Top play: The Spartans didn’t complete many passes, but Cook and Kings connected on one worthy of the highlight reel.
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Maryland responded, holding Cook to 6-for-14 and 77 passing yards and O’Connor to 6-for-11 and 44 yards. Then everything started to fall apart.
To emphasize that point, Dantonio didn’t have to go back too far to point to how a team can bounce back from a devastating loss.
Maryland’s pass rush vs. MI State QB Connor Cook. Heck, he has thrown an astounding 11 interceptions this season. Such was the Terps longest drive of the year.
It looks like it’s going to take a while for the quarterback situation to sort itself out. Maryland has only one victory over an FBS team this season.
“Coming from the game not having sacks to this game … it was real important to come back out here”, McDowell said after the game. Before the break, he suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder. The defense got on track, but it was against a rather inept offense.
Maryland used two punters – Lee Shrader and Nicolas Pritchard – but neither fared well.
How many other programs play remaining games against a line of quality competition that includes the likes of the No. 2 Buckeyes, Penn State (7-3) and No. 5-ranked Iowa (10-0)? Hendy. The Spartans opted to go for a fake field goal run with their kicker that was blown up for a huge loss by defensive lineman Ty Tucker. The redshirt junior totaled 39 rushing yards – 32 of which came on one carry – while connecting on 14-of-30 passes for 140 yards. Special teams usually provides a spark for Maryland. Many considered Cook the No. 1 quarterback prospect among the four projected into the first round. The Terps were up to their same old tricks on November 14, playing maximum-effort football in East Lansing, MI but handing the game to the Spartans with a series of unforced errors.
Maryland turned the ball over on five different occasions, including quarterbacks Caleb Rowe and Perry Hills both tossing interceptions.
Gerald Holmes scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter for MI State. At the end of the day, how do you know? After the Terps went three-and-out on the opening drive of the second half, MI State executed a methodical, 11-play touchdown drive that put the game out of reach at 24-7.
The senior signal-caller for the Spartans is the flawless player for head coach Mark Dantonio.
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The usual NCAA Tournament teams will be expected to perform at a high level, like Ohio State, MI State and Wisconsin are all used to. While that may not have been a reason for their performance throughout the entire contest (Cook’s injury), they appeared to be ready to play on defense. Hills would later convert on a fourth down by escaping pressure from two Spartans and turning up field. Watch MI State vs Maryland online free live streaming football today. That said, Likely still provides the team with an explosive element on offense they can’t get from anyone else, and he’s still very effective as a decoy because defenses have to pay so much attention to him. Despite seven punts by Jake Hartbarger, he only had one return for seven yards.
