Maryland Preview
December 30, 2003 10:04 AM | General
December 30, 2003
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – West Virginia faces Maryland in the 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Thursday, Jan. 1. Maryland (9-3) has won the last three games against West Virginia including a 34-7 win over the Mountaineers earlier this year in College Park, Md.
Here is a comprehensive breakdown of Maryland:
Maryland Offense
First and foremost, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen is an offensive guy.
“Ralph has a great plan and he’s been doing this for a long time,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez.
Friedgen cut his teeth at The Citadel, William & Mary and Murray State before landing a job with his alma mater in 1982 to coordinate Bobby Ross’ offense. He stayed four years with Ross until 1986, winning three ACC titles and playing in four bowl games.
Friedgen followed Ross to Georgia Tech, where he helped turn the Yellow Jackets into a national contender. Ross’ 1990 Georgia Tech team finished the year 11-0-1 and won a share of the national championship.
Once again, Freidgen went with Ross to the NFL in 1992 where he first served as the run game coordinator for the San Diego Chargers before taking over the offensive coordinator duties in 1994. That year, San Diego advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
Friedgen returned to the college ranks in 1997 to coordinate Georgia Tech’s offense. In 1999, Tech was one of only two teams in the country that year to average more than 200 yards rushing and passing. A year earlier in 1998, Friedgen’s Georgia Tech offense set a school record with 50 touchdowns.
Three years later, Friedgen was back at Maryland assuming his first head coaching assignment at age 54. Friedgen immediately restored Maryland as a force to be reckoned with in the ACC and including this season’s 9-3 record, the coach has gone 30-8 heading into this year’s Toyota Gator Bowl against West Virginia.
Maryland’s 1,206 points scored in Friedgen’s three seasons is easily the most produced during a three-year period in Terrapin history.
“It just seems their coach knows when to call what,” said West Virginia cornerback Pac-Man Jones. “They run the same play out of a lot of different formations. It’s just about studying film and knowing what you need to know.”
Since his arrival, Friedgen’s teams have always managed to move the football and score points despite not having many nationally known offensive players.
In the three years Freidgen has been in the Maryland program, just one offensive player (center Melvin Fowler) has been selected in the NFL draft. His top offensive weapon, running back Bruce Perry, has been hampered by injuries the last two seasons after earning ACC player of the year honors as a sophomore in 2001.
The coach has also been able to make the Maryland offense move with quarterbacks that began their careers elsewhere. In 2001, Friedgen inherited junior college quarterback Shaun Hill and turned him into a 2,000-yard passer.
The past two seasons, Friedgen has helped develop former West Virginia transfer Scott McBrien into one of the more effective ACC signalcallers.
McBrien passed for 2,497 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2002 as a junior, and followed that up with another 2,000-yard, 16-touchdown performance this season. McBrien’s best passing performance came in a 59-21 win over North Carolina when he passed for 349 yards and four touchdowns. McBrien is also a threat to run the football, gaining 273 yards and scoring five touchdowns this season.
“We need to make him beat us instead of letting him sit back in the pocket and just pick us apart,” said West Virginia senior safety Brian King.
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| Running back Bruce Perry was the 2001 ACC offensive player of the year. (AP photo) | |
Maryland’s two big running weapons are sophomore Josh Allen and senior Bruce Perry.
Allen produced a career-high 257 yards in a win against Virginia earlier this year, and shows 894 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Allen has carried the football 175 times for an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
Perry has started three games this season after missing almost all of 2002 with various injuries. In 2001 Perry was the top back in the ACC, rushing for more than 1,200 yards including a career-high 276 yards at Wake Forest.
This season Perry has managed 646 yards and six touchdowns on 127 carries. Like Allen, he is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.
All-ACC left guard C.J. Brooks anchors a Maryland offensive line that features three starters weighing more than 300 pounds. Center Kyle Schmitt was an honorable mention all-ACC pick.
One-time quarterback Latrez Harrison is Maryland’s top pass receiver with 38 catches for 553 yards and six touchdowns. His best game was a 109-yard effort against Duke last year.
“He is a great receiver; he is one of the best receivers I’ve gone up against,” said Jones.
Return specialist Steve Suter shows 25 catches for 387 yards and a touchdown.
The Terps rank 24th in rushing offense and 34th in total offense. Maryland is also averaging 30.4 points per game to rank 36th in the nation.
“They’re solid all across the board,” said King. “Their offensive line is as good as or better than anyone we face all year including Miami. They’ve got prototype wide receivers -- big, tall and fast – their running backs are hard, physical runners. All across the board they’re so sound.”
Maryland Defense
For West Virginia to win the 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl, the Mountaineers are going to have to find a way to move the football against Maryland’s veteran defense.
In a September game at College Park earlier this year, West Virginia had its worst offensive performance of the season against the Terps. WVU managed just 11 first downs and 156 yards of offense in a 34-7 loss. WVU didn’t get on the scoreboard until 4:02 left in the game when backup running back Kay-Jay Harris scored on a 12-yard touchdown run against mostly reserves.
Since Friedgen took over the Terp program, Coach Gary Blackney’s defense has been formidable. In three games since 2001, WVU has failed to rush for 200 yards despite ranking among the nation’s top 15 rushing offenses in each of the last two seasons.
West Virginia wasn’t the only team having difficulty moving the football against the Terps either. Since 2001, only Georgia has ranked higher than Maryland nationally each season in scoring defense.
Maryland finished this year ranked 12th in scoring defense, 16th in total defense, 17th in pass defense and 19 in pass efficiency defense. Maryland is allowing 314 yards per game and just 4.7 yards per play.
Maryland’s pass defense is giving up just 186 yards per game and Maryland’s four starters in the defensive backfield have a combined 129 starts between them heading into the Gator Bowl.
Only four opponents this year have scored more than 20 points against the Terps and Maryland has yet to permit an average of more than 20 points per game under Blackney’s watch. Only three times in 38 games has Maryland’s defense given up more than 40 points.
That’s pretty heady stuff when considering some of the offenses Maryland has gone up against in the ACC. This year the Terps held Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub to just 186 yards passing and 17 points. High-flying Clemson managed just 10 yards rushing and seven points in a 21-7 loss.
Good schemes and outstanding veteran personnel are the two main reasons for Maryland’s defensive dominance.
The Terps have 10 seniors listed on their defensive two-deep and 11 players with at least two varsity letters. Maryland was the only ACC team to have its entire defensive backfield recognized by the ACC and seven of its defensive starters either made the all-ACC first, second or honorable mention teams.
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| Defensive tackle Randy Starks has become a dominant defender for Maryland. (AP photo) | |
Maryland’s marquee defender is 6-foot-4, 312-pound junior defensive tackle Randy Starks -- an automatic double team. The Waldorf, Md., native was an all-ACC first team pick and is considered a possible first-round draft choice according to Mel Kiper if he chooses to leave school a year early.
Wrote Kiper: “Starks is athletic and gifted but he needs another year with the Terps. Next season, he could be one of the nation’s best defensive players. If he declares early, he’d probably be a late first-rounder to early-to-mid second-rounder. If he stays, he’ll likely be an early first-rounder next year.”
Starks finished the year with a team-best 7.5 sacks and 14.5 tackles for losses to go with 72 total tackles.
Having Starks handle the guards and tackles up front has given sophomore middle linebacker D’Qwell Jackson the opportunity to roam free and make plays. Jackson, the only sophomore starter on the Maryland defense, is the team’s top tackler with 124 total stops to go with 7.5 tackles for losses, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions in a fine all-around season. Jackson was an all-ACC second-team pick in 2003.
All-ACC second-teamer Kevin Eli has come on like gangbusters since being inserted into the starting lineup at the left defensive end position against West Virginia. Eli recorded 53 tackles, 11 tackles for losses, 5.5 sacks and had 12 quarterback pressures.
Junior corner Domonique Foxworth and senior free safety Madieu Williams had solid seasons in the secondary, both earning second team all-ACC accolades. Foxworth and Williams picked off three passes apiece to lead the Maryland secondary. The two also combined for 122 tackles and 11 pass breakups.
Senior cornerback Curome Cox and senior strong safety Dennard Wilson both made the all-ACC honorable mention team.
Perhaps the unsung player of the Maryland defense is senior weakside linebacker Leon Joe, who finished second on the team with 103 tackles. He also had 3.5 tackles for losses and a sack.
Nose tackle C.J. Feldheim, strongside linebacker Leroy Ambush and leo linebacker Jahmahl Cochran round out Maryland’s starting 11. Nine of those players have started every game this season. Only Cochran and Eli have shared starts.
Maryland has managed to stop teams without generating a lot of turnovers. The Terps rank 112th in the nation in fumbles recovered (five) and 103rd in total turnovers gained (17).
As good as Maryland has been, the Terps are coming off a sub-par effort in its final regular season game at Wake Forest. Maryland had its second-worst defensive performance of the year against the 5-7 Demon Deacons, who were able to run for 316 yards and generate 21 first downs on the way to scoring 28 points – the second most to Florida State’s 35 against the Maryland defense. All four of Wake’s TDs came on the ground including two long runs of 53 and 74 yards by Chris Barclay, who finished the game rushing 28 times for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
It was the first time since Clemson’s Raymond Priester ran for 204 yards in 1997 that an opposing back gained more than 200 yards against the Maryland.
Maryland Special Teams
Special teams have truly been special this season for Maryland.
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| Maryland place kicker Nick Novak earned first team all-ACC honors this year. (AP photo) | |
“They are probably the best special teams unit as a group we played all year,” said Rodriguez.
This year the Terrapins boast an all-ACC first-team kicker (Nick Novak) and specialist (Steve Suter) and a second-team punter in freshman Adam Podlesh.
West Virginia fans have seen first-hand the effects Suter can have on a football game. Two years ago the 5-foot-9, 191-pound speedster returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown in a game Maryland won easily 48-17.
It was one of five punts Suter has returned in three seasons at Maryland. This year Suter shows one punt return for a touchdown against The Citadel.
Last year he tied the NCAA record with four punt returns for TDs in a season and is averaging better than 15 yards every time he touches the football either on a run, a pass or a return. Suter now has 1,014 career punt return yards to rank first on the Maryland all-time list.
Maryland has also been effective getting hidden yardage on kickoff returns, too. The Terps finished the regular season 22nd in the country with an average of 23 yards per return. Suter is also Maryland’s top kickoff return man, averaging 23.6 yards per return.
“Suter is one of the best in the country,” said Rodriguez. “A play on a special teams on one of their punts or one of our punts may make the difference.”
Like Suter, junior place kicker Nick Novak is one of the very best at his position in the country. The Charlottesville, Va., native has made 22 of 28 field goal attempts this year for 78.6 percent. All six of his misses have come from 30 yards or longer; Novak is two of three from 50 yards out. His long field goal was 54 yards against Duke.
Novak ranks second in the ACC in scoring with an average of 8.3 points per game. He has made 66 of 81 field goal attempts for his career.
Freshman punter Adam Podleski successfully replaced two-time all-ACC punter Brooks Barnard this season.
Podleski averaged 42.6 yards per punt and has helped Maryland rank third in the ACC in net punting with an average of 38.4.
Podlesh has a long punt of 63 yards and has had 21 punts downed inside the 20 yard line.
The Maryland coverage units have had their moments, too. The Terps are giving up 20.8 yards per kickoff return and 9.2 yards per punt return. Maryland has allowed both a punt and a kickoff return for a touchdown this season and has permitted one blocked field goal.
The Terps show one blocked punt for the season.
