Maryland Needs To Get Defensive, And In A Hurry

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- The Maryland Terrapins have already surrendered 119 points this season, the worst three-game total since Ralph Friedgen took over as coach before the 2001 season.

Friedgen hired defensive coordinator Don Brown in January with hopes that the success Brown had during five seasons at Massachusetts would continue at Maryland.

So far, it hasn't happened.

Maryland ranks 111th among 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total defense, yielding a whopping 466 yards per game. The opposition is averaging 6.79 yards per play, which goes a long way toward explaining why the Terrapins (1-2) lost to California by 39, squeezed past James Madison 38-35 in overtime and fell to Middle Tennessee State at home last week.

If things don't improve in a hurry, beginning Saturday at home against Rutgers, Maryland's school-best run of three straight bowl bids will be in serious jeopardy.

The problem is twofold. The Terrapins have only four starters back from last season, and one of them, cornerback Nolan Carroll (broken leg), has already been lost for the year. There's also the matter of getting adjusted to Brown's attacking defense scheme, which apparently is rather complicated.

"I think it's just a matter of getting acclimated to it," senior safety Terrell Skinner said Tuesday. "Each week we're getting better and better. It's coming around. I can see it every day. We're jelling."

Four turnovers by the Maryland offense last Saturday put additional pressure on the defense in a 32-31 loss to Middle Tennessee, but the Blue Raiders also had plays of 26, 27 and 36 yards before a key 35-yard completion on the final drive set up the game-winning field goal.

"We are just giving up big plays, and we have to stop that," Friedgen said. "I thought our tackling was better and I thought our pursuit was better."

The result, however, was not.

"Whatever we have to do to get better, I'm willing to do because I don't want to get embarrassed anymore, I don't want to get beat anymore," Skinner said. "I think we've worked too hard for too long to let it go to waste like that."

Terps wide receiver Torrey Smith, who goes up against the defense every day in practice, can't understand why the unit struggles so much on game day.

"I know what they're capable of doing," Smith said. "I believe in them 100 percent. Sooner or later they're going to be making plays and making our job as an offense easier. It's a real aggressive scheme, and guys are still learning it. Once they get it down, we'll be fine."

The Terps' defensive woes have not gone unnoticed by Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. The Scarlet Knights (2-1) are averaging 385 yards per game, and have every reason to expect more of the same against Maryland.

"They have had some struggles," Schiano said, "but when you look at it more closely, it is big plays. (Middle Tennessee) popped big runs on them, and that is what, statistically, has made it the way it is. ... It is a new defensive coordinator and a new scheme. So as they get more and more used to it, what happens is you stop those runs a little bit better."

That's what the Terrapins are hoping for, anyway.

"We've got to get it going, we've got to get clicking," defensive lineman Deege Galt said. "It's just one play here, one play there. As soon as we eliminate the little mistakes and start making big plays, we really can be something special."