One of the decisions that surprisingly (well, to me, anyway) generated some scrutiny during Maryland’s 21-16 loss to Georgia Tech was coach Randy Edsall‘s call to go for it in fourth-and-goal at the 8 and the Terrapins trailing 21-3 late in the third quarter.
Quarterback C.J. Brown‘s throw was dropped by wideout Ronnie Tyler. Maryland later scored twice to get closer, which made the third quarter call a little more significant.
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Well, maybe. Edsall’s explanation of the call makes sense for anyone who watched the first three quarters of the game.
“I just felt we needed a touchdown at that point,” Edsall said. “I wasn’t sure how much we would get back down there. I just felt the best thing to do was go for a touchdown.”
Three things should be noted here.
* One, Maryland had 51 yards passing to that point —- and 34 of those yards were accounted for on a receiver-to-receiver pass. The Terps were entirely one-dimensional to that point.
* Two, the Terps had made it into Georgia Tech territory on only three of its nine possessions (eight if an end-of-half kneeldown is excluded). Either way, Maryland’s 176 total yards to that point was an ominous number going forward.
* Three, Georgia Tech’s penchant for long possessions created doubt whether Maryland would get two serious chances to score again.
As it turned out, Brown’s 77-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was a needed quick strike, and Georgia Tech punted on two of its next three possessions. But at the time, the choice to go for it made sense given the Terps’ predicament.
—- Patrick Stevens
