Instead of chewing out his players for their lackluster performance against Middle Tennessee State, Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen took a portion of the blame and showed them love. Instead of making personnel changes, Friedgen decided to stick with his starters -- including quarterback Chris Turner, who threw three interceptions in the disappointing 24-14 loss. "I thought it was very important for us to be positive with the players," Friedgen said Tuesday. "Our players are feeling this loss just as much as our coaches are. I told them after the game I didn't do a very good job of getting them prepared. ... I knew if we weren't at our best, we would have a good opportunity to get beat. And we weren't at our best."
After watching the Terrapins fumble twice, get intercepted three times and allow 284 passing yards, Friedgen considered shuffling the lineup for this Saturday's home game against No. 23 California. Ultimately, the coach decided he had the right players on the field, but that they just didn't perform up to their potential.
"I've actually had a few kids in (to talk), and felt like now maybe isn't the right time to do it," Friedgen said. "I told them they've got to start playing better, or we will make some changes. In the past when I've done that, they've responded." The message was that it's too late to do anything about that loss, yet there's plenty of time to get things right. Sure, it would be nice to be 2-0, but the objective now is get better and beat the undefeated Bears. "We just need to get sharper, just on the little things like footwork and fundamentals," center Edwin Williams said. "The good thing is, it's things we can fix. It's not lack of effort. We've got to stay consistent. As long as we do that, I don't see why we can't be positive and do well this week."
Some football coaches would react to an unexpected loss against a lesser foe by yelling or punishing the players. Friedgen's softhearted approach was appreciated by his players, who were well aware of how poorly they played. "We were trying hard but making way too many dumb mistakes," defensive end Jeremy Navarre said. Friedgen blamed the defensive woes in part of bad communication. When a play was sent in from the sideline, some of the players got it -- and others didn't. "I think people were not looking at the sideline when they needed to," defensive back Jeff Allen said. "I think we needed to communicate more by signaling each other. We figured that out this week, and we've started doing that in practice. The first thing we did Monday was work on communication." The loss to Middle Tennessee State hurt, but all the Terrapins' preseason goals remain within reach -- especially if they can rebound against a Top 25 team this weekend.
"It's one game. We've still got a lot of games to go, we still have the Atlantic Coast Conference coming up," Allen said. "We've just got to move on and take that as a lesson on how to prepare every week." No one admitted to taking Middle Tennessee State lightly, but the preparation this week has definitely been turned up a couple notches.
"Guys are working hard, putting in extra hours watching film and doing what they're supposed to do, and really putting their mind into the game," tight end Dan Gronkowski said. "If we become more consistent, we'll be a real good team." That applies to Turner, who stepped in for an injured Jordan Steffy. Turner threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, but the flaws in the offense were not necessarily those of the quarterback. "A lot of it wasn't his fault. There were receivers falling, receivers running the wrong route, or pressure in his face," Gronkowski said. 'He's coming along. He'll be fine."
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