COLLEGE PARK, MD — Still harboring the slim hopes of turning a lost season around, Duke came to College Park Saturday looking to make amends for early season slip-ups. Although the Blue Devils came out swinging and controlled the Terrapins for nearly the entirety of the first half, key fundamental mistakes spurred a Maryland comeback. At the end of the day, Duke simply dropped the ball.
Tony Logan’s 84-yard punt return near the beginning of the third quarter gave the Terrapins (4-1, 1-0 in the ACC) a lead they would never relinquish, despite the best efforts of Duke (1-4, 0-2) quarterback Sean Renfree in the dying minutes of regulation. The Blue Devils marched down the field in the fourth quarter and had a shot to take a late lead, but Duke’s wide receivers couldn’t hang on to the football when it mattered most, and Maryland escaped the upset with a nerve-racking 21-16 victory.
“When you are a team like Maryland that has no turnovers and scores points in the kicking game, you have a real good chance of winning the game,” head coach David Cutcliffe said. “Even if [Maryland got] outplayed.”
After emphasizing the importance of getting off to a good start all week, Cutcliffe had to be pleased by the way his team took the field against the Terrapins. The Duke defense stalled Maryland’s first offensive drive to begin the game, and when the Blue Devils got the ball, Renfree’s first few passes were on the money.
During a drive that lasted almost five minutes, Duke drove from its own 12-yard line to the Maryland six with little resistance. Renfree zipped a pass across the middle on third and seven to wideout Donovan Varner, who made a darting run across the field for a 28-yard gain. Six plays later, Renfree hurled an accurate ball down the middle to redshirt junior Josh Trezvant, who made a leaping catch to put the Blue Devils on the six-yard line.
Duke couldn’t pound the ball in, however, and was relegated to a 20-yard Will Snyderwine field goal after rushes up the middle by Juwan Thompson and Brandon Connette only brought the Blue Devils to the 2-yard line, and Renfree misfired on third down.
The Blue Devils would march down the field three more times in the first half, only to uncharacteristically sputter in the red zone. Three times they made it past the Maryland 20-yard line, but each time they couldn’t muster a touchdown.
“It’s frustrating. We got down there four times, got three field goals and one interception,” Cutcliffe said. “This is one of those games that could’ve gone differently if we had improved our execution.”
Duke’s defense kept Maryland out of scoring position for almost the whole first half, but a late 44-yard strike to wide receiver Torrey Smith and a questionable roughing the passer penalty on Patrick Egboh enabled a late Maryland touchdown. Davin Meggett’s three-yard scamper with just over a minute remaining cut the lead to two.
Coming out of the locker room with their crowd re-energized, the Terrapins wasted no time in taking advantage of their momentum. After a solitary Duke first down on its opening drive, a 41-yard Alex King punt was returned by Logan, who made a quick move to evade the first tackler and streaked the remaining 84 yards for the touchdown.
On the opening drive of the fourth quarter, more missed tackling would cost the Blue Devils. After forcing third and long, Duke covered the deep ball well, making quarterback Danny O’Brien, who was only 9-for-26 in the game, check down to Da’ Rel Scott for what looked like a minimal gain. Scott broke through attempted tackles by safety Walt Canty and cornerback Ross Cockrell, however, and sprinted down the right sideline for a 71-yard touchdown that extended the Maryland lead to 21-9.
“He made a great move to get away and it was off to the races from there,” Canty said.
Facing a 12-point deficit and a raucous crowd, the Blue Devils didn’t back down. With 11 minutes remaining in the game, Renfree engineered an 84-yard drive highlighted by a 35-yard pass to Varner, who appeared to come down with the ball in the endzone, but was ruled down at the one. On second and goal, Renfree rolled right and found tight end Brandon King at the goal line, who fought his way in to bring the score to 21-16.
After a key defensive stand during which Duke only allowed the Terrapins 14 yards, Renfree took the ball with his team down five with only four minutes left on the clock. He completed five passes to put Duke on the Maryland 33-yard line, but the Blue Devils missed on first down and committed a false start before the next snap. Facing second-and-15, the offensive line gave Renfree time to throw, and the quarterback found Varner in space over the middle, but the uncovered junior wideout let the ball slip through his hands to the turf. Tosses to Conner Vernon and Austin Kelly fell incomplete, giving the Terrapins the ball with the Blue Devils unable to stop the clock.
“I dropped the ball and I think I tried to get up field too fast before securing the catch. I definitely think that could have been a big play,” Varner said.
Although Duke failed to pull off the upset at Byrd Stadium, the Blue Devils could have walked away winners, and can only look to the upcoming bye week as a much-needed time to refocus.
“All we can do is take it one play at a time, and that’s truly the stage this team is in,” Cutcliffe said. “If this team will do that, we’re going to get better and turn losses into wins.”
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