Mistakes a sign of bigger problems

The wet pass slipped through Terrapin fullback Cory Jackson's  fingertips and stuck in Virginia cornerback Dom Joseph's hands.

Joseph ran a few steps and slid down, allowing the Cavaliers to extinguish the clock with a pair of quarterback kneels.   

It was quarterback Chris Turner's second interception and the Terps' fourth turnover of Saturday's rain-soaked game. But it really didn't matter. The Cavaliers — and Mother Nature — had already assured it wouldn't be a happy Homecoming at Byrd Stadium. Most of the announced crowd of 44,864 had long since sloshed toward the exits — if they bothered to stay for any of the game at all.

The game's final miscue was largely inconsequential. But unfortunately for the Terps, another disappointing performance full of missed chances, bizarre lapses and an inability to hold onto the football proved costly.

In the team's 20-9 loss, the most troubling part wasn't the mistakes that cost the Terps a winnable game. It was a continuing unfortunate trend that has put the Terps (2-5, 1-2 ACC) in a bad position with no discernible end in sight.

"It's the same story over and over again," coach Ralph Friedgen said of the costly offensive mistakes. "Until that gets fixed, it's going to be hard to win football games."

The rallying cry from the Terps after squeaking out an overtime win against James Madison on Sept. 12 was that they learned how to win. But after coming up short in several ugly contests since, it's abundantly clear that this team has a bigger problem than not knowing how to win.

The Terps haven't figured out how to avoid losing. Their youthful mistakes, ball security issues and late game letdowns haven't improved much since early in the season.

On Saturday, that frustrating ineffectiveness — the kind where the Terps seem to be on the verge of something positive only to fall right back down again — was in rare form. With the rain, cold and gusting winds making ugly football look even worse, it's no wonder the student section began to clear out after halftime.

For most of the day, the team was Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Several times, it seemed ready to break through. But then running back Davin Meggett coughed up the football in Cavalier territory. Receiver Kerry Boykins dropped a sure first down on third-and-long in scoring range. And running back Caleb Porzel inexplicably stumbled with one man to beat and plenty of open space in front of him.

Yes, every single time mean-spirited Lucy pulled the ball away at the last possible second, sending the blockheaded Terps comically tumbling head over heels.

"Any other day, if it wasn't torrential downpour and the balls were dry, it would have been another outcome," Turner said. "But ‘shoulda, woulda, coulda.' You can't make excuses."

The team had a chance to get used to the bleak conditions late in the practice week leading up to their date with the Cavaliers. Friedgen marveled at how his team didn't commit any turnovers during Thursday's wet practice. Friday brought a rainy walkthrough. When the Terps traded in the friendly confines of the practice turf field for muddy Byrd Stadium on Saturday, they became the Keystone Kops.

In a matchup in which the defenses seemed miles ahead of the offenses, the Cavaliers came up with the big play in the form of Nate Collins' 32-yard interception return for a touchdown.

And the Terps have now turned the ball over 14 times in their three home losses.

"I feel like we were better than Rutgers. I feel like we were better than Middle Tennessee. I definitely feel like we were better than [Virginia]," wide receiver Torrey Smith said, running down those home losses. "It's just on us, just protecting the ball. All those games we turned the ball over and we lost."

It seems so simple when Smith puts it that way, but one look at Friedgen in his postgame address told the story. The ninth-year coach looked positively sick trying to explain his team's lack of progress cutting down the mistakes.

Ugly, mistake-ridden home losses will do that to a coach — even if it was his third one in five weeks.

edetweiler@umdbk.com