lineman Jordan Burch rushed for 36 yards on a fake punt, which was followed by a reverse flea flicker.
Once Oregon got into the red zone, the antics continued. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel found offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson wide open for a 3-yard passing touchdown, and then offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. took a direct snap on a fake extra point and rushed it in for a 2-point conversion.
While close at times, the Ducks got what they wanted, when they wanted it, en route to a 39-18 stomping of the Terps at Autzen Stadium Saturday night.
“These guys play hard,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “We’re practicing the right way. It’s just not playing to our potential, not playing smart.”
The pass to Wilson was the 179th touchdown of Gabriel’s collegiate career, making him the NCAA’s all-time leader in total touchdowns. He completed 23-of-34 pass attempts for 183 yards and three touchdowns against the Terps.
While Oregon is the No. 1-ranked team in the country, it did not play like it at times.
In Maryland’s opening drive, Daylen Austin drilled Bryce McFerson in the chest on a fourth-and-8 punt, resulting in a first down and eventual field goal for the Terps.
These mistakes boiled over into the second quarter and aided Maryland in its second score. After Tai Felton dropped a surefire first-down catch on third-and-7, the Terps, feeling the pressure of a 14-3 deficit, went for it on fourth down.
Safety Tysheem Johnson was called for a pass interference on Octavian Smith Jr. This extended the Terps’ drive and left room for more Oregon mistakes.
On second-and-3, Billy Edwards Jr. was dead to rights by the oncoming pass rush, but Derrick Harmon grabbed Edwards’ facemask and moved Maryland to the Oregon 12-yard line. Three plays later, Johnson was called for another pass interference on an overthrown ball from Edwards to Felton. Roman Hemby then played clean up for the Terps, capitalizing on the Ducks’ mistakes with a 1-yard rushing touchdown.
But Maryland could never fully capture the Ducks.
Oregon’s first touchdown — a 3-yard rushing touchdown by Jordan James — was set up by a simple checkdown pass that James took for 26 yards. Its second was a strip sack on Edwards that was scooped-and-scored by defensive back Brandon Johnson.
It truly felt like Oregon’s game right before the end of the first half, just after the Ducks let up the Maryland touchdown.
With a little more than three minutes to work with, Oregon marched down the field, completing its first five passes of the drive for 36 yards. Once Maryland finally seemed to have stopped the Ducks — who faced third-and-goal from the 9-yard line — Gabriel found Terrance Ferguson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. It appeared Ferguson stepped out-of-bounds before catching the ball upon review, but the score was upheld.
“It’s so frustrating when you watch it, because you see the plays that are there that we have to make, and we’re really close,” Locksley said.
Much of the same continued in the second half. Maryland’s lone score in the half — a 3-yard pass to Smith — came off the back of an Oregon holding penalty on third-and-goal.
And after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the Ducks out of field-goal range, they intercepted Edwards seconds later to take and make that field goal they lost.
While Oregon was the less disciplined and more penalized team — racking up 12 penalties — it was certainly the better and more talented Saturday night.
Three things to know
1. Oregon was without its best receiver. Senior wide receiver Tez Johnson did not suit up for the Ducks due to a shoulder injury he suffered last week. Oregon did not need him in this one, though, as Gabriel remained efficient and junior Evan Stewart stepped up, hauling in six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.
2. Turnover issues continue for Edwards. Over the last three games, Edwards has turned the ball over five times — four interceptions and a fumble. These issues reached a climax against Oregon, when Edwards threw two interceptions and fumbled once.
“Looking back at those, it’s always going to start and end with me,” Edwards said.
3. An expected result. While the final score is certainly discouraging for Terps fans, Maryland entered the game as 24.5-point underdogs against a team who has beaten its last three opponents by an average of 28.3 points. Oregon is now 10-0 for the third time in program history (2010, 2012).