Final Facts From The Field....
WIN THEM ANY WAY: Say this for the Terrapins, their games tend
to border on the bizarre. The Terps top quarterback didn't dress
and then their No. 2 quarterback broke his collarbone early in
the second half. Their defense spotted winless Duke a 10-0 lead
and later gave up a 52-yard scoring run on draw. The special
teams converted a fake punt that wasn't intentional and botched
one that was. They scored a touchdown to put them ahead and then
gave back two points on a 100-yard return of a two-point
conversion. Yet, the Terrapins still won, 22-19. They won behind
the rushing of Buddy Rodgers and key defensive plays late. "It's
a win that keeps things in our house in order," safety Lamont
Gore said. "It helps the coaches. It helps the players for this
year and maybe next year, too."
BUDDY BALL: There is no bigger reason for the win than the play
of Rodgers. He gained a career high 176 yards on 31 carries and
scored the game winner with 14:38 left in the game. It's the
most yards by a Terrapin since Alvin Blount gained 186 in 1985.
The Terrapins had planned to run the ball a lot anyway, since
quarterback Brian Cummings missed the game because of a
concussion suffered last week. But when Ken Mastrole went down
on the first series of the second half, the running game became
even more imperative. Rodgers carried 17 times in the second
half, including eight carries on the final series to ice the
game. "I love him, what a hard playing guy he is," said coach
Mark Duffner. "He just said that he wouldn't be denied getting
down the field and into that endzone." Rodgers 23 carries
against Wake Forest earlier this season served as both the
team's previous season high and Rodgers previous career high.
Rodgers previous personal best rushing performance was 112 yards
against West Virginia last season. Maryland's season high in
1996 previously was Harold Westley's 120 yards against Wake
Forest.
ROTATING QUARTERBACKS: Maryland coaches decided Friday not to
play Cummings even though doctors had cleared him. That left the
job to Mastrole, who showed signs of improvement, but still went
5-of-17 for 106 yards. The Mastrole went down with a broken
collarbone that will sideline him for the season. That left
Duffner with ... Keon Russell, a sophomore transfer from
American International College. Russell is more of an option
quarterback, so Duffner simplified things. Russell completed
1-of-2 passes and ran six times for four yards. "I wasn't even
really nervous," Russell said. "I thought I'd be, but I didn't
have time to think about it. They just said Keon here's the
play."
THE BIG PLAYS: Maryland wasn't even putting a block on when Eric
Ogbogu came up the middle and blocked John Krueger's punt at the
end of the third quarter. "Last week I let up on a punt, so the
coaches told me to run through, and make sure the punt got off,
" Ogbogu said. It didn't, rolling all the way to the Duke
28-yard line. Rodgers scored the game winner three plays later.
But the game still wasn't secure. It took cornerback A.J.
Johnson's sack of David Green and the forced fumble to wrap
things up. "I don't even know why they called it," Johnson said
of the corner blitz. "I just went out there and did it."
ODDS AND ENDS: Maryland won on television for the first time
this year. The Terps also brought out their black road pants for
the first time ... Linebacker Ratcliff Thomas became the fourth
player in Maryland history to total 400 or more career tackles
... Wide receiver Geroy Simon left the game with a hip pointer.
ALL-TIME TEAM: In honor of homecoming, Maryland's student
newspaper, The Diamondback, came out with an all-time Terrapin
football team. The paper polled members of the media who have
covered Maryland football. The following players were selected:
QB: Jack Scarbath; RB: Charlie Wysocki; RB: Rick Badanjek; WR:
Gary Collins; WR: Jermaine Lewis; TE: Ferrell Edmunds; T: Stan
Jones; G: Bob Ward; C: Bob Pellegrini; G: Walter Rock; T: J.D.
Maaraveld;DE: Paul Vellano; DT: Randy White; DT: Joe Campbell;
DE: Mike Corvino; LB: Chuck Faucette; LB: Eric Wilson; LB: Neal
Olkewicz; CB: J.B. Brown; CB: Tony Greene; S: Lloyd Burruss; S:
Tom Brown; K: Jess Atkinson; P: Bill Walker; KR: Larry Marshall;
Coach: Jim Tatum.
A LEAD AT LAST: Duke's first quarter touchdown, a four-yard run by Latavious
Wilks, gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the season.
EARLY BLUE DEVIL SUCCESS: In Duke's first two drives, which resulted in 10 of Duke's 19
points, Wilks gained 61 yards on eight carries, while David
Green was 2-of-3 passing for 50 yards.
DUKE RUSHING: Wilk's 52-yard touchdown run was Duke's longest play from
scrimmage this season and Wilks' longest of his career. It was
the longest play from scrimmage for Duke since Oct. 22, 1994,
when Matt DeOrio scampered 54 yards. It is the longest touchdown
run for Duke since Oct. 28, 1989, when Randy Cuthbert ran 60
yards for a touchdown against Georgia Tech.
BLOCKED PUNT: Eric Ogbogu's blocked punt for Maryland, which set up the
winning touchdown, was the Terrapins second blocked punt of the
season.
PAT RETURN: Lamar Grant's 100-yard two point conversion return for Duke was
the second defensive conversion in Duke history. Tawambi Settles
blocked and returned a PAT last year.
WILKS RUNNING WELL: Letavious Wilks' 127 yards rushing in the first half surpassed
Duke's best rushing performance in a game this year. Wilks'
finished the game with 137 yards on 19 carries. Laymarr
Marshall's 116 yards vs. Navy was Duke's previous benchmark for
the season. Wilks 137 yards rushing, ranks as the fourth-most by a Duke
running back in the 1990's. The three running backs ahead of
Wilks are, Robert Baldwin's 238 yards in 1994 (also the school
record); Baldwins's 162 yards in 1994; and Randy Cuthbert's 149
yards in 1992.
A DAY OF FIRST: Letavious Wilks' two touchdowns are the first of his career.
Ken Mastrole's touchdown pass was the first of his career. Keon Russell's appearance at quarterback for Maryland was the
first game action of the freshman's career.
STINGY 'D': After allowing at least nine points during the first quarter of
its first five games, Duke has shutout its opponent in the first
frame in each of its last two games.
