Sad how this team went from 6-2 and controlling their destiny for a possible ACC championship, to a so-so 7-5 record and waiting for another mediocre bowl to call them. I probably should be grateful this team has a bowl to prepare for as it gives these guys an extra month of practice but I can't help but think of what got away from this team. ACC championships don't come around too often, just witness the gap from 1985 to 2001 which were the Terps last two ACC championships. Florida State, Miami and Clemson will not be down for much longer.
That said, it's time for the Maryland Athletic Department to seriously assess Ralph Friedgen and his coaching staff this off season. Since 2004, Coach Ralph Friedgen's record is as follows: 5-6, 5-6, 9-4, 6-7 and 7-5 for a total of 32-28. Not very impressive in my opinion. Maybe Coach Friedgen's a victim of setting the bar too high when he came in and won the ACC Championship in his first season. He then followed that up with ten win seasons in 2002 and 2003 while winning the Peach and Gator Bowl's respectively. While at the Maryland soccer game today, I passed by Byrd Stadium and checked out the progress of the new suites, which I read are just 50 percent sold. 32-28 with bids to the Emerald Bowl will not have alumni opening their checkbooks to fill those new suites anytime soon.
So the Terps close out the season 28-21 losers. I'll admit I didn't follow this game too carefully as I was still deflated by last week's performance vs Florida State and I had spent the afternoon at the soccer game. Boston College with the win, plays Virginia Tech for the ACC title next Saturday while Maryland awaits their post season fate. I'd love it if they'd play in the new Eagle Bank Bowl here at RFK Stadium but from what I read it looks like the Terps are Boise bound for the Humanitarian Bowl or Music City Bowl bound in Nashville TN.
The Good:
Wide Receiver's Danny Oquendo (9 catches for 111 yards and a TD) and Torrey Smith (8 catches, 115 yards and a TD).
The Bad:
Maryland didn't have Wide Receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey today due to a leg injury.
No rushing attack today (-6 yards), so Chris Turner threw 57 passes, competing 33 for 360 yards and 2 TD's.
Another interception returned for a TD given up to Boston College. Seems like the Terps give up one a year to them.
The Ugly:
The Offensive Line was terrible again today. I think Turner was sacked five times
Maryland getting smoked on a fake field goal by Billy Flutie. Yes, he's the nephew of that Flutie (Former BC QB and Heisman winner Doug) as ABC pointed this out to the audience 7,357 times.
The ABC announcing crew for this game was so bad I switched to the Maryland radio network and dealt with the seven second delay.
Post recap
2 comments:
Today was not one of Pam Ward and whoever the analyst was' better days in the booth. Where was Terry Gannon and David Norrie? At the Pitt game yesterday? BC's a very toough team, especially on the O Line and Front Seven on Defense. They should beat VA Tech, who is nowhere near as good as they were last season, down in Tampa.
Oquendo was Heyward-Bey today for the Terps. Speaking of Heyward-Bey, I'm not convinced he's NFL-bound. He didn't have the year I was expecting. Even if I'm not a Terps fan per se, he didn't have the season I was expecting.
The games overall have been great today - not a bad way to chill out and do nothing after my morning run. Kansas-Missouri, Georgia Tech - Georgia, and now Oregon - Oregon State are unreal.
7-5 is deceiving. This was a bad season IMO.
Who did we beat? A mediocre Clemson team, a mediocre Wake team, a mediocre UNC team and middle of the pack Cal team. All 4 were decent teams, but none were really that good. Add NC State (barely) and Delaware (brely) and E. Michigan, which is really not much better than beating a DI-AA team.
Every important game against a quality opponent was a loss, and we looked horrible in all of them. Not to mention losing to MTSU and an awful UVA.
So what do we have to hang our hat on? Nothing, IMO.
I love our kids, and I won't bad mouth them. Theiy're just kids trying their best, but this coaching staff has not produced...period!
Maybe I'm unrealistic, but this team could have done more. I'm convinced of that.
I'm really disappointed. Something has to change.
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