Losing, their way

ATLANTA – Randy Edsall had set a modest goal for his defense.

If his Terrapins football team could hold No. 12 Georgia Tech's vaunted triple-option attack to fewer than 300 rushing yards, he said Thursday, then the Terps would be in good shape.

Well, they did that. And more. The Terps stifled the Yellow Jackets' offense for large portions of Saturday's game, holding them to a season-low 21 points and 386 yards of total offense.

The Terps' offense, however, didn't enjoy the same success. It struggled so mightily in the first half that Edsall pulled quarterback Danny O'Brien in favor of backup C.J. Brown, and the Terps couldn't manage any semblance of an offensive identity all game.

That proved to be the difference. Although the Terps fought back in the second half, they were unable to overcome an early deficit and left Bobby Dodd Stadium with a 21-16 loss and the all-too-familiar disappointment of letting a potential victory slip through their fingers.

"I thought defensively, we played extremely well. Offensively, we were inconsistent," Edsall said after the loss. "Very disappointed that we didn't win the game today, but I was very pleased with how hard our kids played for 60 minutes."

Early on, it seemed as if it was going to be a long afternoon for the Terps (2-3, 1-1 ACC). After they went three-and-out in the game's opening drive, Georgia Tech marched 63 yards for a touchdown.

The Terps couldn't get anything going offensively. O'Brien completed just one of his six pass attempts, and by the time Brown got the nod midway through the second quarter, the game seemed to be slipping away.

But defense kept the Terps in it. An interception by cornerback Dexter McDougle in the Terps' end zone ended a promising drive by the Yellow Jackets late in the first half, and though Georgia Tech (6-0, 3-0) scored its third touchdown of the afternoon just 2:09 into the third quarter, those were the last points the Yellow Jackets would register.

What they had managed before then was hardly the defense's fault. Of Georgia Tech's three touchdowns, only the first was the result of an extended drive. The other two came on drives of 33 and 17 yards — the result of favorable field position from special-teams and offensive blunders by the Terps.

The rash of injuries that has swept through the Terps' roster only magnified their defensive performance. Linebacker Kenny Tate missed Saturday's game with an undisclosed injury, leaving the Terps with four freshman starters on defense.

And when linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield went down in the third quarter, he was replaced by freshman Alex Twine. With little alternative, the Terps played five freshmen — including three at linebacker — for much of the second half.

But behind the spirited play of defensive tackle Joe Vellano (20 tackles), the Terps found a rhythm against the vaunted triple option and held Georgia Tech to just 154 yards in the second half.

"Defense kept us in it for a while," Vellano said. "It could have got bad."

And while the Terps' passing offense remained anemic — Brown and O'Brien combined to go 5-for-23 through the air for 53 yards and two interceptions — they established themselves on the ground.

Brown and running back Davin Meggett led a two-man attack, and a series of misdirection plays left the Yellow Jackets' defense off balance. Brown's 77-yard, third-quarter touchdown run, which cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to 11 points, came off a fake handoff to Meggett that caught the entire stadium looking the wrong way.

After a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Terps were on the march again when the game froze.

Starting guard Andrew Gonnella went down with a gruesome knee injury and, after a lengthy delay, was taken off the field in an ambulance. Before he left, though, the co-captain and emotional leader gave Edsall a message to relay to his teammates.

"He told Coach, ‘Make sure we punch this in,'" said Brown, who finished with 124 rushing yards. "He's the kind of guy that would sacrifice his body for us. It's tough to see one of your leaders go down. … It fired us up."

The Terps gave Gonnella his wish when that drive ended with a fourth-and-goal touchdown plunge by Meggett from the 1-yard line. The Terps couldn't convert a two-point conversion, but the score had cut the Yellow Jackets' lead to five points with 7:33 left to play.

But after the Terps' defense forced yet another punt on the ensuing possession, the magic stopped. Their final drive stalled at midfield, and Brown's overthrow of wide receiver Kerry Boykins on fourth-and-8 gave Georgia Tech the ball back with a chance to run out the clock.

The game was there for the taking. Georgia Tech was not at its best, and the Terps' defense strung together a performance few thought was possible.

But as has been the case for much of the season, the Terps came up just short.

"We were closer in that game than what it looked," Brown said. "We were right there, we were hanging in there. We just needed that one big play."

TERPS NOTE: Edsall said yesterday that Gonnella will miss the remainder of the season. Edsall did not elaborate on the specifics of his injury.

cwalsh@umdbk.com

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Gonnella underwent an operation Saturday in Atlanta. He will have surgery later this season.