By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
Kevin Dorsey stretched in front of and facing his teammates on a mid-November afternoon, just as the senior wide receiver and Maryland's captains did all season.
Maryland's season arrived at its appointed conclusion early Saturday evening.
Nestled in the second half of Saturday's blowout loss to Florida State was a lesson Maryland coach Randy Edsall could emphasize for some time to come.
They lined up less than a half-hour before kickoff, 17 veteran Maryland football players who would soon play their final game at Byrd Stadium.
Previewing Saturday's college football in the D.C. area.
Three early fumbles by Maryland quarterback Shawn Petty ended whatever long-shot opportunity of an upset the Terps possessed against No. 10 Clemson in a 45-10 loss on Saturday.
That Maryland left Saturday's 33-13 loss to Georgia Tech with uncertainty about its offense hardly is unexpected. Its unusually injury-ravaged quarterback corps offers an obvious explanation.
Shawn Petty, a scout team linebacker a fortnight ago, took the field Saturday as perhaps the most unexpected starting quarterback in Maryland football history. Petty's performance, while commendable, couldn't keep Maryland from avoiding a 33-13 loss to Georgia Tech at Byrd Stadium.
Shawn Petty, the latest in Maryland's unexpectedly long line of quarterbacks, is not overly emotional. He also wasn't expected to play quarterback again after being recruited as a linebacker out of Greenbelt's Eleanor Roosevelt High School.
Caleb Rowe's first start as Maryland's starting quarterback was mixed with both promise and frustration, though the freshman was insistent he was eager to learn and grow from the experience.
Caleb Rowe's first career start was alternately bumpy and slick, with one successful comeback and another rally cut short by an unwise decision.
C.J. Brown, Maryland's presumptive starting quarterback and one of its team captains, already had his chance to play in 2012 extinguished in the preseason.
Maryland is on to its third (and, arguably, fourth) quarterback since the start of preseason practice after Perry Hills' year-ending left knee injury.
