Some observations compiled during the Terps’ 27-24 win against N.C. State…
-Da’Rel Scott was the unquestioned star of the game for the Terps. The sophomore running back ran 23 times for 163 yards and a touchdown before leaving with an injury in the fourth quarter. When Scott yelled encouragement at his offense as he walked off the field after getting hurt, it was like a scene from a movie.
-The final drive was incredible. To pull out a sloppy, must-win game like that after the emotional exit of Scott is the type of thing that could propel a team to a conference title game.
-After shutting out Wake Forest last week, the Terps let the Wolfpack drive right down the field and score a touchdown on its first possession. That’s never a good sign, and it wasn’t again in this game. The Terp defense did not look sharp Saturday.
-Opposing defenses still apparently have no idea how to stop Darrius Heyward-Bey when he’s running the ball. He gained 17 yards on a reverse in the first quarter, but he did have a pretty quiet day after that. A reverse in the third quarter went for a loss of two yards. Calling the pass to him in the endzone late in the fourth quarter an incompletion was the right call.
-All the passing for both teams early on was pretty impressive given the steady downpour of rain for most of the game. Obi Egekeze’s 47-yard second-quarter field goal in the rain was nice, too.
-Danny Oquendo’s muffed punt in the second quarter was pretty shocking. “Mr. Dependable” isn’t necessarily a very exciting returner, but he usually catches everything. That play cost the Terps at least three points, as potentially great field position for the Terps instead turned into a Wolfpack field goal.
-That was a weird series of events early in the fourth quarter when a muffed Wolfpack punt return was nullfied by a personal foul call that gave the Terps a first down instead. The Terps needed to capitalize on that opportunity, but after Scott’s touchdown run got called back for holding, and Egekeze missed his first field goal in more than a month, they didn’t.
-Another week, another shoulder injury for a key defensive veteran. Linebacker Dave Philistin left the game in the first half and did not return.
-It wasn’t pretty, but in a way this was the Terps’ most impressive win of hte season. 6-2.