There is still a possibility this season could extend into December for the Terrapin football team. A chance — as long as longshots can be — remains for this team to play in the ACC Championship game.
But there is, ostensibly, only one scenario in which 2009 can remain relevant, and it hinges on a 2-6 team, loser of its last three games, winning its final four. Should the Terps fail this Saturday at N.C. State, the three remaining games on their schedule will be the only indicator that the Terps season is not finished.
Coach Ralph Friedgen has mapped out the possible outcomes clearly to his team. He said players approached him last week about teammates losing a sense of purpose for the desolate season, but the ninth-year coach wanted to set the record straight.
“There’s a sense of urgency with me,” Friedgen said, an air of defiance in his voice. “I don’t know if you realize that or not, but I’m tired of losing. There’s a big sense of urgency. That’s one of the things I’ve been talking to our players about: We need to start winning.”
For that reason, Friedgen has avoided focusing too much on how the season at large will play out. His team hasn’t won a game in more than a month, and now they “need to get back on a winning track,” he said, simply to salvage what has been the worst season in Friedgen’s tenure.
Depending on the tint of the viewer’s lens, this season has been either a downward spiral or an uphill climb. Either way, the Terps have tried nearly every approach in the book with little to show for their efforts.
In the first eight weeks, nine true freshmen have played, a Friedgen-era high. The offensive line has featured nine different starters and six different starting lineups, most recently involving tackle Paul Pinegar sliding to left guard. And the defense has gone from allowing 514 rushing yards in its first two games to just 86 in its last two.
Still, there have been no significant positive results. Friedgen continues to praise his team’s efforts on the practice field, and even on the game field. “But at the end of the day, you’ve still gotta win football games,” defensive tackle Travis Ivey said.
This team has been worse at that aspect of football — winning — than any team in Friedgen’s tenure.
It’s is a very different group than those of the Ron Vanderlinden era that preceded Friedgen’s arrival and the subsequent program revival. Those teams lacked ability. They could not survive the rigors of the ACC and failed to win more than three conference games in any season in Vanderlinden’s four years at the helm.
With this team, it’s been mistakes. Simple mistakes. Turnovers, penalties — the term “correctable errors,” has been a recurring theme of post-game interview sessions. It’s the type of year where three different players have fumbled punt returns.
“We’ve struggled. That’s kind of been the case all season — we’ve struggled,” defensive end Deege Galt said. “We’ve made plays here, made plays there. But we’ve just struggled putting it all together. There hasn’t been one heartbeat. We’ve done a lot of things right, and that’s what’s so frustrating: We’ve done so many things right. ... But when we need it, we can’t put it together in one ballgame.”
The bye week provided the Terps with a rare moment away from those struggles. Friedgen allowed his team some freedom, encouraging players to go home last weekend. Safety Terrell Skinner flew down to Florida to be with his four-year-old daughter, while tight end Tommy Galt went to New York with his girlfriend’s family.
When they returned to the practice field, linebacker Alex Wujciak said, “It kind of felt like the first day of practice all over again.”
Still, a bye week hardly serves as a reset button. There’s no do-overs for the team’s 52-13 season-opening loss at California or a 17-13 loss in the rain at Duke two weeks ago.
The reality staring the Terps’ in the eyes is this: For the next four weeks, they will have to play at a level they’ve yet to prove capable of in order to extend their season with a bowl game.
Athletes of all types typically believe they will win every game. Coaches, even more so. But the window of opportunity for this team is closing quickly.
“It’s not a reality yet, because the season’s not over,” said Ivey, a senior. “I don’t plan on losing this game. But if, God forbid, we do go out and lose to N.C. State, I’m pretty sure it’s going to settle in. It’s inevitable. But at the end of the day, I have a lot of pride. My teammates have a lot of pride. I’m going to play every day as if we were in it to win the championship.”
The Terps are just one or two mistakes away from pride being their only remaining motivation.
ajoseph@umdbk.com
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