Maryland Stuns West Virginia

College Park, MD - The West Virginia Mountaineers dropped their first game of the season Saturday evening to the Maryland Terrapins 30-24.

“Credit Maryland,” said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. “They beat us in the stat sheet in almost every single statistical category you look at, and obviously, they beat us on the scoreboard.”

The defenses on both sidelines struggled to find their footing in the first quarter.

The Terrapins got off to a quick start on their opening drive. Quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa worked the edge with quick passes and off-tackle within their run-pass option game to get into Mountaineer territory. However, on a second and two, defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor blew up Isaiah Jacobs in the backfield as the West Virginia defense bowed up and held the Terps to a 45-yard field goal.

The Mountaineers answered on their opening drive. On the first of two plays of the series, Jarrett Doege delivered a strike to Isaiah Esdale over the middle for 16 yards before Leddie Brown took the handoff off the left side for 14 yards to push the ball just over the 50.

Then, Doege hit Winston Wright Jr. over the middle for 20 yards before Leddie Brown ran for another eight yards and took the swing pass to the house from 20 yards out, and the Mountaineers held a 7-3 lead.

Maryland responded on the third play of the following series on a 66-yard bomb to Dontay Demus, which Neal Brown said redshirt freshman defense Daryl Porter Jr. got caught peeking in the backfield.

The momentum carried over to the Maryland defense, bringing pressure and sacking Doege on back-to-back plays, killing the drive and forcing a punt.

The Maryland offense went right back down the field with ease on an eight-play 70-yard drive capped off by an 18-yard touchdown reception from tight end Okonkwo Chigoziem as he weaved his way through the secondary on a screen.

“Poor angles on pursuit,” said Brown. “We didn’t do a good job fundamentally getting our hat across or getting our body to come to balance.”

Winston Wright Jr grabbed the momentum returning the kickoff 98 yards to the two-yard line, and Leddie Brown punched it in on the first play to get West Virginia back within three.

The defense started to lock in and held Maryland to a three and out, and the offense continued to roll with a big dose of Leddie Brown along with a big 34-yard reception from Sean Ryan as Brown found the endzone from nine yards out to regain the lead 21-17 with 11:30 remaining in the half.

On the first play of West Virginia’s next possession, Doege scrambled to his right and threw an ill-advised pass off his back foot and into double coverage for an interception. However, after an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Terps, it pinned the offense back at their own 15.

The defense held Maryland to another three and out, but Wright Jr. muffed the punt and gave the Terrapins the ball right back and into WVU territory at the 34-yard line. Maryland started to chip away at the Mountaineer defense, moving the ball down to the 20. Yet, again, the defense made a big play, a sack from senior Dante Stills resulted in a 13-yard loss, setting up a 51-yard field goal that banged off the right upright to hold the West Virginia lead at four.

Neal Brown had called a timeout following the sack, leaving three minutes on the game clock. The drive started with back-to-back handoffs to Leddie Brown before Maryland took a timeout with 2:12 remaining. Then, the Mountaineers took a deep shot with one-on-one coverage on Leddie Brown on third and six. The play was there - he was open, but the Maryland defender arrived early, and West Virginia did not get the pass interference call and was forced to punt.

The Terrapins charged right down the field, getting into field goal range and cutting the lead to one right before the half.

Leddie Brown had 47 receiving yards on three catches, and 10 carries for 53 with three total touchdowns.

On the opening drive of the second half, the Mountaineer offense opened up the passing game and had immediate success, drawing a pass interference and hitting Isdale for a 15-yarder before the drive stalled after another sack.

The West Virginia defense was stout in the second quarter, not allowing a single first down. However, the offense could not find any rhythm and could not put any points on the board. West Virginia struggled with the deep ball, and Neal Brown attributed to the Maryland defense line winning up front and applying pressure. Also noting, Doege could have done a better job moving and stepping up in the pocket.

Then, Leddie Brown, who has been good with ball security, fumbled the ball as the Mountaineers were driving at the Maryland 34-yard line on the third play of the drive.

The West Virginia defense began to wear down, and the Terrapins started to move the ball again fourth quarter, driving it down to the WVU eight-yard line. However, Maryland would settle for a field goal to take a 23-21 lead.

Winston Wright Jr. set West Virginia up at midfield after a 48-yard kickoff return and quickly got into the red zone after Doege connected with Sam James down the sideline for 39 yards. Then, on the following play, the pressure got to Doege late in the fourth, and he threw his second interception of the game in the endzone. Neal Brown stated it was a fluke play – that the defender fell into the interception, but it appeared to be a miscommunication.

The Terrapins hit another big play, with Tagovailoa hitting Rakim Jarrett for a 60-yard touchdown.

The Mountaineers were able to find passing lanes over the middle with crossing routes and quick slants to put themselves into field goal range and cutting the deficit to six, 30-24 with 2:53 left to play.

The West Virginia defense could not come up with one final stop, and Maryland finished the game in victory formation.

Neal Brown seemed to be at a loss for words after the game. Heading into the game, he stated there was a lot of uncertainty with the Terrapins bringing in new coordinators on offense and defense and really did not have answers until he looked at the tape.