The Case Against Panic

by Ben Broman on Sep 6, 2009 1:21 AM EDT in Football Comment 11 comments

I'm not going to tell you everything is fine after that poor excuse for a football game. It's clearly not. A lot of things need to be changed. And if you need to see a case for panic, just see our game recap, cause there's plenty of negativity in there. But remember: this is Ralph Friedgen's Maryland we're talking about.

Ralph Friedgen's teams have always had trouble in openers. I don't know why, but they have. Perhaps it's motivation, but the reason is unimportant. In 2002, Maryland went 11-3, but started the year with a 22-0 shellacking from Notre Dame. In 2003, Maryland went 10-3, but lost to Northern Illinois to start. The next year, they squeaked out a win over that same NIU team by three.

In 2005, Maryland beat Navy by the grace of God and Lance Ball. 2006 was the only year without opening game troubles, handling William and Mary with relative ease. While the Maryland-Villanova score wasn't close in 2006, it was only 10-7 at half. And, of course, there was last year's near loss to Delaware.

If you didn't get it, this is a team that starts slow. Did that contribute to this? Who knows. But it is a possibility.

Don't forget, either, that this is a very similar team to the one that got destroyed by a terrible UVA team, 31-0, and turned around and shut out a good Wake team 26-0. They also lost to Middle Tennessee State before easily dealing with Cal. You're never sure what team it going to show up.

Maybe the team that showed up today was the slow-starting team that lost to UVA by 31.

Also, Cal is a legitimate top ten team. People who thought Maryland had a shot were both overrating Maryland and underrating Cal, but the Golden Bears are a heck of a team, and they'll be in my blogpoll top ten, without a doubt. It's not like this happened against Eastern Michigan.

Slow starts, a bad day, and Cal being a great team all contributed to blow this game out of proportion. Maryland won't go winless, and they'll finish above Duke and Virignia. They'll be okay. No, they probably won't go 9-4, but don't go overboard with the doom and gloom predictions just yet.

Don't get me wrong, this team isn't where it needs to be, and there's no excuse for this. But the sky might not be falling just yet.

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Well said, bbroman...

No where to go from here but up, without a doubt. This could still be a good, bowl-game season.

by kckb8 on Sep 6, 2009 2:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Pessimism

I don’t want to sound overly pessimistic, maybe I just feel extra gloomy because I’m sort of hung over and the entire ACC basically shit the bed this weekend. But to me every outsider’s biggest criticism—inexperience on the O-line—was glaringly the main reason we looked so bad. Turner almost never had any time, it felt like every throw was rushed because the line was having trouble protecting him. This led to an awful lot of mediocre scrambles by Turner. Also there were just so many mistakes and penalties. I never expected such a young group to go to an away game at a tough team and just start tearing it up. But I am feeling pretty damn gloomy about the season right now. WIth even just a tiny bit more experience just for our center, I think the outcome could have been better.

by GoTerpsBaby on Sep 6, 2009 9:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Recurring problems

There are some problems with the program that have been there for some time. Both the O and D lines have been deficient for a while now. When was the last time we had a real pass rush? How long has it been since we were in the top half of the ACC in run defense? The only time in recent memory we had a decent running game were the two years with Lattimore and Ball. Still, I think the biggest problem is with Ralph’s approach to the offense. It is ultra ball control. All coches are conservative…it comes with the job. But, he seems to have an aversion to risk that keeps us from using the talent we do have.

by wmterp on Sep 6, 2009 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A little perspective please

I agree with this article. Does it mean we won’t stink some Saturdays, no, but it isn’t time to freak either. The offense had some promising moments last night. It looked like a team that needs a bit more experience and practice. Going across country against a much improved Cal team was likely to end up bad. Throw in an inexperienced line, and you saw what you get. They will get better, just have some patience please.

As for the deficient program comments, I think you are a spoiled brat. As a 1990 grad, we would have loved to have been in a decent bowl game. Ralph has built the program, where every year young guys that don’t have any historical perspective expect to have a good shot at a late December bowl. Call him out as a bad coach if you want, but IMO, you are naive.

Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame

by terp12 on Sep 6, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: "deficient program", "spoiled brat", etc.

I know this wasn’t directed at me, but this argument happens a lot. The issue is with raising expectations. I agree that, when compared to 90s era Maryland, this team is better and the progress is awesome. But after a few years of making bowl games, the expectation raises – as it should. Fans should no longer look at a five win season and be content, citing historical perspective, because the program has proven that they are capable of better. I’m not saying Maryland needs 10 wins every year, but expecting seven or eight wins isn’t unrealistic.

Also, a lot of people who graduated around 2000 have seen Maryland succeed for much of their time as fans. They shouldn’t be expected to be able to feel the appreciation people who graduated several years before, because they can’t.

by Ben Broman on Sep 6, 2009 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: "deficient program", "spoiled brat", etc.

I agree, just because our football program had a bad past doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect better. The lesson there is to appreciate what you have (a decently competitive team), not to just “not expect more because we are spoiled brats”

by GoTerpsBaby on Sep 6, 2009 1:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ok, I am sorry

I shouldn’t have posted “spoiled brat”. I just think that there is a reasonable ceiling as what you can expect out of our program. The Terps are much better than in the past partly because of the coaching, and partly because of investment into the program. However, we are still behind the top programs in the country, and IMO no head coach will be successful every year with our limitations.

Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame

by terp12 on Sep 6, 2009 1:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I do agree that there is a ceiling

If Maryland football can consistently hit seven or eight wins a year with a decent bowl game, with some five or six win years and some nine or ten win years thrown in every once in a while, I’ll be perfectly content. We don’t need to be Virginia Tech. I just don’t want to be NCSt or UVA.

That said, if we bust out a five year streak of ten win seasons, my expectations may raise a bit.

by Ben Broman on Sep 6, 2009 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Coaches

I get a little peeved when fans go after coaches so quickly. It was awful how some at Maryland were going after Gary Williams. Fridge has done a lot for our program and we should show a little confidence and support, IMO. As you stated in the article above, we often start slow (both in Bball and Fball), and our coaches teach the kids to a good season. I think the reason we start slow is that we are not able to attract the very top talent, but have good coaches who meld our team to be competitive each year.

As for raising expectations, that is fine as long as you are still realistic.

Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame

by terp12 on Sep 6, 2009 5:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It is just opinions

If we met, you don’t know what a good laugh we would have with the spoiled brat comment. Let’s just say that I have actively supported Maryland athletics for longer than two decades. As to my my opinions, I stand by them. Over the past few years, I think Ralph and Gary each got involved with too many peripheral issues unrelated to winning. They gave themselves some breathing room by changing the context of the discussion about what a good year is for their teams. They didn’t talk about championships. For Gary, the goal became making the ACC tournament. For Ralph, it became just being good enough to make a bowl. Fans got tired of it for basketball. Gary couldn’t fill Comcast and got a lot of negative feedback from many different sources. He made changes and the program seems to be headed for bigger things. Well, football season ticket renewals dropped this year and that is coming off an 8 and 5 season. Maybe it is the economy but I think fans see the wrong priorities for the program. The way we lost to FSU, UVA, and now Cal means we aren’t where we were just a few years ago. Ralph needs to make winning a priority again as well.

by wmterp on Sep 6, 2009 11:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Fair enough

In football, the addition of VT, BC, Miami to the mix has made it increasingly difficult to have a 10 win record. But, that aside, your point is well taken. Obviously, winning 8 games a year just isn’t good enough for some fans. A couple of penalties or a breakdown on a play or two in one game that cost us a win, is being held against the coach. I don’t agree, but, I’m just one fan. I feel the difference between an 8 win season, vs. 9 or 10 usually, comes down to a play or two in each game. Since you have been a big supporter, and I am asking a real question here, how do we rank in spending for our entire football program as compared to other 10 win or more teams? I know that since I graduated we did a lot for our sports programs, but are we really among the consistent 10 win teams in resources, TV, etc? I think we are talking about consistency here. Ralph or Gary can have a few good-very good seasons sprinkled in with a few seasons where we are only above average and that isn’t acceptable for some people and is for others.

Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame

by terp12 on Sep 7, 2009 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs