Minnesota 31, Maryland 10 October 15, 2016 - Maryland Stadium - College Park, MD

NCAAF   FINAL               1ST  2ND  3RD  4TH     TOTAL
                            ---  ---  ---  ---     -----
        MINNESOTA             0   14    3   14      31
        MARYLAND              0    0    0   10      10   FINAL

        SCORING SUMMARY
     
        2ND QTR: MINN - TD, RODNEY SMITH 8 YD RUN (EMMIT CARPENTER KICK),
                            13:27
                 MINN - TD, SHANNON BROOKS 17 YD PASS FROM CONOR RHODA
                            (EMMIT CARPENTER KICK), :14
        3RD QTR: MINN - FG, EMMIT CARPENTER 37 YD, 8:21
        4TH QTR: MARY - FG, ADAM GREENE 32 YD, 11:15
                 MINN - TD, RODNEY SMITH 70 YD RUN (EMMIT CARPENTER KICK),
                            9:30
                 MARY - TD, D.J. MOORE 11 YD PASS FROM TYRELL PIGROME (ADAM
                            GREENE KICK), 5:42
                 MINN - TD, ANTOINE WINFIELD 82 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN
                            (EMMIT CARPENTER KICK), 1:08
                                                                                

Extended Box

NCAAF                 1  2  3  4   F 
                      -  -  -  -  -- 
Minnesota             0 14  3 14  31 
Maryland              0  0  0 10  10  FINAL 

 Minnesota-R Smith 8 run (Carpenter kick)
 Minnesota-Brooks 17 pass from Rhoda (Carpenter kick)
 Minnesota-FG Carpenter 37
 Maryland-FG Greene 32
 Minnesota-R Smith 70 run (Carpenter kick)
 Maryland-Moore 11 pass from Pigrome (Greene kick)
 Minnesota-Winfield 82 interception return (Carpenter kick)

                      Minnesota    Maryland 
First downs                  16          16 
Rushed-yards             48-229      36-130 
Passing yards                82         161
Sacked-yards lost           0-0        3-18 
Return yards                 30          13 
Passes                   7-15-0     18-37-2 
Punts                    7-41.4      7-45.3
Fumbles-lost                1-0         2-2
Penalties-yards            7-50        9-75 
Time of possession        34:12       25:48 

Individual Statistics 
RUSHING: Minnesota-R Smith 18-144, Brooks 22-86, McCrary 2-7, Rhoda 5-(-8).
Maryland-Pigrome 25-71, Harrison 4-35, T Johnson 5-23, Goins 1-2.

PASSING: Minnesota-Rhoda 7-15-0-82. Maryland-Pigrome 18-37-2-161.

RECEIVING: Minnesota-Still 1-26, Wolitarsky 3-21, Brooks 1-17, R Smith 1-10,
Lingen 1-8. Maryland-Jacobs 10-82, Morgan 4-51, Moore 2-19, Culmer 1-8,
Harrison 1-1. 

Att: 41,465
                                                                        

Game Story

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP)—-The way Minnesota ran the ball and performed defensively
against Maryland, it really didn’t matter who played quarterback.

That’s not taking anything away from Conor Rhoda, who did everything asked of him
in his first college start.

Rodney Smith ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns, Rhoda threw for a score and
the Golden Gophers cruised past error-prone Maryland 31-10 Saturday.

Starting for senior Mitch Leidner, who was out with a concussion, Rhoda went
7-for-15 for 82 yards without an interception. The former walk-on had previously
thrown only two passes in a mop-up role.

“He managed the game well,” Minnesota head coach Tracy Claeys said. “Our kids
believed in him. He did the things he needed to do.”

Rhoda spent most of the afternoon handing off the football to Smith and Shannon
Brooks, who ran for 86 yards on 22 carries.

“I felt good once I got out there and took a couple hits,” Rhoda said. “Everything
settled in from there and we got things cooking on offense.”

Minnesota (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) limited Maryland to 100 yards and four first downs
through three quarters in building a 17-0 lead.

Smith’s 70-yard touchdown run with 9:30 left made it 24-3, and Antoine Winfield Jr.
sealed the victory late in the game with an 82-yard interception return.

Maryland (4-2, 1-2) also started its second-string quarterback, using true freshman
Tyrrell Pigrome for injured Perry Hills (shoulder). The Terrapins did all their
scoring in the fourth quarter and made way too many mistakes in their second
straight lopsided loss.

“Obviously, a very sloppy performance,” first-year coach DJ Durkin said. “We killed
ourselves with penalties and turnovers, especially early in the game. Playing from
behind is a hard thing to do with a freshman quarterback.”

Dukin said Hills was not healthy enough to play.

“I don’t feel it was in his best interest or our team to put him out there today,”
Durkin said. “I think it’s one of those things where it’s a ticking time bomb, where
it’s going to get hit again.”

Pigrome threw for 161 yards and ran for 70. But Maryland could muster only 100
yards in offense through three quarters, finished with three turnovers and was
penalized nine times for 75 yards. 

“I know the story will all be about our freshman quarterback, but the guys around
him need to play better, too,” Durkin said.

The Terrapins didn't score in the second half last week in a 38-14 defeat at Penn
State and had gone five quarters without a TD before Pigrome threw an 11-yard
pass to D.J. Moore with 5:42 remaining.

Maryland entered the game with only four turnovers, fewest in the Big Ten. But
the Terrapins gave the ball away twice in the opening 16 minutes, and the second
turnover proved costly.

After Pigrome threw an interception, Minnesota missed a 36-yard field goal. In the
second quarter, however, William Likely muffed a punt on his own 15 to set up an
8-yard run by Smith for a 7-0 lead.

The Golden Gophers made it 14-0 just before halftime with a well-timed screen pass
from Rhoda to Brooks, who caught the ball over the middle and sprinted in for a
17-yard score.