Accentuate the Positive: Maryland's Defense Solid Against Duke

Plenty of things sucked today. I'm going to detail all those things later tonight and tomorrow. But before I go all gung-ho on talking crap about this kind of stuff, how about the one thing Maryland did do well?

Duke came in putting up an average of 31 points per game, good for 28th in the country. Heather Dinich (everyone's least favorite female blogger) predicted them to put up 28. CFN wagered 34. I, too, thought 34 was the number to beat. But the Blue Devils, aided by a passing attack ranked eighth in the nation, mustered barely half that, putting up just 17.

Not to mention that Duke, notoriously stingy when it comes to turning the ball over, turned it over thrice, two fumbles and one interception. They had turned it over just 6 times coming into today, and Lewis had thrown just two interceptions. In both cases, Maryland got half of what other opponents, including Virginia Tech and Kansas, were able to get in six games.

It wasn't an amazing performance and it was aided by the rain, but it was definitely serviceable for an ACC defense. They certainly bended (371 yards through the air, 400+ total) and they were abused for much of the game by Lewis, but they never broke, and for that, they deserve to be commended.

After the first few weeks, who would've thought the strength of the team would be the defense? Don Brown's done a great job, and plenty of players have seen serious progressions in just a matter of weeks.

Okay, now I shall commence criticism. Ready yourselves, everyone.