The Maryland Terrapins used a dramatic second half rally to defeat the Virginia Cavaliers 27-13 before a shell-shocked 41,352 at Scott Stadium.
Trailing 13-7 at the half, the Terrapins came out of their shell and outscored Virginia 20-0 in the second half while improving to (2-1) on the season.
Maryland was led by Junior 6′ 4″ quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. who went 28-43 to eight different receivers for 263 yards and two touchdowns. As a dual threat he also had a rushing touchdown.
Senior 6′ 2″ Tai Felton led Maryland in receiving and has begun the season with his third straight 100-yard day, a team record. He finished with nine catches for 117 yards and one touchdown.
Freshman Nolan Ray, a 5′ 11″ running back out of Southfield, MI led the Terrapins ground attack finishing with 53 yards on 10 carries.
The Maryland defense came to play against their cross-state rival. Besides shutting out Virginia in the second half they recovered two fumbles and corralled two interceptions one by Dante Trader Jr. who also led the team with 11 tackles.
Virginia’s first two drives ended in field goals giving them an early 6-0 lead but would prove costly as the game moved along.
With less than a minute to go in the first half Edwards found Felton for a 19-yard touchdown pass but the Cavaliers answered right back with a nifty 10-yard scoring run from quarterback Anthony Colandrea making the score at halftime 13-7.
Maryland took the lead for good on an eight play 68-yard drive ending in a 26-yard scoring strike to Kaden Prather making the score 14-13 with 10:55 to go in the third quarter. Prather finished the game with four receptions for 48 yards and one touchdown.
Two Jack Howe field goals increased the Terrapins lead to 20-14 with 12:31 to go in the fourth quarter.
Maryland put the game away with a one-yard Edwards scoring run making the score 27-13 with 7:10 to go in the contest.
Maryland won the Time of Possession 35:36 to 24:24. The total yards were nearly even at 391 to 370 in favor of Maryland.
Maryland was okay on third down efficiency going 8-19. The Terps were 2-2 on fourth down conversions. Virginia was a poor 3-15 on third down conversions.
That along with the turnovers and the failure to convert in the Redzone doomed the Cavaliers.
Virginia was led in passing by Colandrea who went 21-37 for 247 yards and two interceptions. He rushed for 17 yards and one touchdown.
Kobe Pace led them in rushing with 46 yards on 11 carries. Trell Harris led the team in receiving with four catches for 72 yards in a losing effort for the (2-1) Cavaliers.
