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West Virginia Downs the Terps
September 18, 2010 01:51 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Geno Smith threw four touchdown passes and the Mountaineers overcame three red-zone turnovers to defeat Maryland 31-17 Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.
"It was a heck of a football game, I'm really pleased with the outcome," said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, now 22-8 in his third full season with WVU.
No. 21-ranked West Virginia led the Terps 28-0 midway through the third quarter before making the game more interesting than it should have been with some shaky secondary play and an ill-advised double-pass that was picked off deep in Maryland territory when the Terps were trailing by three scores.
Two long Jamarr Robinson touchdown passes to Torrey Smith – both against sophomore Pat Miller in single coverage - gave the Terrapins new life late in the third quarter.
Before that, Maryland (2-1) had done virtually nothing against West Virginia’s defense. The Terps had just 63 total yards at halftime and No. 2 quarterback Danny O’Brien, the team’s best passer, appeared to have been injured on the final play of the half when he was hit by West Virginia's Bruce Irvin.
That forced Maryland to go with the more elusive Robinson under center in the second half and he responded with TD throws of 60 and 80 yards to Robinson.
"I was not pleased with closing the door," said Stewart. "You don't let them get back in - they worked hard and got back in. A couple of big passes disappointed me and we need to work hard on that."
Maryland got three more points on the board on Travis Balz’s 35-yard field goal with 11:59 left in the fourth quarter to pull within 11.
And that’s when West Virginia’s offense put together its best drive of the afternoon, taking more than eight minutes off the clock and forcing Maryland to burn one of its remaining two timeouts with 3:11 left.
A facemask penalty on Maryland’s Zachariah Kerr during Noel Devine’s short run gave the Mountaineers a first and 10 at their own 37. Two plays later, on third and seven at the 40, Smith hit Tavon Austin out in the flat for a 14 yard gainer to give West Virginia a fresh set of downs at the Maryland 46.
Then fullback Ryan Clarke got the football on eight of the next nine plays (including one of them a pass out of the backfield), moving the football from the 46 all the way to the Terrapin six, where Tyler Bitancurt punched in a chip-shot 23-yard field goal to make the score 31-17, West Virginia.
The Mountaineers got back-to-back sacks by Scooter Berry and Irvin on Maryland’s final possession to get the football back and run out the clock.
"I was pleased with how we finished the fourth quarter," said Stewart.
WVU got off to a great start scoring touchdowns on its first two drives, the first one covering 77 yards on seven plays and ending with a Smith to Austin 6-yard scoring strike. Devine set the TD up with a nifty 50-yard run down the far sideline.
The Mountaineers’ second possession also resulted in points when Jock Sanders took a pass from Smith 32 yards to the Maryland 10, and then three plays later, Smith hooked up with Austin again on the same play in the corner of the end zone for a 5-yard score.
West Virginia increased its lead to 21-0 with 12:35 in the second quarter when Smith and Miramar High teammate Stedman Bailey connected on a pretty 26-yard touchdown pass – West Virginia’s longest scoring play of the season. Smith withstood heavy Maryland pressure on the third-and-17 play, firing an accurate throw toward Bailey in the back of the end zone.
Bailey was able to pull in the football while dragging his back foot as he fell to the ground. The play was reviewed and the replay official confirmed the TD catch, Bailey’s first as a Mountaineer.
WVU went up 28-0 early in the third quarter on Bailey's second TD catch of 5 yards that was set up by Sanders' 66-yard punt return to the Maryland eight.
"I really think the punt return by Jock Sanders was a big play in the game," said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen. "We had a really good punt to cover and we didn't do a very good job of covering it."
"I liked our start," added Stewart. "It was fast on both sides of the gate and most importantly, Mountaineer Nation was unbelievable. The people of West Virginia that were here today and cheering at home through their radios need to be so proud because they got those guys out of rhythm. I compliment our fans."
Bailey’s second touchdown catch on West Virginia’s first drive of the third quarter – a 5-yarder – was set up by Sanders’ 66-yard punt return to the Terrapin 8.
At that point West Virginia was in complete control of the game. Then Robinson hit Smith for a 60-yard touchdown and then followed with another bomb with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
WVU had an opportunity to put the game away after getting the ball back on downs with 3:20 left on the clock in the third quarter, but a trick play backfired on the Mountaineers.
Following a pass interference call on Trenton Hughes that gave West Virginia a first down at the 15, WVU called a double pass, Smith throwing the ball backward to slot back Jock Sanders.
Sanders caught the ball at the 24 under heavy pressure, and instead of eating it and taking a loss, he lobbed up a prayer that was nowhere near any blue jerseys. Maryland’s Kenny Tate caught the ball at the 7 and returned it 53 yards behind a convoy of blockers to the WVU 40 where Ryan Clarke made a hustling play to haul him down. Tate’s pick ultimately led to the Balz field goal.
"I was hoping it would work but it didn't," said Stewart of the gadget play. "I said I wanted to throw the double pass, and I wish now Jock would have held on to it. He was trying to make a play and I can't fault him for that. Would I call it again? I don't know, but I like the ball in Jock's hands. That was a bad call on my part."
West Virginia’s defense, which came into the game without a sack in its first two games, got to Anderson eight times – Irvin hauling him down three times and Berry sacking him twice – and West Virginia’s defense limited the Terps to minus-10 yards rushing on 27 attempts. It was the first time since Pitt in 2006 that the Mountaineer defense limited the opposition to minus yards rushing.
"West Virginia just played better than we did," said Friedgen. "They are a good football team. They played a lot better than us in the first half and that's my fault. Crowd noise was a factor, but once we adapted to that, we came back and fought hard in the second half."
Maryland got 227 yards through the air – 140 of those coming on two pass plays – to finish with 217 yards of offense. Robinson was 13 of 24 for 227 yards while Torrey Smith caught three passes for 149 yards.
Geno Smith, had another fabulous afternoon through the air, completing 19 of 29 passes for 268 yards and four scores, connecting on his first 10 passes. He now shows seven TD passes to go with 800 yards passing through three games this season.
Austin caught seven for 106 yards while Sanders added six catches for 86 yards. Bailey had four grabs for 60 yards.
Devine reached the 100-yard barrier for the third straight game (131 yards) and the 17th time for his Mountaineer career. The senior is now 188 yards shy of reaching Steve Slaton for fourth on the school’s career rushing list with 3,923 yards produced from 2005-07.
West Virginia has now won five straight against Maryland for the first time in the 47-game history of the series, and extended its home winning streak to 10 straight games dating back to 2008.
"Game three is in the books and now we're getting ready for game four and we'll go from there," said Stewart.
The Mountaineers will be back on the road to face 15th-ranked LSU next Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Tigers play Mississippi State later tonight.
"It was a heck of a football game, I'm really pleased with the outcome," said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart, now 22-8 in his third full season with WVU.
No. 21-ranked West Virginia led the Terps 28-0 midway through the third quarter before making the game more interesting than it should have been with some shaky secondary play and an ill-advised double-pass that was picked off deep in Maryland territory when the Terps were trailing by three scores.
Two long Jamarr Robinson touchdown passes to Torrey Smith – both against sophomore Pat Miller in single coverage - gave the Terrapins new life late in the third quarter.
Before that, Maryland (2-1) had done virtually nothing against West Virginia’s defense. The Terps had just 63 total yards at halftime and No. 2 quarterback Danny O’Brien, the team’s best passer, appeared to have been injured on the final play of the half when he was hit by West Virginia's Bruce Irvin.
That forced Maryland to go with the more elusive Robinson under center in the second half and he responded with TD throws of 60 and 80 yards to Robinson.
"I was not pleased with closing the door," said Stewart. "You don't let them get back in - they worked hard and got back in. A couple of big passes disappointed me and we need to work hard on that."
Maryland got three more points on the board on Travis Balz’s 35-yard field goal with 11:59 left in the fourth quarter to pull within 11.
And that’s when West Virginia’s offense put together its best drive of the afternoon, taking more than eight minutes off the clock and forcing Maryland to burn one of its remaining two timeouts with 3:11 left.
A facemask penalty on Maryland’s Zachariah Kerr during Noel Devine’s short run gave the Mountaineers a first and 10 at their own 37. Two plays later, on third and seven at the 40, Smith hit Tavon Austin out in the flat for a 14 yard gainer to give West Virginia a fresh set of downs at the Maryland 46.
Then fullback Ryan Clarke got the football on eight of the next nine plays (including one of them a pass out of the backfield), moving the football from the 46 all the way to the Terrapin six, where Tyler Bitancurt punched in a chip-shot 23-yard field goal to make the score 31-17, West Virginia.
The Mountaineers got back-to-back sacks by Scooter Berry and Irvin on Maryland’s final possession to get the football back and run out the clock.
"I was pleased with how we finished the fourth quarter," said Stewart.
WVU got off to a great start scoring touchdowns on its first two drives, the first one covering 77 yards on seven plays and ending with a Smith to Austin 6-yard scoring strike. Devine set the TD up with a nifty 50-yard run down the far sideline.
The Mountaineers’ second possession also resulted in points when Jock Sanders took a pass from Smith 32 yards to the Maryland 10, and then three plays later, Smith hooked up with Austin again on the same play in the corner of the end zone for a 5-yard score.
West Virginia increased its lead to 21-0 with 12:35 in the second quarter when Smith and Miramar High teammate Stedman Bailey connected on a pretty 26-yard touchdown pass – West Virginia’s longest scoring play of the season. Smith withstood heavy Maryland pressure on the third-and-17 play, firing an accurate throw toward Bailey in the back of the end zone.
Bailey was able to pull in the football while dragging his back foot as he fell to the ground. The play was reviewed and the replay official confirmed the TD catch, Bailey’s first as a Mountaineer.
WVU went up 28-0 early in the third quarter on Bailey's second TD catch of 5 yards that was set up by Sanders' 66-yard punt return to the Maryland eight.
"I really think the punt return by Jock Sanders was a big play in the game," said Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen. "We had a really good punt to cover and we didn't do a very good job of covering it."
"I liked our start," added Stewart. "It was fast on both sides of the gate and most importantly, Mountaineer Nation was unbelievable. The people of West Virginia that were here today and cheering at home through their radios need to be so proud because they got those guys out of rhythm. I compliment our fans."
Bailey’s second touchdown catch on West Virginia’s first drive of the third quarter – a 5-yarder – was set up by Sanders’ 66-yard punt return to the Terrapin 8.
At that point West Virginia was in complete control of the game. Then Robinson hit Smith for a 60-yard touchdown and then followed with another bomb with 4:03 left in the third quarter.
WVU had an opportunity to put the game away after getting the ball back on downs with 3:20 left on the clock in the third quarter, but a trick play backfired on the Mountaineers.
Following a pass interference call on Trenton Hughes that gave West Virginia a first down at the 15, WVU called a double pass, Smith throwing the ball backward to slot back Jock Sanders.
Sanders caught the ball at the 24 under heavy pressure, and instead of eating it and taking a loss, he lobbed up a prayer that was nowhere near any blue jerseys. Maryland’s Kenny Tate caught the ball at the 7 and returned it 53 yards behind a convoy of blockers to the WVU 40 where Ryan Clarke made a hustling play to haul him down. Tate’s pick ultimately led to the Balz field goal.
"I was hoping it would work but it didn't," said Stewart of the gadget play. "I said I wanted to throw the double pass, and I wish now Jock would have held on to it. He was trying to make a play and I can't fault him for that. Would I call it again? I don't know, but I like the ball in Jock's hands. That was a bad call on my part."
West Virginia’s defense, which came into the game without a sack in its first two games, got to Anderson eight times – Irvin hauling him down three times and Berry sacking him twice – and West Virginia’s defense limited the Terps to minus-10 yards rushing on 27 attempts. It was the first time since Pitt in 2006 that the Mountaineer defense limited the opposition to minus yards rushing.
"West Virginia just played better than we did," said Friedgen. "They are a good football team. They played a lot better than us in the first half and that's my fault. Crowd noise was a factor, but once we adapted to that, we came back and fought hard in the second half."
Maryland got 227 yards through the air – 140 of those coming on two pass plays – to finish with 217 yards of offense. Robinson was 13 of 24 for 227 yards while Torrey Smith caught three passes for 149 yards.
Geno Smith, had another fabulous afternoon through the air, completing 19 of 29 passes for 268 yards and four scores, connecting on his first 10 passes. He now shows seven TD passes to go with 800 yards passing through three games this season.
Austin caught seven for 106 yards while Sanders added six catches for 86 yards. Bailey had four grabs for 60 yards.
Devine reached the 100-yard barrier for the third straight game (131 yards) and the 17th time for his Mountaineer career. The senior is now 188 yards shy of reaching Steve Slaton for fourth on the school’s career rushing list with 3,923 yards produced from 2005-07.
West Virginia has now won five straight against Maryland for the first time in the 47-game history of the series, and extended its home winning streak to 10 straight games dating back to 2008.
"Game three is in the books and now we're getting ready for game four and we'll go from there," said Stewart.
The Mountaineers will be back on the road to face 15th-ranked LSU next Saturday in Baton Rouge. The Tigers play Mississippi State later tonight.
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