Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. surveyed the field with his eyes trained to the right. Edwards shifted his feet, pulled his right arm back and attempted to throw. He never got the pass off.
Oregon senior defensive end Jordan Burch wrapped around Maryland left tackle Terez Davis, hitting Edwards from his blind spot. The hit jarred the ball loose, and after one bounce, defensive back Brandon Johnson recovered it, running 62 yards for the score.
Oregon’s first defensive touchdown this season gave the Ducks a two-score lead early in the second quarter.
No. 1 Oregon utilized the momentum to beat Maryland, 39-18, Saturday night in the first ever meeting between the two teams.
“I thought our guys played hard and they’ve given themselves a chance, but we still aren’t playing smart enough and taking care of the football,” said head coach Michael Locksley. “Good teams don’t need help and we helped them today.”
Burch made another crucial play for the Ducks in the third quarter, this time on special teams.
Maryland’s defense forced Oregon into a fourth and three on its own side of the field. The Ducks sent out the punt unit, but instead of snapping the ball to their punter, the snap landed in the hands of Burch.
The six-foot-six, 295 pound defender ran the ball for 36-yards into Maryland territory – successfully executing the fake punt.
“We had a missed tackle on the fake punt. You know, you get the ball tackled there on the fake punt, then all of the sudden it’s maybe not that good of a trick play,” said Locksley. “But their guys executed, made the play. Our guys didn’t. We got to figure out how to make that play.”
The Ducks capitalized on the momentum.
Oregon scored a touchdown later in the drive on a pass from Gabriel to offensive lineman Gernorris Wilson.
The completion cemented Gabriel as the new FBS record holder for career touchdowns thrown (179). Oregon then completed the two-point conversion, widening Maryland’s deficit to 19.
The Terps were able to cut into that deficit with a fourth quarter touchdown — their only score of the second half — and two point conversion to follow. But two interceptions in the final nine minutes resulted in Maryland being unable to capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities.
The Ducks controlled the momentum throughout the game, even with Maryland scoring a field goal on its first drive of the night.
Following those first three points, Oregon scored touchdowns on two of its four offensive first-half drives.
The first touchdown completed a 14-play drive that started at their own eight yard line, following a strong punt by Maryland punter Bryce McFerson. Oregon marched 92-yards down the field in just over five and half minutes, capping the strong drive with running back Jordan James carrying the ball three yards into the endzone.
Oregon’s second touchdown came in the final thirty seconds of the first half – this time on a pass from Gabriel to fellow senior Terrance Ferguson.
The touchdown throw propelled Gabriel to a tie with Case Keenum for the all-time national record in touchdown passes,while giving the Ducks a two-score lead heading into the break.
Maryland’s only touchdown of the first half came in the second quarter, on a drive that was aided by three Oregon penalties.
“We put ourselves in some good opportunities there to come away with points, but when you play the number one team in the country, you know, you got to be able to score touchdowns,” Edwards Jr. said.
The Terrapins finished the game with 289 yards of total offense and four explosive plays. Edwards completed 50 percent of his passes for 206 yards to go along with his three turnovers. Roman Hemby led Maryland with 34 rushing yards,while Tai Felton paced its receivers with seven catches for 72 yards.
Gabriel led the Oregon offense, throwing for 183 yards on 23 completions.The veteran quarterback did so without his go-to target, senior wide receiver Tez Johnson.
Noah Whittington led all rushers with 77 rushing yards and Evan Stewart led the Ducks’ pass catchers with six catches and 55 receiving yards.
Maryland returns to College Park for its penultimate home game against Rutgers on Saturday. The Terps need two more wins this season to be eligible for a bowl game.
