COLLEGE PARK, MD - Four climbers' turnover ruined their chances of a season-opening road win in Maryland on Saturday as WVU fell 30-24 at College Park, Terps.
WVU will look to make a comeback in their next game, which will take place next Saturday at Mountaineer Field against Long Island University.
The Atmosphere - On a white day for the Terrapins at Maryland Stadium, there were also plenty of Gold and Blue in the stands, as thousands of Mountaineer fans took advantage of a rare, watchable road game from the Mountain State. Aside from a few neutral-site cases in recent years — Tennessee in Charlotte in 2018, Virginia Tech in Landover in 2017, and BYU in Landover in 2016 — the last WVU regular-season road game was in Maryland, within a nine-hour drive of Morgantown. in 2014. The pride of West Virginia was present on a grand, sunny Saturday afternoon as well. The stadium was not full (announced attendance was 43,811), but the meeting between the two longtime rivals nonetheless made for a very good college football atmosphere. grade A-
Crime - West Virginia's crime had some good but very bad. Lady Brown alone accounted for a total of 100 yards (53 rushing and 47 receiving) in the first half, but only 16 more yards in the second half. In the final minutes of the second quarter the Climbers were on the lookout for more with a 21-17 lead. An un-advised Jarrett Dodge throw, however, resulted in an interception and allowed Terps to put together a late field goal drive of his own to reduce the score to 21–20. That was INT Dodge's only major mistake of the first half, but was believed to be a major mistake. He was also picked in the second half, although it was a great play by Zakorian Bennett of the Terps, as it was necessarily a poor pass by Doez, as noted by head coach Neil Brown. Overall, WVU threw for 280 yards, as Doez completed 24 of 40 passes. West Virginia's biggest offensive problem was its ongoing game conflict, as it landed just 48 yards on the ground. WVU had some good offensive moments, but it clearly outweighed the bad. Grade: D-
Defense - The Defense of West Virginia had trouble handling big game terrapin weapons. Broken coverage and missed tackles, especially in the first quarter, allowed receivers Damas Donaté and Rakim Jarrett - enough to eat up large chunks of yardage even when covered, nothing about running wide open Say - yards in the first half alone account for a total of 213. Mountaineer Dee briefly held a firm grip in the redzone, limiting Maryland to three field goals in the first half instead of skipping touchdowns. Of those three potential FGs, only two made it to the top, allowing WVU to hold on to the thinnest halftime lead. 21-20. Climber Dee found her rhythm in the third quarter, restricting Terps to three straight three-and-out, but the defense didn't find the stop it desperately needed in quarter four. In all, Maryland posted 496 yards (332 passing and 164 running) of the total offense. Demus and Jarrett each had over 120 receiving yards with 133 and 122 respectively. West Virginia's turnovers consistently put their defense in poor shape, but the defense allowed the Terrapins plenty of big plays. Grade: D+
Special teams - Winston Wright may have made a mistake in the second quarter with a turnover on a muffed punt - which ultimately didn't convert to Maryland points - but he made up for it with two huge kickoff returns of 96 and 48 yards . . His big plays kept West Virginia the longest in the game, as neither WVU's offense nor defense did enough to win on their own. The rest of West Virginia's special teams were solid. grade B
Coaching - The climbers weren't perfect at any stage of Saturday's game in Maryland, and coaches had to be involved as well. WVU only had four penalties for 20 yards in their loss, which is clearly an impressive figure for an opener. But four turnovers were killers, and while players are making the mistakes they make on the field, coaches also share some of that responsibility – certainly not all but some of it. There were also some time-management issues which are often common in season openers, but they do not reflect well on the coaches either. Grade: D-