College Park—

For the second straight season, the Maryland Terps just could not find the right combination to defeat Middle Tennessee State and it was one field goal in the final seconds of the game today that sealed the fate in a 32-31 victory for the Blue Raiders.

On the offensive, the Terps did what they needed to keep this game in control, but the turnovers certainly tell a different story and definitely made the difference in the final outcome.

Da'Rel Scott rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown for the Terps, but fumbled twice. Maryland quarterback Chris Turner was 19 for 30 for 288 yards, threw two touchdowns and an interception.

After the half it looked like the Terps had a bit more life in their offense, when Turner took the first drive of the second half down the field five-plays for 74-yards drive that was capped by a 37-yard pass to an open Torrey Smith down the left sideline for Maryland.  Middle Tennessee again would not go away and cut the lead to 21-10 with 6:25 left in the quarter on a 4-yard TD run by Desmond Gee.

The Terps looked as they had the edge going into late in the fourth quarter when freshman Nick Ferrara kicked a 42-yard field goal with 6:14 left to put Maryland up 31-29. Well that is at least what fans thought.

Middle Tennessee put together another strong drive after Ferrara missed his second kick of the day and it looked as if they were going to score as they drove the ball down to the 2-yard line setting up the final play of the game where Alan Gendreau made a 19-yard field goal as time expired off the clock.

After the game, Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen commented on what he thought was a tough fought game, but not what he wanted to see out of his team.

"We made so many mistakes. I thought our defense played well but we gave up too many big plays, and that's what we have to stop doing. I give them credit because they executed when they had to and they beat us,” said Friedgen.

Middle Tennessee had the Terps in some numbers on the stats sheet, but according to Blue Raiders Head Coach Rick Stockstill it was the turnover battle that was the difference.

"We always talk about the recipe for winning, which is protect the football and win the turnover battle. You have to play smart. Don't have a lot of penalties. Play the kicking game. Play with great effort and passion. We got three turnovers in the first half, and converted two of those into points. Usually you look at the box score and whatever team protects the football wins. Our defense did a great job and our offense did a great job capitalizing on turnovers,” said Stockstill.