COLLEGE PARK -- Jermaine Lewis finally busted loose, but a solid special teams hit knocked him out of the game and out of commission for at least one game.
Lewis, a junior wide receiver for Maryland, caught two touchdown passes in the first quarter of yesterday's 31-7 victory over Wake Forest, then suffered a dislocated left shoulder on a hard, clean hit by Tucker Grace on a kickoff return in the second quarter.
Lewis won't play at Clemson on Saturday. The Terps are idle the week after that, and Lewis could return when Maryland travels to meet North Carolina on Oct. 15.
Lewis was the top deep threat in the Atlantic Coast Conference last year before a shoulder separation forced him out of Maryland's last three games. He started this season struggling, with 10 catches for 89 yards and no touchdowns in the first three games.
But Lewis was his flashy old self yesterday before the injury.
He caught a 20-yard pass and an 18-yarder for a touchdown on the game's opening possession. The Demon Deacons punted four plays later and Lewis weaved his way for an 80-yard touchdown return, but it was taken away by an illegal block.
Eight minutes later, he left behind Wake Forest safety Terrence Suber (City) with a fake at the 15 and was wide open for a 38-yard touchdown pass.
With Lewis out, quarterbacks Kevin Foley and Scott Milanovich sought out Geroy Simon and Mancel Johnson. Both had seven receptions, and while that barely raised Simon's ACC-leading catch-per-game ratio, it was a career high for Johnson, who played with Lewis at Eleanor Roosevelt High in Greenbelt.
L Simon gained 7 yards on a reverse on the game's second play.
Strength in numbers
The Maryland defense continued its pattern of using as many players as possible. The Terps rotated fresh players into the game, used as many as six defensive backs and got some rookies their first college action.
The result was the fewest points by a Maryland opponent in 36 games, since it beat Virginia, 17-6, in the 1991 opener. Wake Forest gained 22 yards in the first quarter and didn't get inside the Terps' 37-yard line in the last 28 minutes.
Converted lineman Jamie Bragg set the big-play tone on the Demon Deacons' second possession when he forced a fumble on third down that Wake recovered. The Terps ended up with one interception and three fumble recoveries.
Defensive end Al Wallace ended the first half with a sack. Cornelius White stopped Rusty LaRue on fourth-and-inches in the third quarter. End Eric Hicks, a true freshman playing for the first time, knocked the ball away from a scrambling LaRue in the third quarter, and Lamont Gore recovered.
With Erick Wood still not 100 percent, Tim Brown and redshirt freshman Brett White got most of the time at middle linebacker.
Miscellaneous
Sophomore Joe O'Donnell remains perfect on field-goal attempts; he made his fifth of the season, a 24-yarder, in the second quarter. O'Donnell struggled with his kickoffs -- two went out of bounds, giving Wake Forest possession at its 35. . . . Milanovich and cover man Walt Williams again excelled on the punting unit. Only one of Milanovich's six punts was returned, that for 4 yards, and Williams batted one back into the field of play from the 1-yard line. . . . Suber, who started at rover, had seven tackles.