The Maryland Terrapins managed to hold their own and make things interesting against a very tough West Virginia team on Saturday. Still, they wound up on the losing end of a 31-21 game, and that's what people will see the most. Were it not for some mistakes, though, Maryland might have actually been able to beat No. 8 West Virginia on Saturday. The only issue is that the underdog usually has to play flawless to pull off that kind of win.
Ben Boman of SB Nation's Testudo Times has more on that in their postgame recap:
But when a young and flawed team plays a top-10 opponent that largely outclasses them across the field, at their own house, there's no room for error. Flawless execution is required. And Maryland, between dropped first downs, fumbles that turned into West Virginia points and took Maryland out of scoring position, killer penalties, and missed field goals, simply made too many mistakes.
The Terrapins did a lot to stifle WVU's offense, besting them on third down early and often, but in the end, Tavon Austin amassed almost 200 yards and had three touchdown receptions. That's par for the course for him against Maryland, and it was very obliviously the deciding factor in this game.
Still, the game was a lot closer than the final score indicated, with just a couple costly errors being the biggest deciding factor. It isn't exactly a feel-good loss, but it wasn't the most demoralizing game Maryland has ever played, and the postgame recap makes that pretty clear.
For more on Terps football, visit Maryland blog Testudo Times, plus SB Nation DC. For more on WVU football, visit West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket, plus SB Nation Pittsburgh.