The Maryland Terrapins, behind four touchdown passes from new starting quarterback Caleb Rowe, beat the South Florida Bulls 35-17 for a nice bounce back win at a boisterous Byrd Stadium.
After losing last week to Bowling Green, 48-27, the Terps, looking to ignite the offense, benched starter Perry Hills in favor of the junior gunslinger Rowe, and despite throwing three interceptions, provided the spark coaches were looking for. The four touchdown passes were the most ever in one game in the Randy Edsall Era.
The game started off rough for Rowe, who threw an interception on his second pass of the game which led to the Bulls first touchdown and a quick 7-0 South Florida lead. His other two picks were not costly. He also fumbled three times but the Terps recovered each time.
He finished the game 21-33 for 297 yards, including a beautiful 70-yard bullet along the right sideline that wideout Taivon Jacobs caught in stride and took to the end zone giving the Terps (2-1) a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulls answered with a 34-yard field goal to make the score 14-10 right before the half.
But with 59 seconds to play in the half, gunslinger Rowe was not done.
He completed two passes to Levern Jacobs, the second a 49-yarder that took the ball to the two yard line. On the scoring play, he fumbled the pitch, but running back Brandon Ross scooped and scored to give the Terps a big boost going into the half and a 21-10 lead.
In the third quarter freshman running back Ty Johnson took the kickoff 45 yards to the Maryland 34 yard line. Rowe then hit tight end Avery Edwards for a 12 yard touchdown pass giving his team a commanding 28-10 lead.
South Florida responded with a touchdown on a fourth and seven quarterback scramble by Quinton Flowers to cut the Terps lead to 28-17.
Maryland answered by shutting out the Bulls in the fourth quarter and another touchdown pass from Rowe to a wide open Edwards on a third and 16 for a 22-yard scoring strike. This gave the Terps a 35-17 lead with 10:11 to play in the game. The Bulls would have no answer.
The Terps were led in rushing by Ross who gained 68 yards on 18 carries including his nifty scoring run.
Levern Jacobs led the team in receiving with eight catches for 107 yards. Edwards added three catches, two for touchdowns, for 36 yards.
The defense played well, limiting the Bulls to 300 total yards. This after Bowling Green torched them for nearly 700 yards. Sean Davis had two interceptions and a fumble recovery after struggling in the Bowling Green game.
Terps returner Will Likely, who had returned a kick for a touchdown in each of the first two games of the season, was kept out of the end zone as the Bulls chose to kick away from him which gave the Terps good field position most of the afternoon. It also led to Johnson’s long return which led to a touchdown.
The Bulls quarterback Flowers was 10-19 with one touchdown and one interception. He also gained a team-high 85 yards on 24 attempts including one touchdown run.
Bull’s running back Marlon Mack, a real threat on the ground, was held to 71 yards on 12 carries.
Wideout D’Ernest Johnson led the team with two catches for 27 yards in a losing effort for the (1-2) Bulls.
