Join the forum discussion on this postWhat was worse – the team that coach Randy Edsall fielded or the uniforms they wore? Coach Edsall gets a bye since he is only in his first year incorporating his schemes into the fabric of the Terps program. Those helmets were absolutely hideous. The jerseys were passable, although the shoulders would have looked much better had they been the same color schemes. The Terrapin defense was much more atrocious as they gave up a grand total of 508 yards to the Fighting Irish. You simply do not win football games when being so porous. As for Notre Dame, thankfully the shamrocks on the helmets are a one time deal, they didn’t look overly gaudy; however, it simply doesn’t fit.
The Rundown
The no-huddle offense that Brian Kelly and the Irish employed against Maryland worked to perfection. Notre Dame rushed for 212 yards on 46 carries for a 4.6 yard average. Tommy Rees went 30 of 38 in passing, for 296 yards. He had no interceptions and threw 2 touchdown passes. Rees was 14 of 15 during the second half. Amazingly, the Irish offense ran 84 plays from the line of scrimmage. Jonas Gray has really come on and he ran for a career high 136 yards to go with two touchdowns. He had 21 carries and an average of 6.5 per carry. Teammate Cierre Wood rushed for 109 yards on 18 attempts. Wood scored a td and averaged 5.5 yards per carry. On the receiving end of things, the Notre Dame wide receivers also shined. Michael Floyd had 9 catches for 90 yards and a td. Tyler Eifert caught 8 balls for 83 yards and a td. Robby Toma made 7 catches for 73 yards. Even punter Ben Turk had a good game although he only had to punt 3 times. He had a long of 58 yards and averaged 43.7 on those kicks.
The Notre Dame defense gave up 145 yards on the ground to Maryland. The Terrapins had 35 attempts for a 4.1 yard average and 2 rushing touchdowns. Maryland passers completed 20 of 31 passes for 219 yards. They passed for 1 td and had 1 interception. The Irish had 30 first downs to Maryland’s 20. Notre Dame committed only 3 penalties the entire game. Time of possession was heavily in favor of the Fighting Irish. They controlled the ball for 34 minutes and 30 seconds, compared to 25:30 for Maryland.
Even though the game was played only 12 miles away from the Maryland campus, it was a home game for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame now annually plays one “home” game away on a neutral field. This enables the subway alumni and regular faithful that maybe can not make the trek to South Bend an opportunity to see their beloved Irish play. This year’s game was at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland. It is home to the Washington Redskins. Another reason for the traveling road show is in hopes of allowing recruiting prospects in the respective areas a chance to see the Irish in action.
Play By Play
Notre Dame opened the scoring in the 1st quarter on a drive starting at their 33 yard line. The 67 yard drive took 8 plays and ate up 2 minutes and 38 seconds. The big play of the drive was a 26 yard completion from Tommy Rees to Robby Toma to the Maryland 15 yard line. Jonas Gray scored on a 1 yard plunge at the 11:25 mark. David Ruffer added the extra point and it was 7-0 in the favor of the Fighting Irish. The only other score of the first quarter was by Ruffer on a 52 yard field goal. That came on an 11 play 57 yard drive covering 2 minutes and 45 seconds. It was 10-0 Notre Dame at the 2:47 mark.
The Irish took a 17-0 lead midway of the 2nd quarter. The score came as the result of an 80 yard drive in 7 plays taking up 2 minutes and 38 seconds. Rees completed a 19 yard scoring strike to Michael Floyd for the touchdown. Ruffer added the extra point and it was 17-0 Notre Dame. Tommy Rees completed 3 passes to Floyd on the drive, with the . longest completion being a 31 yarder. The score occurred at the 8:29 mark of the second period.
Maryland answered back with a 9 play, 61 yard drive that took 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Danny O’Brien completed a 13 yard td pass to Quintin McCree. The score came with 5:18 left in the first half. Nick Ferrara added the point after and it was 17-7 Notre Dame.
The Irish concluded the first half scoring with a long 14 play drive. It covered 84 yards and churned up 6 minutes and 12 seconds of clock time. Jonas Gray carried the ball six times on the drive. His last carry was for 1 yard and a td with 29 seconds left in the half. David Ruffer added the extra point and at the half the score was Notre Dame 24 Maryland 7.
The scoring in the third quarter was two touchdowns by Notre Dame that salted the game away. The Irish took the second half kickoff and started at their 16 yard line. Tommy Rees completed 9 passes on the long trek. Cierre Wood scored the touchdown on a three yard run at the 8:48 mark of the third quarter. Ruffer booted the PAT and it was 24-7 for the Irish. The drive was 84 yards in 14 plays taking up 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Notre Dame now led 31-7.
Later in the third quarter, Notre Dame’s Lo Wood intercepted a pass from O’Brien at the Irish 43 yard line and returned it 57 yards for a touchdown. David Ruffer once again booted the extra point and the Irish now led 38-7. The score came with 7:18 left in the third quarter.
The Maryland Terrapins scored early in the fourth quarter ending a drive that had started late in the third period. The Terps drove 97 yards in 10 plays. The drive took three minutes and 22 seconds and was aided by a pass interference call on Robert Blanton. QB C.J. Brown scored on a 24 yard run for Maryland. He had replaced Danny O’Brien who had broken a bone in his left arm and will be lost for the season. Ferrara added the point after and it was now Notre Dame 38 Maryland 14. The score came with 14 minutes and 2 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Irish had a 77 yard drive in 7 plays that took three minutes and 28 seconds. They scored with 5:31 left in the game. Tyler Eifert caught a 34 yard touchdown toss from Rees. The Ruffer PAT made the score 45-7 for the Fighting Irish.
Maryland closed out the game scoring with 37 seconds left. They went 67 yards on 13 plays in 4 minutes and 55 seconds. D.J. Adams was the workhorse on the drive as he carried the ball 7 times. Adams scored the td from two yards out. Nick Ferrara closed the scoring with his PAT. Final score Notre Dame 45 Maryland 21.
MadIrish Perspective
With the victory over Maryland, the Irish now stand at 7-3. They have a home game with lowly Boston College and a road tussle at mighty Stanford left to close out the season. Although it has been a successful season, once again the aspirations of most Irish faithful simply are not going to be met. First, with Charlie Weis running the team and now with Brian Kelly at the helm – it is ESPN fodder that our beloved Irish beat up on the nobodies of the college football world only to be beaten by the few tough opponents that dot the schedule.
Notre Dame must beat Stanford if this is really to be a very successful season. The Cardinal pummeled the Irish in South Bend last year and so far this season I see nothing that tells me that Notre Dame is better than Stanford. Plus the game is out on the left coast. It will be the last regular season home game for Andrew Luck and he will leave nothing on the field as he bows out of a graceful career. Even if the Irish lose and then beat up a team in a bowl game that it should beat, in order to turn the corner back to greatness, Notre Dame has to start winning these types of football games.
The Fighting Irish must not be caught looking past Boston College. It should be a romp for Notre Dame. However, and although many Irish fans don’t want to hear it, B.C. has become a formidable thorn on the Notre Dame schedule. The Eagles play Notre Dame very tough and have handled the Irish more than us fans want to admit. Weis brought in many great offensive weapons for Notre Dame. These kids are either graduated or a few left in the stable. Kelly has brought in some offensive talent, but does it really rank up there with the offensive stars that Charlie recruited? Time will tell. Kelly has brought in kids with very good upside on the defensive side of the ball. With only two years under his belt, these youngsters are very young. But as Irish fans, you have to love what we see from Aaron Lynch, Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix, Prince Shembo, the tad we have seen from Ishaq Williams, and from some of the other defensive players.
Is Tommy Rees the quarterback of the future? He keeps on winning but like Brady Quinn, he has not beaten any of the big boys, with the exception of Michigan State. Many, including myself, are skeptical of Rees. I give credit where credit is due. Without the mistakes of the first two games, N.D. would have only lost to USC. But, we all know how that big primetime match-up turned out.
I am against conference affiliation. The sad reality of being a non-conference team is that unless Notre Dame is in a BCS match-up, then the opportunity of being in a bowl game that has much oomph is very unlikely. Yes, we had Miami last year, but the Canes are but a shell of what they once were. The conferences themselves, love the extra revenue that is generated from these bowl games. Yet, there are teams that feel as if they get locked into certain bowl games when they could be playing for much bigger stakes. That is the reality of conference affiliation.
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