COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) – Maryland had just absorbed a humbling 38-7 defeat against Temple, and coach Randy Edsall wasn’t about to make excuses for his team’s miserable performance.
“What happened today is unacceptable and really, embarrassing,” he said. “We didn’t rise to the challenge today, pure and simple.”
Bernard Pierce set a school record with five rushing touchdowns, and Temple built a 31-point halftime lead en route to a surprisingly easy victory that sent Maryland fans streaming out of Byrd Stadium long before the finish.
One week after coming agonizingly close to snapping a 28-game skid against Penn State, Temple (3-1) defeated Maryland (1-2) for the first time. The Terrapins fell to 6-1 against the Owls, who had dropped the last two games in the series by a combined 54 points.
Temple led 21-0 with just over 11 minutes elapsed, boosted the margin to 31-0 at halftime and played conservatively to the finish. It was 38-0 before the Terrapins got their only score, on a touchdown pass by backup quarterback C.J. Brown with 4:31 remaining.
“There’s no need to sugarcoat anything,” Edsall said. “We got our butts handed to us today. … To me, there was no life, no energy out there.”
Prior to his third game as Maryland’s coach, Edsall warned the Terrapins about Temple’s aggressive nature. Afterward, he lamented that his words had no effect.
“I guess I didn’t get my message across this week to the young men to let them know how physical it was going to be,” Edsall said. “I obviously have to do a better job of letting them know what they’re going to get into. We’ll address it and get better.”
Running back Davin Meggett, who finished with 20 yards on nine carries, was asked if the Terps were ready to play.
“Apparently we weren’t,” he answered. “They executed their game-plan better than we executed ours. We made a lot of mistakes.”
Maryland wore unsightly yellow, black and red uniforms, yet their performance was far uglier. Danny O’Brien was 17 for 33 for 153 yards and an interception, and he also absorbed his first three sacks of the season. The running game produced only 45 yards, and the defense allowed scores on all five of Temple’s first-half possessions.
The Terrapins were terrible on special teams, too. Maryland had a punt blocked for the first time since 1999 and missed an opportunity to get a comeback going in the second quarter by roughing the kicker on a fourth-and-14 punt at the Temple 16.
Given a second chance, the Owls completed a 93-yard drive to increase its lead to 28-0.
After registering an emotional win over Miami in the opener, the Terrapins gave highly regarded West Virginia a scare last week before this dud against the Owls.
Nearly two-thirds of the crowd of 39,102 departed before the end of the third quarter.
Pierce ran 32 times for 149 yards, including 108 in the decisive first half. He had touchdown runs of 1,9,4, 44 and 13 yards, giving him 12 TDs for the season.
The old school record for rushing touchdowns in a game was four, performed four times previously.
Starting for the first time this season, Temple senior Chester Stewart completed all six of his passes in the first half and finished 9 for 9 for 140 yards. He also ran for 43 yards.
That, combined with a defense that hounded O’Brien all afternoon, produced the Owls’ first BCS win under first-year coach Steve Addazio.
“It’s a great program win,” Addazio said. “You have to respond in college football and I think that we showed that we can compete and we can play with anybody. We’re awful proud of that.”
Coming off a bitter 14-10 defeat against Penn State, Temple couldn’t have drawn up a better start. After holding the Terrapins to one yard on three plays, the Owls’ first offensive snap produced a 54-yard completion from Stewart to tight end Evan Rodriguez, setting up the first of Pierce’s four first-half scores.
Following another three-and-out for Maryland, Stewart ran for 18 yards on a third-and-5 and connected with Rodriguez on passes of 18 and 18 yards before Pierce made it 14-0.
The Owls weren’t done. Temple again forced a punt, and Rod Streater blocked the kick to set up a touchdown. Maryland had gone 139 straight games without having a punt blocked.
At that point, many in the crowd began to boo the Terps. The jeers continued as the teams changed sides after a first quarter in which Temple led 21-0 and held a 153-47 edge in yardage.
A roughing the kicker penalty kept alive the Owls’ next possession, which ended with Pierce breaking through the line on a third-and-1 play.
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