Maryland finds themselves in a close game for the first time in about a month, and it certainly didn't look like it was headed that way at the start.
North Carolina got to work immediately, exposing Matt Robinson in the Terrapin secondary. After Bryn Renner completed a three-yard pass to Jack Tabb, Giovani Bernard burst up the middle, breaking away easily from a Robinson tackle and gaining 42 yards. On the next play, Renner found Eric Ebron over the middle after an accidental screen from the referee, and Robinson again did a poor job tackling. Ebron scored on the 30-yard play, and the Tar Heels took an early 7-0 lead.
On the third play of Maryland's drive, Shawn Petty was hit in the head as he threw, and was intercepted by Darien Rankin, who seemingly broke tackles from the entire Terrapin offense before returning the pick 44 yards to the Terrapin 3 yard-line. Three plays later, Renner found Quinshad Davis in the corner of the end zone for another touchdown. UNC led 14-0 less than three minutes into the game.
The Terps got together a big drive towards the end of the quarter. Brandon Ross ran for seven yards, and then Petty completed a third down pass to Stefon Diggs over the middle for eight yards. UNC was called for a roughing the passer penalty, and Ross ran for nine yards. After a fumbled snap, Maryland had a fourth-and-one, which they decided to try and convert - from the shotgun. Petty completed a contested pass to Diggs over the middle which went for 12 yards, giving the Terps a first down. On the next play, Maryland used a trick play - pitching a reverse to Nigel King for a 19-yard gain to the goalline. Ross banged it in on the next play, closing the gap to 14-7.
Maryland has seen solid production from Ross and Diggs in the game, and actually has more first downs than the Tar Heels (seven to three) while staying close in yardage (107-92, UNC holds that advantage). Ross has ran nine times for 26 yards, alternating between solid 5-9 yard gains and runs for zero or negative yardage, while Diggs has four catches for 43 yards.