Maryland Football: Wildcats run over the Terrapins

In a battle of teams that really needed a bounce back win, Northwestern gave Maryland all that they could.

The Wildcats simply ousted the Terrapins in every phase of the game from start to finish. In the first half, Northwestern amassed 327 yards thanks to a truly balanced attack. This attack continued in the second half as they worked the clock, and finished with 531 yards and a 37-21 win.

While not being known for a potent passing attack, quarterback Clayton Thorson finished with 293 yards passing, which opened Maryland’s defense. This helped senior running back Justin Jackson become the school’s all-time leading rusher, on his way to 171 yard and two touchdowns in this game.

One positive for Maryland was the play of Junior wideout DJ Moore. With his 210 yards and 2 touchdowns, Moore surpassed a number of personal milestones. Moore also became the seventh player in Maryland history with over 200 receiving yards in game and the first since Torrey Smith garnered 224 yards 2010 against NC State.

After the game, DJ Durkin noted third downs, where the team went six of 17 and just “didn’t convert.” Maryland simply could not get things going on offense, which supplementally made the defense have to work even harder to get stops.

The officiating in this game was also suspect to say the least, as there were three truly devastating calls against the Maryland team. One came on a punt, which was muffed and Maryland recovered, but was called for catch interference:

Another was a pass interference call missed against Northwestern as Taivon Jacobs tried to haul in a third down catch. And also, a potential touchdown grab by DJ Moore as the game winded down was not reviewed:

When asked about the officiating and if he would be talking to the league offices, Durkin adamantly said, “Yes, absolutely” and continued by saying “anyone who watched that game… wow”.

Maryland turns their focus to Wisconsin on the road next week. The Badgers were ranked 7th in the nation coming into this weekend, and defeated Purdue 17-9. Brendan Moore said Maryland will have to prove to people all over again that their running game is for real after a combined 135 yards in the last two weeks.