Five and counting? Maryland 28, MSU 17
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – A heavily banged-up Malik McDowell gave chase. Perry Hills dashed away from him and threw the ball.
Levern Jacobs got free from Michigan State’s young defenders in the back of the end zone.
Touchdown. Ball game. And for the Spartans, almost certainly the season.
The Terrapins scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away to a 28-17 victory Saturday night at Maryland Stadium.
“Guys are sick of losing,” linebacker Chris Frey said. “It’s not what we do around here.”
Less than 10 months after playing in the College Football Playoff, a possibility of a 10th straight bowl berth continues to rapidly disappear for the Spartans (2-5, 0-4). They have lost five straight for the first time since 1991. It’s their first time losing four straight to open Big Ten play since since opening the 1982 season under Muddy Waters, with George Perles going 0-4-1 to open the 1983 campaign.
This is the longest losing streak in Mark Dantonio’s 13 seasons as a college head coach. The Spartans host No. 3 Michigan next Saturday (noon/ESPN).
“We have Michigan coming in next weekend – gotta get ourselves ready to play an outstanding football game if we’re to have a chance,” Dantonio said. “Our guys are motivated, they will be motivated, but you have to see results on the field.”
Talkin' Spartans: On MSU's loss to Maryland, its 5th straight defeat
Captain Riley Bullough was ejected late in the first quarter after a targeting penalty on a big hit he delivered against Maryland receiver D.J. Moore, their helmets colliding with 4:39 remaining in the opening quarter. It was Bullough’s third 15-yard penalty of the game.
Because it occurred in the first half, the senior linebacker will not have to sit out next week’s Michigan game.
Brian Lewerke received his second collegiate start at quarterback, with Dantonio telling Big Ten Network before kickoff that senior Tyler O’Connor was “nicked up a little bit.”
Lewerke finished 11 of 24 for 156 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. The redshirt freshman also ran for 79 yards on 10 runs.
“I think it was average,” Lewerke said of his performance. “I think I may have skipped the pocket a little too much, I’ll have to watch the film.”
Maryland started quarterback Perry Hills after he missed last week’s loss to Minnesota with a shoulder injury. The senior completed 21 of 27 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. The Terrapins gashed MSU’s defense for 247 rushing yards, getting 115 from Ty Johnson and 105 from Lorenzo Harrison.
MSU captain Riley Bullough ejected for targeting
After Bullough was ejected, Lorenzo Harrison finished that nine-play, 96-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown run.
The Spartans got on the board early in the second quarter as LJ Scott followed strong blocks from tight end Matt Sokol and fullback Prescott Line around the left end, dashed up the sideline for 48 yards and slipped a tackle attempt. The touchdown is the longest run of his career, and the sophomore finished with a season-high 127 yards on 20 carries.
MSU again pinned Maryland deep in its own territory, but it wouldn’t last long. Ty Johnson ran the first play 40 yards to midfield. Four plays later, the Spartans had a coverage breakdown and Hills found a wide open D.J. Moore behind senior safety Demetrious Cox for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The kick failed, making it 14-7.
“(Cox) came down in fire coverage, which is a zone coverage,” Dantonio said. “He came down on it when he should have been playing a quarters coverage, which he had the guy up the field. … It’s a blown mental assignment.”
MSU tied the game late in the second quarter with a methodical march of its own. Gerald Holmes picked up 50 of the 74 yards on the drive, capping it with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 38 seconds left before half.
Frey stripped the ball from Harrison with 14 seconds left, with David Dowell recovering and giving MSU the ball at Terps’ 49.
Recap: Michigan State at Maryland
Lewerke hit Shelton for 21 yards to get the Spartans to Maryland’s 28-yard line with 1 second left. Michael Geiger came out for a 46-yard field goal attempt. Instead, holder Matt Macksood flipped Geiger the ball for a run around the right end. He was stuffed after 4 yards as time expired.
Dantonio defended the call after the game.
“I was looking for a big payoff,” Dantonio said. “That was the gamble we took, and that’s on me.”
Geiger got another chance, this time to actually kick the ball, and made a 34-yarder late in the third quarter to put MSU up 17-14, its first lead of the game.
Maryland took the lead back, however, early in the fourth. The Terps got a 44-yard run by Johnson and a 2-yard TD run from Goins a little over a minute into the quarter, then put it away with the 9-yard TD pass from Hills to Jacobs with 3:23 remaining.
“We need to figure out what’s going wrong,” Frey said, “and we need to fix it.”