After the mess, no time for rest

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Ralph Friedgen wanted to give the Terrapin football team a break.

The eighth-year coach would have liked to allow his players a chance to get healthy during their first bye week of the season after playing six straight weekends.

But Saturday's 31-0 loss at Virginia has forced Friedgen's hand.

Now, he has two weeks to prepare his weary squad for No. 21 Wake Forest. Until the Demon Deacons come to College Park on Oct. 18, Friedgen will toe the delicate line between pushing his players too hard and preparing them for six more ACC contests.

"We've got a lot of people who are beat up," Friedgen said. "My chore this week is to try and get healthy and try and get better."

The Terps will return to the practice field tomorrow after one of their worst performances in recent memory. Virginia entered the game as one of the nation's worst teams statistically. The Cavaliers socked it to the Terps from the start and secured a 31-point lead when there was still more than 20 minutes left in the game.

That's motivation enough to get the Terps enthused about a chance to focus on getting better this week without having to worry about preparing for an opponent.

"It's tough right now, especially the way we lost," said senior cornerback Kevin Barnes, who compared the result to the Terps' 55-6 blowout loss at Virginia Tech in 2004. "It's terrible. We just want to come back [this] week, even on our bye week, and still work hard for the following week."

But Friedgen must factor in the punishment his team has taken in the last six weeks. Sunday, he said linebacker Chase Bullock suffered a concussion against Virginia, and tackle Dane Randolph has a high ankle sprain. After the game, Barnes said he took a helmet-to-helmet collision that left him woozy during the game and talked about fellow corner Anthony Wiseman playing through an injury.

That's on top of the injury concerns the Terps already had.

Defensive linemen Travis Ivey and Mack Frost are still not at 100 percent, despite playing the last two weeks. Cornerback Nolan Carroll, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, is hoping to return against Wake Forest.

Quarterback Jordan Steffy, who started against Delaware in the season opener, may also be ready to play by the Wake Forest game after spending the previous five weekends recovering from a fractured thumb.

Friedgen said he'd have a better handle on the Terp injury situation later in the week.

"We just have a lot of nicks and bruises," Friedgen said. "I don't know how it's going to work its way out. Everybody's got something."

But the Terps have time on their side.

Quarterback Chris Turner took a diplomatic approach to the off week. He said he's looking forward to the chance to hit the film room and analyze what the team can do better. The junior said the break will allow the Terps to gear up to give their best shot in the two home ACC contests following the bye.

Barnes took the opposite view. Since the senior is relatively healthy, he's ready for an opportunity to move forward.

"I don't want to have this loss over my head for two weeks, especially how we lost," Barnes said. "No loss is classy, but they definitely destroyed us tonight."

The Terps struggled in all phases of the game Saturday, failing to move the ball or slow the Cavalier attack. The offensive line has failed to clear lanes for running back Da'Rel Scott in two ACC games. In the second half against Virginia, the Terp run defense reverted back to the form that allowed 195 rushing yards in the first half against Clemson.

For a team that has already beaten a pair of ranked opponents this season, finding consistency will be the key to the next two weeks.

"We've got to work on correlating what we do on the practice field to the game field," center Edwin Williams said.

Friedgen, who counted 27 mental errors on the team's 55 offensive plays Saturday, said he'd like to see his team get tougher.

But that strategy comes with risk, as well.

"I'm afraid if we do that, we'll have everybody hurt, and we won't be able to play anyway," Friedgen said. "I'm between a rock and a hard place."

Sounds like Friedgen could use a break of his own.

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