Terps Touch Up Texas in the Catharsis Bowl

Putting it mildly, things kinda went off the rails for Maryland football this summer.

Whether or not any particular coach wants to believe climate change is real, he can sure as hell read a thermometer.

Data on heat and sports has been around since at least 2012, so there's absolutely no excuse for the death of 19-year-old Jordan McNair as part of a medieval conditoning regimen masquerating as macho.

 

The Maryland Terrapins clearly had more on their minds as they observed the Prime Directive of sports by holding the schedule as holy.

So, since they had to be there for the home opener against Texas, they decided to make the most of it.

On all fronts:

 

It woulda been hard to imagine more difficult circumstances for Matt Canada after his disastrous year at LSU, but that was before McNair's death and all that surrounded it.

One year older and clearly that much wiser, dude assembled a game plan for the talented-but-inconsistent Longhorns, and damned if it didn't work to the tune of a 34-29 surprise:

 

A true triple threat -- running, throwing, and catching -- is rare enough these days, and accounting for touches in all three categories is nothing short of spectacular.

And Jeshaun Jones is only a freshman. How's he gonna top that performance?

 

Just as impressive was the fact that the Terps had to do some last-minute shuffling on their o-line, starting two redshirt freshman. One was a last-minute replacement for redshirt senior LT Derwin Gray, who didn't feel right in pre-game.

Fortunately, Canada had a clue about player health. What's more, replacement Marcus Minor held his own out there.

 

Yes.

Yes it is.