Terps' Defense Stands Up, Upsets Clemson 24-21
by Ben Broman on Oct 3, 2009 3:48 PM EDT
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PrintClemson had the ball at the 30 yard line three times in the final five minutes, needing only a field goal to tie Maryland in the Terps' ACC opener. All three times, Maryland's defense stood up and kept the Tigers from scoring, thanks to two 48-yard FGs from the exact same spot that both ended up wide right. In the end, Maryland won their first game since an overtime victory over James Madison, and possibly turned their season around.
After a rough first quarter, Maryland played like they've been yet to play this year. Chris Turner was efficient, if unspectacular. The offensive line was solid and kept Clemson's talented DL from controlling the game. The defense continued their improvement, shutting down a solid Clemson offense.
Perhaps the most intriguing thing is that the Terps didn't really change the way they played. This game wasn't all that dissimilar to the Rutgers game. Only one thing changed: mistakes. Maryland didn't turn the ball over as much as in the past; nor did they kill themselves in penalties. Those two developments led to a win that might've just saved Ralph Friedgen's job.
The stars of the game for Maryland were Torrey Smith, who had a huge TD catch, Demetrius Hartsfield, who's sack, forced fumble, and fumble recovery on Kyle Parker literally saved the game, Nick Ferrara, who was solid in kicking and spectacular in kicking, and, yes, Ralph Friedgen, who twice called a TO to freeze Clemson's Richard Jackson on 48-yard FGs.
Want to hear a shocker? Maryland, who has lost to MTSU and Rutgers, is currently leading the ACC Atlantic at 1-0. Not too many people expected that, me included.
Timeline: some minor analysis tonight, grades tomorrow morning. Or flip that, if I feel like it.
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a great win today...
but huge concerns on the o-line. when campbell went out, Clemson was able to penetrate on the left side every single play. Turner was getting hit on handoffs! The line needs to be re-evaluated (as always) but much credit to the defense, which finally looked comfortable today. MD fans should be proud.
Md v. Clemson
“Perhaps the most intriguing thing is that the Terps didn’t really change the way they played.” by bbroman.
That is exactly why I think it is silly to pin all of the earlier losses on Fridge. We have a good proven winning plan. Some of our lineman are young, and will make mistakes or get overmatched. He will coach them to be better. IMO, he will help coach our entire team to get better. I know I saw some post that we wouldn’t win an ACC game this year. It is too early to jump ship.
Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame
Does the last week of practice, during which Ralph worked to stop turnovers, not matter?
FWIW, I’m giving Ralph credit for this. But it the changes happened after a change in coaching, which would indicate the problem is a coaching one…just saying.
I'm glad Smith didn't drop the TD today or Clemson hit a field goal, because if we lost, Fridge would still be on the hot seat
We did play better overall, so I agree that a good coaching effort can help turn them around. I don’t think it is reasonable to expect he would have worked as hard on eliminating turnovers with his team before he saw they had such a problem. I just don’t pin all that happens on the field, on the coach, nor do I think a musical chairs approach to the head coach job is a successful strategy. He is a good coach. That has been proven by long term success. A few bad games or even a bad season does negate that fact. It is far more likely that we will be good once again.
Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame
Aye, but they didn't
Besides, who says he isn’t still on the hot seat? It was only one game, let’s ground ourselves for a moment.
I just hope Logan stays as the starting punt returner
Wiseman back there just makes me nervous
"In Gary we Trust!"
Team identity
I thought the team identity really began to change in the 2nd quarter. The offense was having trouble moving the ball and the defense was starting to show what they could do. By the 3rd quarter you could see the change in the Terps. The offensive line was under assault. Chris Turner was getting pounded. Yet the defense just kept sticking it to Clemson. It was the defense that was establishing who we are. All we had to do was avoid turnovers on our side of the 50 and we could win.
I think that is the team we are now. We have to count on the defense and play conservatively on offense on our half of the field, i.e., more runnng plays and low risk passes. Playing that way, I do think we are going to miss Da’Rel. His speed made the LBs back up a few yards back. They are right up on the line with Meggett. In fact, with Da’Rel out, I don’t see why Morgan Green isn’t the starter. Meggett doesn’t block very well (that’s generous) and hasn’t been particularly effective as a runner. Turner needs the protection (especially on our side of the 50), Meggett can’t run wide, and at 220, Green should be able to run as well between the tackles. (I was sorry to hear that Green had been put on the practice squad.)
The need to protect Turner is really geting to be an issue. You have to respect how he is hanging in there. He won’t finish the season the way they are teeing off on him and he is not fast enough to use the roll out to get more time for passes. Again, Green’s blocking would help but we also need to get Jamarr into the game to run some series, not just three-play sets. Realistically I don’t see it happening in close games, but I would like to see James try it.
Adams is more likely than Green
The two are very similar players, and Adams has been outplaying him practice.
Disagree
I have to disagree about going more conservative. In the first half, especially the second quarter, Franklin opened up the offense with a very balanced attack and good play-calling, and we took the lead before halftime. More conservative offensive play-calling is the exact opposite of what we need to be successful.
The offense kind of sputtered in the third quarter where they went away from what had worked in the first half. I think these two consecutive plays were ill-advised (of course they would have been big gains had they worked): the halfback option-like backward pass to Laquan Williams, and then the Gary Douglas run on 2nd and 22. That set up a long-pass situation on 3rd down, which allowed Clemson to blitz and come up with a sack.
On the other hand, the defense played more conservatively, which also worked out better. They scaled back some of the corner blitzes which reduced the risk of conceding big plays. That we did not yield any huge plays to either CJ Spiller (other than the KR TD, which was flukey — Wiseman was trying to strip instead of tackle him; I think he thought the other two guys with hands on him would take him down, but a Clemson player jarred Spiller free from behind) or Jacoby Ford (the fastest player in college football) is a testament to how well the defense played and how well it was coached.
by JC1 on Oct 3, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions
This team cannot give the opposition the ball on our side of the 50.
We got lucky when we failed to get a first down in the fourth. It led to one of the two fourth quarter field goal attempts that Clemson missed. They could have made both of those field goals. With this OL, our offense cannot give up points. They cannot score enough to overcome mistakes that turn into points for the oppoition. We should only be aggressive on offense on their side of the 50. Otherwise, we should play field position football.
We’ll have to agree to disagree.
I agree with you on that point. I was not referring to the 4th and inches, as we clearly should have punted there. I was speaking about play calling in general. In past games and indeed seasons, Maryland becomes way too conservative on offense, especially when they get a narrow lead and try to sit on it.
by JC1 on Oct 3, 2009 8:58 PM EDT up reply actions
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