45 year Terp fan here. So yeah, we all were stunned to win that game yesterday. Stunned. Here's my take. First, you guys will roll us next fall at FedEx Field (where the Redskins play).
Yesterday, your team was playing its first game under a new coach, new system, against a 21 point dog team picked to finish 5th in the B1G East. They were not as fired up as they should have been. Your guys aren't senior-heavy, starting one senior on offense, two on defense, with no upperclassmen starting at offense skill positions. Your QB is a terrific pocket passer, but not a huge running threat, and when a D needn't account for a QB who can take it to the house, it lets the D take more chances.
Herman will be recruiting you top shelf 5 star dual threat QBs every year, since the read option rules college football offenses -- not pocket passing. Our coach, DJ Durkin, coached under Meyer just like Herman did, and Durkin was probably familiar with some of Herman's tendencies. Durkin also is a recruiting star, winning the nation's top recruiter award not long ago. And some of our guys yesterday -- including our backup QB -- were 4 and 5 star recruits. Our recruiting backyard, the DMV, puts out some pretty good talent, albeit not Florida or Texas level. Still, Saban, Meyer and Harbaugh are here every year recruiting our HS kids. Our backup QB Hill was a Rivals 4 star with 15 offers from Power 5 schools.
I think we got some breaks and some luck to go our way yesterday, and next fall, I'd expect Herman will run at us with more read option and left/right running plays, rotating in more players, to wear us down with our lack of high quality depth -- the same tactic Meyer uses against us. I think both your line coaches need to light a fire on your guys in the trenches, since we had way too much success in the trenches yesterday than I expected. Your special teams coach needs to light a fire with those players as well, since we had more success on special teams yesterday against a P5 school than I can ever remember in the past 10 years.
Lastly, many of my friends went to Austin and utterly loved the atmosphere and outstanding people there. I am still bummed I couldn't make the trip. See you guys next fall up here in the D.C. area, and best of luck on the rest of your season.