For Terps, good enough

Saturday's game against Towson was supposed to offer the Terrapins football team a final, painless opportunity to work out the kinks in its game before entering the meat of its schedule.

But with another lackluster performance, this time against an FCS opponent, the Terps' flaws only became all the more obvious — and worrying.

Though the Terps walked off Byrd Stadium smiling after a 28-3 victory, the Tigers did much more to lose Saturday's game than their hosts did to win it. With four second-half turnovers, a slew of penalties and an inability to capitalize on the Terps' sloppy first half, Towson largely spoiled its chance at what could have been a landmark victory.

"I think the biggest thing is that we got a win," coach Randy Edsall said. "I thought that we showed resiliency, I thought we battled and I thought that they played the game for 60 minutes today.

"But, again, we just have to keep getting better."

Edsall explained afterward that Towson coach Rob Ambrose, who coached under Edsall at Connecticut, threw some wrinkles into his game plan that caught his team by surprise in the first half.

After the Terps (2-2) jumped out to an early seven-point lead in front of a home crowd of 35,573, the Tigers dominated the rest of the first half. The Terps gained just 56 first-half yards after their first possession, and their defense simply couldn't get off the field. Towson had the ball for 21:30 in the first half alone.

If not for a Terps goal-line stand to force a field goal and poor clock management that led to a fruitless red-zone trip to end the half, the Tigers could have easily gone into halftime with a cushion over the Terps.

The Terps held on, though, and after tweaking their game plan at halftime, scored 21 unanswered points in the second half for the win.

"We just had to make some adjustments," said wide receiver Kevin Dorsey, who finished with 44 receiving yards and a touchdown. "There was no concern. Halftime is there for a reason: It's to make those adjustments."

Still, the win didn't come in the dominant fashion the Terps expected. Coming off an embarrassing 38-7 drubbing by Temple last weekend, the Terps had hoped for a more resounding result Saturday.

But in getting back into the win column, their effort did little to erase the memory of their struggles to start the season.

The Terps' offensive attack still lacked the potency it had in a season-opening win over Miami. Running backs Davin Meggett and Justus Pickett did combine for 184 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but the team's passing attack was tame.

Quarterback Danny O'Brien threw for just 123 yards and two touchdowns, despite the return of two of his favorite targets, wide receivers Quintin McCree and Ronnie Tyler, from suspension.

And while the Terps' defense did force turnovers on three consecutive possessions in the third quarter, it still surrendered 378 total yards and a 47 percent third-down conversion rate to an FCS opponent with its backup quarterback, Peter Athens, under center.

"I don't think we won the game by as much as we wanted to or the way we wanted to," guard Andrew Gonnella said. "A win, however you can get it, is the best thing."

With a date looming against one of the nation's most prolific running attacks in undefeated No. 13 Georgia Tech, though, the Terps know they're going to need a more complete effort than the one they put forth Saturday.

"We know what's ahead of us," O'Brien said. "We have a tough schedule and it will be a tough eight more weeks. … Right now we're focusing on Georgia Tech and Georgia Tech only. They're a great top-25 team and it's an ACC game.

"We'll have to execute at a high level to beat them."

cwalsh@umdbk.com