They were who we thought the were, the Maryland Terrapins. They were if we thought they were the team that lost to UCLA a week ago, 54-3.
Afterall, Nebraska football improved to 5-0 by defeating the Terrapins 48-23 Saturday. Except Maryland led in the first half until 5 seconds remained, when Anthony Colandrea connected with tight end Luke Lindenmeyer on a 1-yard touchdown pass, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive. And 2 minutes, 36 seconds before that, safety Dwayne McDougle III returned an interception 81 yards for a score.
After he reached the end zone, “I blacked out,” McDougle said. “And I didn’t even remember the play until I got done with the game and I looked at my phone and I saw it. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.’’
“I was super excited,” said defensive lineman Anthony Jones Jr. “They were in the red zone, and then we get a pick-six. That was huge for us.”
McDougle’s play was “unbelievable,” Matt Rhule said
Those touchdowns, and Kyle Cunanan’s extra-point kicks, gave the Huskers a 28-23 halftime lead. And Nebraska never relinquished it, shutting out Maryland in the second half.
Still, there were issues that need to be resolved before the Huskers go into a much more challenging stretch of schedule, beginning with reigning national champion Indiana next week at Memorial Stadium.
For example, Nebraska committed 16 penalties for 132 yards — Maryland 12 for 115 — numbers that elicited untypical comments from Rhule. “I thought it was ridiculous,” he said. “I thought it was poorly handled by the officials, poorly handled by us. You have never heard me say it, but I was frustrated today. The things I have never had called before … can’t explain it.”
He had angry conversations with officials on the sideline.
The players “probably had more poise than I did,” Rhule said. “Credit to them.”
Credit to Colandrea, though “I didn’t really play well,” he said.
Uh, he was the Huskers’ leading rusher, with 108 yards on 10 carries, and completed 26-of-39 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. He took two sacks.
“When he’s the most dangerous is in drop-back passing when you’re covering guys in the drop-back passing game,” said Maryland Coach Michael Locksley, who also defended against him two games at Virginia. “When we’re playing zone coverage, there’s a lot of space.”
And Colandrea took advantage of it. As for his passing, wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer was his target 18 times. Gilmer had 10 receptions for 147 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Nebraska again went scoreless in the third quarter, an area in need of fixing.
As for his running, Colandrea credited the offensive line, which “does a great job at opening things up and the running back does a great job of picking up protection. It clears up the pass plays, play-action, stuff like that,” he said. “It clears so much stuff up behind the run.”
Mekhi Nelson ran for two touchdowns, Vincent Genatone ran for one.
Isaiah Mozee started at running back. Jamal Rule didn’t play, still recovering from the injury he suffered against Michigan State.
Though the Blackshirts only sacked Maryland quarterback Malik Washington once, by Donovan Jones, Nebraska’s defense kept the pressure on. He carried 10 times for a net of 16 yards and threw two interceptions. Defensive end Kade Pietrzak had the Huskers’ other interception.
“This is an o-line, d-line league,” Robert Griffin III said on the Fox telecast of Northwestern’s 34-13 victory against Penn State Friday night. And so it is.
Nebraska’s offensive and defensive lines will have to set the tone against Indiana.
“It’s cool to be 5-0, but it’s better to be 6-0,” Anthony Jones Jr. said.
