TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Even after the Terrapin football team did all it could to put itself in a seemingly infallible position to win a game, the Terps still lost.
Leading Florida State by four with 2:57 left in the game, and with a fresh set of downs at their own 49-yard line, just one of the Terps' three units needed to step up and make a play to ice the game.
But the offense couldn't get a first down, the special teams unit couldn't punt the ball out of bounds or prevent a long return, and the defense couldn't stop the Seminoles from scoring the go-ahead touchdown.
Seminole running back Lonnie Pryor's three-yard touchdown run with 32 seconds left gave the Seminoles the 29-26 win, leaving the Terps stunned and sending them on their flight home with a 2-9 record.
Terp running back Da'Rel Scott played for the first time since he broke his wrist against Clemson on Oct. 3, and the junior finished with 83 yards on 19 carries.
The Terps rushed for a season-high 196 yards as a team and controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes.
Sophomore quarterback Jamarr Robinson finished 20-for-27 passing for 214 yards and no interceptions, and he threw his first career touchdown pass to Adrian Cannon early in the fourth quarter.
The Seminoles scored first on a three-yard touchdown run by running back Jermaine Thomas in the first quarter, and they led 14-3 before the Terps scored 16 unanswered points over the span of three quarters to take a 19-14 lead on Cannon's touchdown with 12:40 left in the game.
With the Terps trailing 14-6 late in the second quarter, linebacker Alex Wujciak intercepted an E.J. Manuel pass and returned it 82 yards to the Seminoles' 7-yard line.
Terp running back Davin Meggett scored four plays later on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line to cut the Seminoles' lead to 14-13 with six seconds left in the half.
An interception by Terrell Skinner gave the Terps the ball for the drive that led to the Cannon touchdown, but the Terps didn't convert the two-point conversion attempt and led by five.
It was the Terps' first fourth-quarter lead since the Clemson game on Oct. 3, the Terps' last win.
The Seminoles needed just four plays to take back the lead when wide receiver Bert Reed scored on a 42-yard end around, and Manuel found wide receiver Taiwan Easterling for the two-point conversion to make it 22-19 with 10:30 left.
Robinson then led a long drive the other way, which culminated in a nine-yard touchdown run by Meggett to put the Terps up 26-22 with 5:56 left.
On the ensuing Florida State drive, cornerback Cameron Chism picked off Manuel and returned it to the Terps' 49-yard line. It seemed to be Seminoles' final chance.
But the Florida State had all three of their timeouts and 2:57 remained on the clock.
The Terps went three and out and had to punt. Coach Ralph Friedgen said he wanted punter Nick Ferrara to kick the ball out of bounds, but the freshman left the ball in the field of play for dangerous Seminole returner Greg Reid, who returned it 48 yards to the Terps' 44-yard line.
Manuel scrambled for 15 yards and then for 20 yards to give the Seminoles a first-and-goal at the Terp 9-yard line, and Pryor ran over right tackle two plays later from the 3-yard line to give the Seminoles the game winner.
The Terps play their last game of the season next Saturday against Boston College, hoping to avoid the first double-digit loss season in program history.
Check back Monday for more coverage.
schimmel@umdbk.com
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