By: Ethan Cadeaux
In his first pass of the season since Maryland head coach DJ Durkin named him the starter earlier this week, quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome was intercepted by Texas cornerback Holton Hill, who returned it 31 yards for a touchdown and an early Longhorns lead.
That was pretty much the only thing that went wrong for Maryland on Saturday afternoon. The Terps, who entered Saturday’s contest against the No. 23 Texas Longhorns as 19-point underdogs, went into Austin and put up 51 points against a program that was supposed to be rejuvenated under the new leadership of head coach Tom Herman.
Instead, it was Terrapins head coach DJ Durkin who will head home with a victory, his first signature win of his Maryland tenure, as Maryland defeated Texas 51-41. The Terps victory was the first time Maryland has defeated a ranked team since 2010.
“That was a wild game,” Durkin said. “I’m proud of our guys for how they hung tough and fought through adversity.”
After Pigrome’s early interception, the sophomore bounced back exceptionally. He capped off the next drive with a 25-yard touchdown run, and followed that up with a beautiful 20-yard touchdown strike to D.J. Moore five minutes later.
On Texas’ ensuing drive, after the Terps held the Longhorns to a field goal attempt, Antoine Brooks returned the blocked kick 71 yards to the end zone, and the Terps took a two touchdown lead. Four minutes later, Pigrome found Taivon Jacobs down the middle for a 46-yard touchdown, and the Terps took a 27-7 lead.
“No one knew what to expect,” Moore said. “So we came out and gave it our all.”
But the Terps commanding lead did not last very long. Texas managed to get within three points midway through the third quarter after a 91-yard punt return touchdown, their third non-offensive touchdown of the day. Momentum started shifting back towards the home team.
But Terps running back Ty Johnson single-handedly put the Terps back up by two scores. After returning the following kickoff 62 yards, Johnson scored from 40 yards out two plays later, putting his index finger up to his mouth after crossing the end zone, ‘shushing’ the crowd.
“It was just a lot of emotion,” Johnson said on putting the finger up to his mouth, essentially quieting the crowd. “The [Texas] fans were right behind us on the sideline, they were saying a lot of things. So it was a heat of the moment type thing.”
Johnson rushed for 132 yards on just 12 carries in the Terps win.
“Huge win,” Johnson said on the upset. “A lot of people wanted to see what we could do. Coach Durkin said to come out and play, and that’s what we did.”
Texas managed to score again, cutting the Terps lead back to three towards the end of the third quarter. Then the Terps suffered a scare, as Pigrome hurt his right knee on the last play of the third quarter and wouldn’t be able to return to the game.
But true freshman quarterback Kasim Hill, who was beaten out by Pigrome for the starting job, saved the day for the Terps.
After the Terps forced a turnover on downs, Hill extended the next Terps drive with a 40-yard pass to Moore on 3rd and 19 to put the Terps inside the 10-yard-line. Two plays later, Hill would keep it himself for a three-yard touchdown, extending the Terps lead to double-digits once again.
Moore finished with 133 yards on seven receptions to go along with his touchdown.
Maryland extended their lead to 17 on a 12-yard rush by Jake Funk with just over two minutes remaining, putting an end to all of the Longhorns hopes.
While being ranked might be a stretch for the Terps when the new Associated Press poll drops on Monday, the Terps definitely made a statement to the country.
“There’s a lot for us to clean up,” Durkin said. “There’s a lot of things we have to do better and make improvements on.”
