Maryland regroups, blanks Wake Forest

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By Patrick Stevens

Marylands unpredictable football team seems to play its best in the most unlikely scenarios.

Ultimately, that doesnt make Saturdays 26-0 victory over No. 21 Wake Forest much of a surprise.

The Terrapins, two weeks removed from an ugly shutout loss at Virginia, shredded the Demon Deacons stout passing defense as they rolled to their fifth straight victory over a ranked team and climbed back into the ACC title chase.

Junior quarterback Chris Turner completed 28 of 41 for 321 yards and a touchdownand junior wideout Darrius Heyward-Bey caught a career-high 11 passes for 101 yards and a touchdown as Maryland (5-2, 2-1 ACC) upended Wake Forest (4-2, 2-1) for the first time in three tries.

While Marylands offense didnt entirely dominate --- DaRel Scott lost two fumbles in the first half, and the Terps had to settle for four Obi Egekeze field goals --- the Terps took full advantage of Wake Forests offensive shortcomings.

Demon Deacons quarterback Riley Skinner struggled at times, and a steady dose of dropped passes didnt help him any. But the biggest problem early for Wake was the struggles of kicker Shane Popham.

Forced to play in place of the injured Sam Swank (quadriceps strain), Popham missed two early field goals to deny Wake a payoff in its first few possessions.

The Terps made no such mistakes. Maryland scored on its opening possession, culminating the nine-play drive with Scotts 9-yard scoring toss to Heyward-Bey.

It was only the beginning of the involvement for Heyward-Bey, who was held without a catch in his previous two games. The elusive receiver was targeted only 30 times in the Terps first six games, and it was clear Maryland was not exploiting his speed nearly enough.

The Terps responded by feeding him a steady diet of passes, throwing to him 17 times. Heyward-Bey became the first Maryland player with 10 receptions in a game since Geroy Simon had 16 against Florida State in 1995.

It didnt translate into many more touchdowns, even as Maryland inched closer and closer to the end zone throughout the game. However, the Terps steadily grew their lead, and Egekezes strong day increased his consecutive field goals made streak to nine.

Maryland scored in the fourth quarter when Turner connected with Danny Oquendo on a 50-yard strike.

The performance was right in line for what the Bizarro Terps are accustomed to. They followed a sorry loss at Middle Tennessee with a dominant three quarters against California a week later. After stunning Clemson on the road, Maryland responded with a listless 31-0 loss at Virginia.

The Terps had two weeks to ponder that defeat, with many of them escaping College Park for a few days to get away from football. Clearly, they came back refreshed, though its tough to draw too many conclusions from a single game.

But on this one afternoon, Maryland still dealt Wake Forest its first shutout since the Demon Deacons 1998 season opener.