For college football fans caught up in the top games across the country, you may have forgotten about the budding rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins and Penn State Nittany Lions. The boarder state rivals have engaged in several off the field arguments leading up to this past Saturday’s contest and saw the feud trickle onto the field. It all began with a series of shoving wars during pre- game warm ups- allegedly started by the Terrapins- before a decision to not shake hands by the Maryland coaching staff stole the headlines.
Captains Stefon Diggs, tight end P.J. Gallo, and safety Sean Davis elected to not shake the hands of their opposition, fueling the fire for the Nittany Lions. This decision initially earned a 15-yard penalty, but later sparked controversy all over the Big Ten. According to conference, the act was a clear violation of the conference’s sportsmanship policy and the blow back on the Maryland program was drastic. Maryland was fined $10,000 and head coach Randy Edsall was forced to offer an apology to both Penn State as well as the conference.
“I accept the penalties handed down by the Big Ten Conference and take full responsibility of our actions this past Saturday at Penn State,” Edsall said in a statement. “Our football program did not live up to the standards that we set for ourselves. Moving forward, we will use better judgment and remain composed so that we better represent the University of Maryland. We have learned from this experience and will take the necessary steps to make sure this does not happen again.”
Still, it gets worse for Terrapins fans as their leading receiver and do-it-all wide out Stefon Diggs will miss the team’s November 15 matchup with highly ranked Michigan State. The Terrapins escaped Happy Valley with an exciting 20-19 victory and have momentum leading up to their game against the Spartans. Without their best player, however, it may be difficult for them to pull off the upset.
*Section Photo credit to Geoff Burke, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to USA Today Sports
