Maryland quarterback Joel Statham again overcame early struggles to lead the Terps to a dominating 55-21 victory against winless Duke on Saturday, which was played before an announced crowd of 16,298 at Wallace Wade Stadium. Calling some of Statham's throws "remarkable," Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen praised his quarterback's reads, touch and ability to use an assortment of receivers, most notably tight end Vernon Davis, who became the fourth Maryland receiver ever to score three touchdowns in a game.
Statham fumbled the ball three times, all of which were recovered by Maryland, and threw three interceptions. But he also threw for four touchdowns and a career-high 362 yards, the second-most by a quarterback under Friedgen. The three touchdown passes by Statham to Davis were receptions of 29, 12 and 40 yards. Davis dropped what would have been his fourth touchdown pass reception in the end zone. "I think I got a little bit better," said Statham, who completed 22 of 37 passes and spoke publicly for the first time since last week's overtime loss at West Virginia.
"Today I learned a little bit more by the mistakes that I made, and hopefully in a couple weeks I'll be able to take those mistakes out of my game." Aside from the three interceptions, Maryland dominated the game in all facets. The Terps tied a school record with 35 first downs. They compiled 685 total yards on 100 offensive plays. And they controlled the ball for more than two-thirds of the game. Terps Sammy Maldonado rushed for 102 yards on 23 carries and Josh Allen added 91 yards on 15 carries, with each scoring a touchdown.
No comments:
Post a Comment