Maryland had an early mental lapse in their conference opener against Wake Forest, but have managed to get the game back under control thanks to the Australian boot of Brad Craddock.
Wake received the ball first, and struck early. After two Maryland stops forced a third-and-eight, the Terrapin secondary left Terence Davis wide open after a double-move that faked Isaac Goins out of his socks. Safety Eric Franklin wasn't there to cover for Goins, and Davis ran clear to the end zone, with not a Terrapin in sight. The Deacons took an early 7-0 lead on the 73-yard score.
On Maryland's first drive, they were able to move the ball on the ground fairly well, with a guest appearance from Stefon Diggs. Brandon Ross ran three times for eight yards while Albert Reid had two rushes for four yards. Perry Hills completed a 16-yard pass to a fully-extended Diggs in the air, and after no gain from Ross and two incompletions from Hills, true freshman kicker Brad Craddock managed to hit a 49-yard field goal through the wind to cut the Wake lead to 7-3.
After the two teams traded strong defensive drives, punt returner Lovell Jackson muffed one, giving Maryland possession at the Deacons' 35. Cole Farrand recovered the fumble. The Terps got a nice gain from Diggs on a run to start it out, and appeared to get a big gain on a pass from Kevin Dorsey, but were called for an ineligible man downfield. They were then called for a false start, and a scramble from Perry Hills ended up with the quarterback getting rocked and fumbling the ball. He recovered, and Craddock nailed a 52-yarder, making it 7-6.
Excluding the long touchdown play, Wake was held to 21 yards of offense. This was in large part due to the efforts of Dexter McDougle, who had a big pass break-up and a nice tackle on the edge, and the aforementioned Farrand, who made a big play on a second down sweep.