Terps Preparing For Hokies

Well we're back after a little more than a week hiatus with the Terps on their bye week.

Ralp Friedgen addressed the media today for the first time since Maryland held on to defeat NC State and fielded questions regarding Thursday night's game and the remainder of the ACC schedule. Let's get to the news and notes.

• Cameron Chism and LaQuan Williams are both out for the week with leg injuries. Jordan Steffy is still doubtful with the injury to his throwing hand. Scott Burley, Dave Philistin, Corey Jackson, Adrian Moten, Da'Rel Scott and Mack Frost are all questionable.
• Friedgen said that with Virginia Tech always having a strong special teams core, this year being no different, that field position will play a major role in the game on Thursday.
• When asked about how important Florida State's loss this past weekend was, Friedgen responded that things are still very much wide open in the ACC. "We control our own destiny," he said. "There's a lot of things that can happen."
• While the Virginia Tech offense has had its ups and downs all seasons, and with it still dealing with plenty of question marks, Friedgen pointed out the consistency and experience of the offensive line. The Hokies' line has 108 total starts among them.
  
• Also of note, according to Friedgen, Virginia Tech is 14-3 all time in Thursday night games
  

Interview With Joseph Giglio

Continuing with our semi-weekly interview series (we weren't able to get anyone for the Wake game last week in a timely fashion) we are joined this week by Joseph Giglio of the Raleigh News & Observer. Giglio writes the paper's ACC Now Blog and was nice enough to take time out of his schedule to answer some questions about North Carolina State and tomorrow's match up with the Terps.

WMUC Sports: What has been the biggest struggle for NC State in ACC play thus far?

Giglio: The pass defense is brutal. USF, and Matt Grothe, chewed them up for 275 yards and 41 points, then BC, and Chris Crane, who's not Grothe, came in and threw for 428 yards and put up 38 points.
They played better against FSU because FSU's line stinks (the Terps will beat FSU at Byrd, by the way) but ultimately the team is so thin, because of injuries and program attrition, the defense gets the fourth quarter and is physically exhausted.

WMUC Sports: Do you get a sense the team is frustrated after losing two close conference games in the 4th quarter?

Giglio: I don't think frustrated is the word because they're improving. In the first three weeks of the season, Russell Wilson's health kep the offense in neutral. Since his return, the passing game has come alive and the offense is functional. The return of tight end Anthony Hill and running back Jamelle Eugene have been big for Wilson, who can make plays but he needs players to get the ball to.

WMUC Sports: How has redshirt freshman quarterback Russel Wilson helped to breathe some life back into the offense?

Giglio: The kid's got a great arm and he's learning every week how to use it. He's not quite there on his decision-making, he has missed two and half games in his first season, so that's understandable, but his natural talent is undeniable.
Should be interesting next year when Mike Glennon's off the redshirt and they have to decide between the two — Wilson, the holdover from Chuck Amato's recruiting and Glennon, the hand-picked QB of the future by Tom O'Brien and offensive coordinator Dana Bible.

WMUC Sports: Give me someone that might be flying under the radar for the Wolfpack on either side of the ball that people should know about.

Giglio: Hill caught his first touchdown pass of the season against FSU and should be as close to 100 percent as he has been since the 2006 season. He missed the 2007 season with a torn ACL and then missed four games with a strained chest muscle.
He gives Wilson a target in the seems, which is especially important against Maryland's 3-4 defense.

WMUC Sports: Who is NC State most concerned with as far as Maryland's personnel?

Giglio: Gotta be Hey-Bey, he's Maryland's best playmaker. Fridge certainly made an effort to get him going against Wake. I suspect he'll do the same on Saturday against State's soft pass defense.

WMUC Sports: What is the biggest key in your mind for NC State this weekend?

Giglio: The only way State wins is with its offense. It has to beat Maryland in a shootout, kinda like the Boston College game, only with a stop on the final drive. But a game in the 30s would be State's best shot. That's 30s on both sides, unlike last year's 37-0 Maryland romp.

WMUC Sports: How do you see the game playing out?

Giglio: State's playing better. Wilson will make some plays, hit some deep balls, but Maryland should be able to run with Da'Rel Scott and if Chris Turner's ever going to post back-to-back strong games, this would be the one. Without linebacker Nate Irving, State's defense just doesn't have a playmaker who can force turnovers and get the offense off the field. We can only hope it's better than the 37-0 clunker we saw last year at Carter-Finley.

Light Thursday For Terps

With their final practice before the homecoming match up with North Carolina State the Terps held a light practice, making their final preparations.

After a few standard individual drills, the team ran full 11 on 11 plays for the remainder of the open session. The offense looked very, very good in the plays that the media was allowed to watch. Chris Turner was very efficient, completing every pass he through in a 15-minute span save for one, that was the fault of the receiver who dropped it. Turner completed a variety of passes, hitting receivers open the middle for big gains, and throwing a couple of nice deep lobs to Darius Heyward-Bey.

Now while this wasn't a full on pressure defense he was facing this afternoon, Turner looked to be continuing his impressive play from the Wake Forest game. Should he continue to play at this level against the Wolfpack on Saturday, chances are he will eclipse 300 yards passing again and the Terps will be in great shape to come away with another win.

Additionally, the run game looked good today as the offensive line was opening up some big holes for the Terps backs.

That's all from today, check back tomorrow for an interview with Joseph Giglio of the Raleigh News-Observer about the Wolfpack and Saturday's game.

Terps Readying For Wolfpack

Ralph Friedgen addressed the media earlier this afternoon at his weekly press conference. The head coach was clearly pleased with his team's performance this weekend in a shutout victory over Wake Forest, but was also quick to make sure the Terps are ready for Saturday and not taking North Carolina State lightly.

As it stands the Terps have won four out of their last five games and are currently the only team in the country to have defeated three ranked opponents this season. Now, on to the news and notes.

• Kevin Barnes will be out this weekend after undergoing an MRI on the shoulder he injured in Saturday's game. Friedgen said he didn't want to go into any more details about the severity of the injury or the length of time Barnes would be out until he got further confirmation from doctors. He further added that at this point Jamari McCollough will probably move to the corner position. "Michael Carter, Trenton Hughes and Cameron Chism are all going to have to step up," he said.
  
• Friedgen said one player to keep an eye on offensively for the Wolfpack will be redshirt freshman quarterback Russel Wilson. "He's a good athlete and is very mobile," Friedgen said. "He's given some life back to their offense." Friedgen later mentioned that he had concerns with NC State's return game, saying it was one of the best in the ACC.
• Friedgen was happy with the defensive plan put together this past Saturday by Chris Cosh and the defensive coaches. "But like all good plans," he said, "they have to be executed. I think our players played very well, I thought our effort was excellent. This is something we need to build on."
• When asked about the lack of bigger crowds for the last couple of games, Friedgen said he hoped that having won four out of five games and with this weekend being home coming, a larger crowd would turn up. "I hope they can be a positive influence at the end of the game," he said.
• The Terps went with a much more pass oriented offense against Wake Forest and when asked about the offensive philosophy this weekend Friedgen said the goal was to be balanced. "That doesn't mean we're going to throw fifty percent of the time and run fifty percent of the time. We're able to do both equally well. Going into the game they knew a lot of our tendencies; we would run with certain personnel and run with others. I think coach Franklin did a great job of being able to throw when running personnel were on the field and running with passing personnel."
• The players are ready and waiting for NC State as well. Senior center Edwin Williams said he felt the Terps would need to be playing at their very best to beat a team that has lost a pair of close contests in the past two weeks.
  

Lessons from Wake Forest

Well it's been a little while since there was any new material on the blog, so what better reason to write than a 26-0 win over another ranked opponent. The enigma that is Maryland football continued on Saturday with the Terps playing their most complete game of the season to improve their record to 5-2 (2-1) putting them atop the ACC Atlantic Division for the time being. With that, here are some thoughts from the weekend.

Turner Big Against Another Ranked Team
The junior quarterback had one of his best games ever in a Maryland uniform, completing 28 of 41 passes for 321 yard, a touchdown and no interceptions. Turner is now 5-0 all-time against ranked opponents having thrown 7 touchdown passes and no picks. This performance comes on the ankles of a poor showing two weeks ago at Virginia, in a pattern that has become the norm for the California native; bad games against bad teams, great games against good teams. Which Turner will show up on Saturday for the homecoming game against NC State? Your guess is as good as mine.

Heyward-Bey Finally Gets His Touches
Maryland fans who have been waiting for Darius Heyward-Bey to be the focal point of the Terrapin offense for one game, finally got their wish on Saturday. The junior hauled in 11 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. It was a career high in receptions for Heyward-Bey and was almost two-thirds the number he had recorded in the previous six games. The two biggest differences in this game as opposed to the those earlier in the season had to do with coverage schemes and pass routes.

In every game prior to Saturday defenses dealt with the issue of covering Heyward-Bey by having two defenders follow his every move. With All-American cornerback Alphonso Smith in the secondary though, Wake Forest felt comfortable leaving Heyward-Bey in single coverage. In addition, Maryland ran many more short routes for Heyward-Bey in this game than they had in games earlier on in the season. Rather than trying to hit him down field play after play, they set him up in the flat and on short slants a lot more often.

Defense Comes Alive
The Terps have done a solid job defensively for the majority of the season, but this was by far their most complete effort. A season high four sacks, coupled with good coverage in the secondary, kept the ACC's top quarterback, Riley Skinner, in check all afternoon. Skinner never really got comfortable at all, and was only able to drive the Demon Deacons inside the Maryland 30-yard line once the entire afternoon. The other two times Wake was that deep down the field was as a result of fumble recoveries.

In all, this was a very encouraging performance from the Terps. This is the kind of game that leads one to believe they are capable of reaching the ACC Championship; then you remember the inconsistency. Every game left on their schedule has to be viewed as a big game, especially with the amount of parody the league is proving to have this year.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for news and notes from Ralph Friedgen's press conference.

Men's Basketball Media Day

A change of pace today as we switch briefly from the gridiron to the hardwood. Today was media day for the men's basketball team with players and coaches addressing the press for the first time since the end of last season.

Head coach Gary Williams, entering his 20th season, addressed the media and fielded questions for about a half hour on topics ranging from tomorrow night's Maryland Madness to the Terps inexperienced front court. Here were some of Williams' comments from the press conference.

On the Big East and NCAA Tournament Bids:

Let's see...the Big East will have their media day in a couple of weeks, they'll say they deserve nine in the NCAA Tournament. For the ACC I'll say we deserve six; six out of twelve, we'll go fifty-percent too.

On Maryland Madness and the season starting three days later than last season:

We start a little bit later because of how things fall this year. We have to have Maryland Madness on that Friday, we can't have it during the week because the NCAA is worried about college students staying up late. So here we are.

On the style of play changing this year with the possibility of going smaller in his line up:

Whether we play three or four guards...most teams play three, depending on what you call your wings. But we all know for example, last year a team like Memphis was very successful. I think you have to look at your talent and see how to get the best players on the court most of the time. I've played that way several times in my career before. When I was at American we were able to recruit better at guard than inside players, and at Boston College a few years we were small, my one year at Ohio State we were small. So you have to figure out how to win.

On the development of the younger big men and what he expects from them this year:

Braxton Dupree lost twenty pounds since the end of the season last year. We have guys that have gone through that before. Lonny Baxter lost twenty playing a lot at Cole Field House where the air condition was broken at that time. That's what it takes. I think all players have to earn the right to have the confidence that they're good. I think Braxton has done that, to earn the confidence that he can be a very good player for us this year.
Guys like Jerome Burney...he's been working hard, he's in great physical condition. All those things are good, but it comes down to can you play. Can you play in those games? You don't know, you don't know until you start to play games. We lost two really good inside players in James Gist and Bombale Osby. So that's the key, can those guys step in.

On addressing the turnover problem from last season:

Well...don't turn it over as much (laughs from press). We tried to make hard plays last year at times. When you're really playing well it seems like the ball always gets to the guy who is open, but their easy passes. Just the basic stuff is what you need. We were guilty of turning the ball over a lot last year at times. Hopefully, a lot of that will come with the experience of the backcourt. We had guys like Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie coming off the bench last year as freshman; now they're sophomores. We're always going to turn the ball over because we like to run. If you want to score 80 points you're going to have twelve turnovers in a game, that's part of what we do.

On Eric Hayes and possibly being back on the ball this season:

I think you'll see a lot of people with the ball, I think we have a lot of people who can handle the ball this year. Adrian Bowie, obviously Greivis Vasquez can play there, Sean Mosley could pop out there once in a while depending on what we want to run. But I think Eric is a very good point guard, he's better sometimes I think at playing that spot. He played there in high school so that's where he is comfortable. But we'll see what happens.

On Sean Mosley:

I think he's going to play a strong role for us, whether he starts or not, time will tell. He does have a shot to start though. He was the player of the year in Baltimore. He's got a very good personality. In terms of playing, he reminds me of that guy sitting over there, Keith Booth. He's got that same toughness, that same ability to score inside. He has a lot of the things that Keith had that made him a great player.

In other news, Dave Neal, Greivis Vasquez and Landon Milbourne were voted as the team's tri-captains this year.

Terps Back to Regular Schedule; Ready For Wake Forest

Ralph Friedgen had his weekly press conference this afternoon after taking last week off due to the bye. Friedgen said he felt the team got a lot accomplished during the bye week in practice and is calling the match up this weekend with the Demon Deacons, "maybe the most important game of the season." Here are some other news and notes from today.

• Friedgen was full of praise for the Wake Forest defense, particularly their secondary. "I think they do a good job of messing with your reads. They play their coverages very well and do a good job of reading the quarterback. You better not be late with your throws, especially on [Alphonso Smith's] side."
• When asked about the breakdown of the rest of the team's schedule, Friedgen was very adamant in stating that the Terps are very much alive after the tough loss to Virginia. "We're still in this race," he said. "The team that wins the most games here on out will probably win the division."
• Edwin Williams, Mack Frost and Kevin Barnes were all available to the media after Friedgen's press conference. When asked, all three said that the game with Wake Forest is one the team has been looking forward to. Both Barnes and Frost referenced the loss to the Demon Deacons last year as the game that threw off their season.