Gophers win 31-10 at Maryland for first Big Ten victory

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Conor Rhoda had barely taken a hit in four years.

The Gophers, like most teams, keep quarterbacks strictly off-limits in practice. Everyone else knows the guys in the gold jerseys aren't to touch.

So the shots Rhoda took Saturday, filling in for injured starter Mitch Leidner against Maryland, were the first ones he'd taken since his senior season at Cretin-Derham Hall.

Did he have nerves?

"Oh yeah, but good nerves," Rhoda said. "Once I got out there and took a couple hits, it all settled in."

Rhoda withstood the heat, keeping the Gophers turnover-free, Rodney Smith had two dazzling touchdown runs, and the defense delivered a gem in a 31-10 victory over the Terps at Maryland Stadium.

Coach Tracy Claeys said Leidner stayed back home to rest from his concussion. With no timetable for the senior's return, the Gophers (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) still managed to end their two-game losing streak, heading into next week's homecoming game against Rutgers.

"It's tough to win on the road, especially when you go with the backup quarterback," Claeys said. "And the best thing is our kids believed in [Rhoda], and he did the things he needed to do on offense for us to win."

Maryland, also 4-2 and 1-2, entered as a 6½-point favorite, largely because Leidner was out.

Rhoda, a former walk-on who'd only thrown two career passes before this game, gave the Gophers exactly what they needed. The junior wasn't mistake-free, but he didn't do anything to derail them, either.

Rhoda showed off a strong arm, completing seven of 15 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown. He fumbled a handoff in the first half but recovered the ball himself. He was also nearly intercepted twice in the third quarter.

But Rhoda showed poise, too. His touchdown pass came on a 17-yard screen pass to Shannon Brooks with 14 seconds remaining in the first half. Maryland blitzed, but Rhoda got rid of the ball, just before getting leveled by two Terrapins defenders.

Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson "dialed up a great call, and they brought it on that play," Rhoda said. "I just had to hold on to it for a half-second there."

As Brooks celebrated in the end zone, Rhoda got up and pumped his fist, as the Gophers had a 14-0 lead heading to the locker room.

Maryland was without its starting quarterback, too. Senior Perry Hills was out with a shoulder injury, and the Gophers made things miserable for his backup, true freshman Tyrrell Pigrome. The former Alabama Gatorade High School Player of the Year completed 18 of 37 passes for 161 yards, with two interceptions and a fumble.

Maryland came in ranked third in the Big Ten in scoring offense (37.4 points per game). But the Gophers held the Terps scoreless for the game's first 48 minutes.

"Obviously, a very sloppy performance," Maryland coach D.J. Durkin said. "I think we killed ourselves with penalties and turnovers, especially early in the game, and we got behind. It was not our game plan, and it's a hard thing to do with a freshman quarterback."

Both teams hoped to establish their running game to take pressure off the quarterbacks. Only the Gophers succeeded.

Brooks finished with 22 carries for 86 yards. His counterpart, Smith, had 18 carries for a career-high 144 yards.

On Smith's first touchdown, he made a spin move to evade a would-be tackler near the line of scrimmage and looped 8 yards to the end zone. It was 17-3 when Smith broke free with another third-down TD run, this one for a career-long 70 yards.

Claeys said Rhoda "managed the game well and played well enough and gave us an opportunity to win."

Rhoda, who got a pep talk from Leidner before the team left Minnesota on Friday, doesn't mind the "game manager" role.

"Not at all," he said. "That was kind of our game plan, and I was comfortable with it. I expected it a little bit, with it being my first start and just having that experience.

"And I'm sure depending on Mitch's situation, if I'm back out there next week it will open up a little bit more."

Rhoda roomed with Leidner on the team's last road trip to Penn State.

"It's good to get this one for him," Rhoda said. "Because I know how much it means to him to get this thing back on track and going the right way."