Maryland (2-10, 1-7 ACC) finished the season by losing seven straight games by double digits for the first time in school history. Coach Randy Edsall led Maryland to seven fewer victories than the Terrapins had in 2010. That matches the second-largest decline by a first-year coach of a major-conference program in the past half-century.
“It’s a disappointing loss,” Edsall said. “I thought our young men played hard until the very end, and we just were not able to duplicate what we did in the first half in the second half. . . . After the first series of the second half, we just could not make anything happen on either side of the ball.”
After the Wolfpack (7-5, 4-4) committed four first-half turnovers — including three fumbles in their first 11 plays — many fans booed the team off the field at halftime while scores of others headed for the exits. By game’s end, many of the departed appeared to be back in their seats to cheer the Wolfpack, who became the fourth team this season to become bowl-eligible against the Terrapins.
A matchup between the ACC’s most erratic team and the league’s weakest team could have produced a game that was neither aesthetically pleasing nor well played. The game, which produced 97 points, nine turnovers and three defensive touchdowns, instead was entertaining and dizzying.
As Maryland built a three-touchdown first-half lead, one bowl game official in the press box shook his head and said, “Can you believe this?” As N.C. State responded with 35 points in the fourth quarter, the same official shook his head and said, “Can you believe this?”
After the most crushing defeat in a season filled with them, the few Maryland players that were made available to reporters afterward appeared devastated.
When asked if he had ever experienced such a swing in such a short amount of time, Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown offered a wry smile and said: “No, I have not. You see them on TV, but, you know, this one hurts. This one hurts big time.”
Linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield said: “Definitely probably one of the worst feelings I have ever had as an athlete. Definitely one of the worst.”
And defensive lineman Joe Vellano waited for reporters as he held and studied the statistical box score for several minutes, as if trying to make sense of all 96 offensive plays by the Wolfpack.
“Craziness, really,” he said of the game.
Vellano allowed himself to look at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Maryland went from routing the Wolfpack to getting routed.
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