Story By: Erin Zollars
Photos By: Sol Tucker
College Park, MD–
For some fans in College Park the Maryland Football season could not end soon enough, but enough was enough today as the Terps suffered their worst loss of the season to a team heading for a Bowl Game in Penn State.
“We’re trending in the right direction right now,” coach James Franklin said after the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions breezed past Maryland 66-3 on Saturday.
For the Terps just one season removed from defeating Rutgers on their final game of the season last year sending them to a Bowl Game, it was the exact opposite for Terps Head Coach D.J Durkin, who has been searching for answers since losing both of his starting quarterbacks this season.
Thi
s game was all about Penn State that was for sure, from the fans in the stands to quarterback Trace McSorley, who led the way for the Nittany Lions until he was replaced late in the third quarter as they had more than a comfortable lead over the Terps.
McSorley went 22 for 33 for 237 yards and ran seven times for 36 yards. The junior has thrown for 3,228 yards and 26 touchdowns this season and run for 589 yards and 11 TDs.
“Obviously, finishing strong these last few games is something we wanted to do,” McSorley said.
Backup quarterback Tommy Stevens completed the rout, running for 113 yards and three scores.
Penn State has won 10 games in successive seasons for the first time since 2008-09.
“I’m very pleased with the program overall, the progress that we’re making,” Franklin said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m happy where we’re at.”
It was hard to find something to take away from the game today for the Terps that had the word positive attached to it, but DJ Moore did set the school single season mark in receptions of 80, breaking the record held since 1994 by Geroy Simon and also became only the third Maryland receiver to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark for the season.
“We have a lot of work to do in the off season, but with the young core of players we have in that locker room, we can begin looking towards next season. This is not the outcome we had hoped for, but we have to make better plays and get the right group of players back from injury and it should make a big difference for this team and the direction we need to go,” said Durkin.
