For 30 minutes, Maryland's defence provided hope that the Terrapins could pull off an upset against No. 22 Michigan.
The unit ultimately wilted under the weight of trying to carry the team's lacklustreoffence.
Caleb Rowe threw three interceptions before being pulled, and the Terrapins opened their Big Ten schedule Saturday with a 28-0 loss.
Maryland (2-3, 0-1) held Michigan (4-1, 1-0) to 41 yards in the first quarter and trailed only 6-0 at halftime. But it all came apart in the third quarter.
After Jake Rudock connected with Drake Johnson for a 31-yard score, wide receiver Jehu Chesson took an inside handoff and sprinted down the left sideline for a 66-yard TD.
That made it 21-0, a deficit way too formidable for Maryland to overcome.
"Our defence gave us a lot of opportunities to do more than we did," Rowe said. "Hats off to them."
Rowe went 8 of 27 for 47 yards and before being replaced by Oklahoma State transfer Daxx Garman, who also struggled. Since taking over for Perry Hills late in the Terrapins' second game of the season, Rowe has thrown 12 interceptions.
"We just can't turn the ball over the way we did," coach Randy Edsall lamented.
Rowe insisted that the opposition had a lot to do with it.
"First off, Michigan is a very good football team and they have a great defence," the junior quarterback said. "They really didn't do anything we didn't practice. It's just a matter of execution."
Entering in relief of Rowe for the second straight week, Darman completed two of nine passes for 29 yards — including 22 on his first pass of the day.
Edsall didn't formally hand the job to Darman, but said, "We'll be making a change. What direction we go in, we'll wait to see what happens there."
After losing 45-6 to West Virginia last week and coming up empty against Michigan, the Terrapins travel to No. 1 Ohio State next weekend.
"I think it's a tremendous opportunity for us," Edsall said. "They why you come here. You look forward to that challenge."
Desmond Morgan had nine tackles and an interception, part of a dominating defensive performance that enabled the Wolverines to avenge last year's 23-16 loss to Maryland.
In winning its first Big Ten opener under Jim Harbaugh, Michigan limited Maryland to 105 yards. It was the second straight shutout for the Wolverines, who have allowed a total of 14 points in their last four games.
"There's definitely an attitude," said Morgan, a senior inside linebacker. "There's a D that we want to be, and that D is kind of nasty and mean and known for stopping the run and making big plays."
The Wolverines checked all the boxes on that list in notching a second consecutive shutout for the first time since 2000.
Morgan intercepted a pass in the first quarter and was a major reason why the Terrapins finished with 29 yards rushing after averaging 196 over their first four games.
"Des Morgan, every time you looked up he was flying around, playing physical," Harbaugh said.
Maryland's defence was never as good — at least for a half.
"They flew around on that side of the ball and really did a good job," Edsall said. "Now we've got to build on that and keep getting better."
A 1-yard run by Johnson with 6:53 left capped a 24-yard scoring drive consisting of four straight carries.
Johnson finished with 72 yards on 14 attempts. Rudock went 16 for 32 for 180 yards before taking a seat.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at 8 p.m. but was moved up to noon for fear of bad weather created by Hurricane Joaquin. Although a stiff wind and an intermittent drizzle made it uncomfortable for the fans, it did not appear to affect the play on the field.
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AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org
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