After going 1-35-1 against the Penn State Nittany Lions, and never beating them in Pennsylvania, the Maryland Terrapins, as a member of the Big Ten, finally got the job done and a border rivalry has now been reborn.
The Terps, behind a late field goal from kicker Brad Craddock, beat the Lions 20-19 for their first ever win at Beaver Stadium.
But it was not easy. After giving up a third and 23 pass play that led to a 48-yard field goal and a late 19-17 lead for the Lions beford a packed house of 103,969, the Terrapins were looking to respond and history was not on their side. But with 6:52 to play in the game, the Terrapins answered.
Maryland punt returner Will Likely, who had an interception, and now leads the Big Ten with five, returned Penn State’s last punt to the Lions 42-yard line. A pass from quarterback C.J. Brown to Wes Brown moved the ball inside the 30-yard line setting up Craddock’s heroics.
Craddock, who counting last year has hit 19 field goals in a row, and is now the best kicker in the country, calmly hit his 20th field goal from 43 yards out with 51 seconds to play in the game.
Penn State did get the ball back, but on fourth and one their quarterback Christian Hackenberg fumbled the snap and Maryland could finally celebrate a road win against the Lions. Their last visit to Beaver Stadium was 22 years ago, and most of the current Terrapins had not even been born.
Penn State (4-4, 1-4 BT) scored on their opening drive, a 47-yard field goal from place kicker Sam Ficken, who was 4-4 for the game, to take a 3-0 lead with 10:56 to play in the first quarter.
Maryland (6-3, 3-2 BT) responded with an eight play, 43-yard drive which concluded with a two-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Brown to P.J. Gallo and a 7-3 lead with 13:52 to play in the second quarter. Brown, who was under heavy pressure all day, went 18-38 for 161 yards and one passing TD. He also rushed for 24 yards on 10 carries with one rushing touchdown.
Maryland appeared to take a 14-3 lead, but a pick-six was called back on a questionable roughing the passer penalty.
The Lions answered with a 25-yard Ficken field goal to make the score 7-6 with 5:06 to play in the half.
Coach Randy Edsall then made a questionable call when he refused a penalty which would have put the Lions out of field goal range right before the half. Instead, Ficken hit a 46-yarder and the Lions took a 9-7 lead into the half.
The Lions took a 16-7 lead on an eight-yard pass from Hackenberg (18-42, 177 yards, 1 INT, 1TD) to Jesse James with 3:18 to play in the third quarter. The drive was aided by a Wes Brown fumble near midfield.
The Terrapins responded with 10 straight points which began with a 25-yard Craddock field goal and then a one-yard touchdown run by Wes Brown (10 carries for 24 yards, 1 TD) that was set up when Terrapin Alex Twine recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff return.
Up 17-16 with 11:30 to play in the game, the Terrapins saw the Lions respond with an eight play, 33 yard drive that ended with a Ficken 48-yard field goal to give his team a 19-17 lead with just 6:52 to play in the game.
On this day, the Terrapins were able to do what they could not do 36 out of the 37 times they had previously played against their upstate foe. They responded with a game winning field goal before a clad-in-white stunned packed crowd, many who were not even born when the last game was played in their stadium.
Each defense showed up as Maryland was held to 196 total yards and was a woeful 1-15 on third down conversions. They were efficient when it counted, going 3-3 in the Red Zone. The Terrapins are second in the Big Ten in Red Zone efficiency at 91.7 percent and have scored on 22 of 24 chances.
Penn State was held to 219 total yards and was only six for 20 on third down opportunities. They were 2-2 in the Red Zone. Each team also had three turnovers.
Maryland superstar wideout and captain Stefon Diggs led the Terps in receiving with six catches for 53 yards. He was also part of a pre game shoving match which led to the Maryland captains refusing to shake the hands of the Lion’s captains a midfield.
This match up does have some history. Besides recruiting against each other, Maryland currently has 13 players on its roster from Pennsylvania, current Lion’s coach James Frankin is a former Maryland coach-in-waiting. This border battle has been reborn.
Penn State now has lost four straight, while the Terrapins became bowl-eligible for the second straight year.
