Terps Lose To Clemson

The Terps couldn't quite pull it out this weekend, as 75 yards worth of personal fouls helped Maryland snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I won't get into my feelings about the majority of the referee's personal foul calls. Let's just say that I don't think a little bit of celebration, or a little bit of hard nosed football should be held against a team, nor especially should it determine the outcome of a game. But I digress.

Let's just take a quick look at the pros and cons from the weekend's loss. Let's start with the...

Cons:

1. LACK OF SMARTS. In big games against ranked opponents, you have to be smart to win. Maryland's defense was called for 75 yards worth of personal fouls...that's FIVE of them. Four of these calls added yardage to stalled drives or extricated the Tigers from abysmal field position and eventually led to Clemson TD's. The Terps were on notice early that the refs were flag-happy. In fact, they were called for excessive celebration on the THIRD PLAY OF THE GAME after stopping Clemson on a long thrid down. The Tigers were given the first down by virtue of the penalty, and later on the drive tasted the end zone. You have to know your officiating crew. Maryland also faced a fourth and 30 on its final drive, effectively killing its chances to win, after a series of offensive penalties and a sack. You can't win if you don't play smart.

2. RUNNING BACKS. After running up the yardage against a smaller Navy team in week one, the Terrapins were riding high and thinking maybe their preseason doubts about their running game were unfounded. Clemson held Maryland to 57 yards rushing, including an atrocious 21 yards on 15 carries by RB Mario Merrills, who blasted the Mids for 159 yards a week before. Football fans don't need to be told that you can't win without a running game. You're in deeper water if your QB is just cutting his teeth behind center in the college game. Yikes.

3. FOURTH QUARTER DEFENSE. It all came apart in the fourth quarter. Clemson easily scored the two TD's that put them ahead of the Terps on big plays of 30+ yards on consecutive drives. That tells me the guys were tired. To win in the big games, you have to bear down in the tough situations. Maryland's players were playing on fumes.

Pros:

1. VERNON DAVIS. Wow. This guy put on the most impressive receiving performance I have seen in person on Saturday. The big TE caught six balls for 140 yards and a TD. It wasn't the yardage that was impressive. Davis would not go down after the catch until five Clemson players gang tackled him...and he would still fight on. Most receivers these days fall like a sack of potatoes to avoid getting hit. Davis hit back. Highly impressive. I can't wait to watch him play more this season.

2. SAM HOLLENBACH. The junior QB continues to impress. He made only one major mistake all day by a throwing an ill-advised interception in the first half. But the third down pass gave Clemson little better field position than they would've had with a punt. Hollenbach continues to look poised in the pocket. He finished 18-28-288-2-1 on the day.

3. THE DEFENSE...QUARTERS 1-3. Maryland shut down Charlie Whitehurst and the Clemson RB's for three quarters before falling apart. Into the third quarter Maryland had outgained the Tigers by twice the yardage before Clemson pulled nearly even late. For three quarters, however, the Terps looked as impressive as any D in the league. Without the stupid penalties, Maryland would have cruised to victory.

More later!