CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.— Maryland right tackle Pete DeSouza had a message for his teammates after a motor-scooter crash left him hospitalized with multiple leg fractures.
"The first thing he said was, 'Sorry,'" said offensive coordinator James Franklin, who visited the player late Thursday night. "He felt like he was letting the guys down."
"And then he said, 'Go get the win,' Our guys responded to it very well," Franklin said.
DeSouza's crash occurred on campus Thursday night. The other vehicle's driver was cited for refusing to yield right of way.
Maryland provided further detail Saturday, saying the redshirt freshman suffered fractured tibia and fibula in both legs, and was in intensive care. He is out for the season but it expected to make a full recovery, the school said.
O'Brien keeps it simple
Maryland and Boston College both start first-year quarterbacks, and both teams' coaches have tried — with varying degrees of success — to keep the pressure off the young players by not relying on the pass.
Maryland coaches said they wanted to avoid situations like last week when redshirt freshman Danny O'Brien had career highs in attempts (45) and completions (24) against Clemson but threw three interceptions. Maryland was forced to all but abandon the run when the Terps fell behind.
Against Boston College, O'Brien completed 27 of 40 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. While O'Brien threw quite a bit, most of his passes were of the short variety.
O'Brien's touchdown passes went for 2, 9 and 6 yards.
Franklin said the young quarterback was "doing a good job of taking what the defense gives. What we did a good job of is not turning the ball over."
True freshman Chase Rettig made his third career start for Boston College following losses to Notre Dame (31-13) and Florida State (24-19).
Rettig frequently handed off Saturday to Atlantic Coast Conference rushing leader Montel Harris (27 carries for 116 yards). Rettig entered the game having completed only 41.2 percent of his passes.
Against the Terps, Retigg was 18 for 33 for 189 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions.
"I thought he did some nice things but once again we left some plays out there," said Boston College coach Frank Spaziani.
Scott fills in for Smith
Maryland experimented with different players Saturday filling in for Torrey Smith as the deep returner on kickoffs. Smith has a sore ankle.
Smith did return two kickoffs for 38 yards. Running back Da'Rel Scott, who returned kicks early in his career, was also placed on the return team.
Scott had one return for 25 yards.
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