NAVY GETS TERPEDOED

BALTIMORE – For most of yesterday's game against Navy, the Terrapin football team's defense tested the limits of a mantra that became the theme of their performance: "Bend, but don't break."

In the first 57 minutes, 23 seconds of the game, the Midshipmen marched into the red zone six times. Only twice did they come away with points.

The damage was largely self-inflicted. A missed field goal, costly fumbles and clock mismanagement at the end of the first half all cost Navy points — points they sought with just 37 seconds remaining in the in-state showdown. And with the Midshipmen facing a fourth-and-goal from the Terps' 1-yard line and the Terps clinging to a 17-14 lead, linebacker Adrian Moten got in the faces of his defensive teammates and let them know winning the game was now their responsibility.

"I was just telling the guys this was our last play," Moten said. "We weren't going to get any more chances than this. We just came out and said, ‘Forget it, we are going to stop them.'"

Moten proved prescient. Safeties Kenny Tate and Antwine Perez met Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs inches before the goal line and forced him backwards, preserving a nerve-wracking 17-14 season-opening win before 69,348 at M&T Bank Stadium.

Given the game's start, last-ditch heroics seemed out of the question. The Terps (1-0) took advantage of their balanced rushing attack and Navy's inexperienced linebackers right from the opening kickoff, running the ball 13 straight times on their first two drives. They were rewarded with short touchdown runs from running back Da'Rel Scott and backup Davin Meggett, resulting in a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

The decisive edge was short-lived, however. Navy's triple-option attack drove down the field on its next possession and scored to halve the deficit. Any momentum the Terps had enjoyed was quashed completely on their next possession when, with the ball inside Navy's 20-yard line, quarterback Jamarr Robinson threw an ill-advised pass into traffic and safety Emmet Merchant picked it off.

For the remainder of the game, the Terps' offense never truly could revert to its old form. Kicker Travis Baltz's fourth-quarter 24-yard field goal proved to be the decisive score Monday, but the Terps' late-game offense had few other opportunities, a reality due in large part to the defense's inability to get the ball back to them.

The Midshipmen had 82 total offensive plays to the Terps' 39, and the Midshipmen's vaunted option attack offense gashed the Terps' defense with regularity, churning up 412 yards on the ground while chewing up more than 30 minutes of time in possession.

"Both of us had turnovers when we didn't want to," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "We threw the interception and that kind of lost some of our momentum. Then we had a couple sacks, we had a couple offsides [penalties]. Once you make a mistake, and they kind of want to do that with their defense, then they make you punt the ball and you aren't going to see it for another quarter."

Despite Navy's ability to continually run the ball into the red zone, the Midshipmen couldn't stop hurting themselves before they got into the end zone. Dobbs, a subject of some Heisman Trophy hype entering the season, had three costly fumbles inside the Terps' 5-yard line.

The Terps recovered two of the fumbles. The third gaffe came right before the end of the first half, when Dobbs coughed the ball up as time ticked down. By the time Navy's kicking team had assembled into position, the clock had struck zero and some Terps were already sprinting to their locker room.

The Midshipmen's final drive ended the way so many did all game. And with the Terps' crucial stop in crunch-time — a distinct departure from last year's routine end-of-game struggles — Friedgen and the Terps could finally relax.

"Just another day at the office," Friedgen joked as he took the podium at his post-game press conference. "I am very proud of our players because Navy is an outstanding team and they played their guts out. Last year, we probably wouldn't have won this game, but we found a way to hang in there and keep persevering."

lemaire@umdbk.com