LINCOLN, Neb. _ Rutgers week starts now.
The buildup to Maryland's last _ and biggest _ game of the season will have only one storyline. After losing their fourth straight game and sixth out of seven, 28-7 at Nebraska on Saturday, the Terps will return home to College Park with one final chance to become bowl-eligible in DJ Durkin's first season.
A combination of a back-loaded schedule, a series of injuries to key players and an inexperienced defense has left Maryland (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) in a difficult position after a promising 4-0 start. What condition the Terps will be in mentally and physically next Saturday is up for debate.
A defeat to Nebraska (9-2, 6-2) before a senior day crowd of 89,704 continued the late-season onslaught. Durkin's team has been outscored 149-13 over the past three weeks, with the latest loss to a ranked opponent following a 62-3 defeat to then-No. 5 Ohio State and a 59-3 loss to then-No. 3 Michigan.
Only a 92-yard touchdown catch-and-run by sophomore wide receiver D.J. Moore from freshman quarterback Max Bortenschlager, Maryland's surprise starter, early in the fourth quarter prevented the Terps from being kept out of the end zone for the third straight week.
It didn't matter that senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. sat out with a hamstring injury. Senior backup Ryker Fyfe, a former walk-on, was better against a woeful Maryland defense than he was coming in when Armstrong suffered a concussion two weeks ago in Nebraska's own 62-3 loss to the Buckeyes.
It also didn't matter that Durkin gave Bortenschlager his first collegiate start after he beat out fellow freshman Tyrrell Pigrome, who had been the No. 2 quarterback until recently, in practice after it became apparent that injured fifth-year senior Perry Hills was not going to play.
Fyfe, who had completed just 5 of 18 passes for 52 yards in relief of Armstrong in Columbus, completed 23 of 37 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown against the Terps. Senior running back Terrell Newby made up for Armstrong's absence, rushing 22 times for 98 yards and three touchdowns.
Bortenschlager, who hadn't played since cleaning up for Hills and Pigrome in the season opener against Howard, finished 14-for-29 for 191 yards. Prior to completing the touchdown pass to Moore _ tied for the second longest in school history behind Darrius Heyward-Bey's 96-yarder in 2006 _ Bortenschlager had completed just eight of 19 passes for 66 yards.
It was the sixth touchdown catch of the season for Moore, who finished the game with six catches for 124 yards. As happened last week against the Buckeyes, the Terps didn't mount much of a rushing attack in the absence of freshman running back Lorenzo Harrison.
With Harrison missing his second game of what is an indefinite suspension for his role in a BB gun incident on campus Nov. 6, the Terps were held to just 11 rushing yards. Sophomore Ty Johnson led Maryland with 21 yards on seven carries.
The first half started similarly for Maryland to the starts against Ohio State and Michigan. The Cornhuskers scored on their first two possessions, with Newby finishing seven-play drives of 72 and 57 yards to score on runs of 8 and 5 yards, respectively.
The Terps finally stopped the Cornhuskers on what looked like it was going to be a 97-yard scoring drive when junior linebacker Shane Cockerille (Gilman) sacked Fyfe for a 9-yard loss and cornerback JC Jackson blocked a 32-yard field-goal attempt. Maryland then had its one offensive highlight of the first half.
It came on fourth-and-3 from the Maryland 34. Lining up to punt, 28-year-old Australian freshman Wade Lees, who kicks with his left foot, shot-putted a right-handed pass to senior running back Kenneth Goins Jr. for five yards. The momentum of the play didn't last.
Four plays later, Lees punted for real.
As poorly as Maryland looked on defense in the first quarter and early in the second quarter, the Terps played a little better until the very end of the second quarter. Taking the ball at their own 22 with 6:13 left in the first half, the Cornhuskers drove 78 yards in 16 plays to score with 17 seconds left on a 4-yard pass from Fyfe to senior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp.
Maryland certainly contribute to Nebraska's cause, twice committing pass interference penalties in the end zone in a span of three plays at the end of the drive. The first half ended with Bortenschlager being sacked for a six-yard loss. It marked the first time this season that the Cornhuskers had shut out the opposition in the first half.
It also meant that the Terps had been outscored a combined 101-3 in the first half of the past three games _ perhaps the most daunting stretch in program history.
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