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Hollenbach earns MVP as Maryland dispatches Purdue

Dec 30, 2006 - 8:11 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- Sam Hollenbach proved Purdue was not the only team on the field with a good offense.

Hollenbach tossed two touchdown passes and led an offense that kept possession of the ball for nearly 40 minutes as Maryland posted a 24-7 victory over Purdue in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Hollenbach - who was named the game's Most Valuable Player - completed 15-of-24 passes for 223 yards and helped the Terrapins' offense, which was ranked 96th out of 119 Division I-A schools, gain 429 total yards.

Lance Ball rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries and Darrius Heward-Bey caught nine passes for 81 yards and a score for Maryland (9-4), which gave coach Ralph Friedgen his 50th career victory in winning its third straight bowl game.

"I thought we had an excellent game plan," Friedgen said. "We worked on it a lot against each other in practice."

Keon Lattimore gained 86 yards on 20 carries for the Terrapins, who ran the ball 50 times for 206 yards and kept possession for 39 minutes, 48 seconds.

"Maryland did a nice job of running the ball and controlling the ball and controlling the clock," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said.

Fullback Cory Jackson's 1-yard TD run a minute into the second quarter put Maryland ahead, 14-0. Hollenbach's second touchdown, a 46-yarder to Heward-Bey with 2:30 left in the second period, gave the Terrapins a commanding 21-0 lead at halftime.

Curtis Painter was 23-of-36 for 264 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Boilermakers (8-6), who were held to 285 total yards after coming in ranked ninth in the nation (425.8).