
Wake Forest Drops Season Finale To Maryland, 32-14
11/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland put on a terrific show for the Peach Bowl scouts.
Scott McBrien threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone, helping the 25th-ranked Terrapins take a 27-point lead and earn a Peach Bowl berth by beating Wake Forest 32-14 Saturday.
The victory gave Maryland a second straight 10-win season for the first time in school history and earned the Terrapins (10-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) a trip to Atlanta for the Dec. 31 postseason game.
Several Peach Bowl representatives attended the game, and they gathered at midfield after the final whistle to issue a formal invitation to the Terrapins.
Wake Forest (6-6, 3-5), which probably needed a victory to earn a bowl berth, instead suffered its fourth consecutive loss to the Terrapins.
Led by McBrien, Maryland amassed 383 yards in offense in going ahead 27-0 at halftime. The Demon Deacons got two touchdown runs from Tarence Williams during a rainy third quarter, but their woeful first half proved too much to overcome.
Wake Forest managed only eight first downs and 140 yards of offense before halftime, and James MacPherson and Cory Randolph both threw interceptions.
McBrien finished 17-for-28 for a career-high 275 yards and two TDs, and Nick Novak kicked three field goals to help the Terrapins gain their ninth win in 10 games.
Maryland's first possession ended with Chris Downs losing a fumble at the Wake Forest 27. It turned out to be the only time the Demon Deacons' defense stopped the Terrapins in the first half.
Then, after Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson intercepted MacPherson's pass and fumbled the ball away, the Terrapins moved 56 yards in a drive that ended with a 36-yard field goal.
Randolph entered on Wake's next series. The freshman took the Demon Deacons to the Maryland 25 before a deflected pass turned into an interception by Dennard Wilson.
McBrien then completed three passes for 53 yards and ran twice for 10 yards before James Lynch scored on a 1-yard run to make it 10-0.
The Terrapins made it 17-0 on their next possession. McBrien opened the drive with a 31-yard completion to Rich Parson, and two plays later Downs caught a screen pass and zig-zagged 38 yards for his 15th TD of the season.
Maryland went up 24-0 when McBrien capped an 80-yard march with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Parson, and Novak ended the Terrapins' sensational half with a 38-yard field goal.
Maryland's offense became conservative in the third-quarter rain, and Wake Forest scored twice to make things interesting. Williams' second 2-yard touchdown run followed a 78-yard pass from Randolph to Jax Landfried, the longest non-scoring play in school history.