D14
FROMTERRAPINSINSIDER Defense isworking overtime
After four games, Don Brown, Maryland’s
defensive coordinator, is concerned about the “wear and tear” his defense has experienced in recent weeks. The unit was on the field for 82 plays against
Navy, 85 plays againstWest Virginia and a whopping 98 plays -- the most Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen could remember— Saturday against Florida International. The Terrapins allowed FIU to rack up 472 total yards in the 42-28 victory over the Panthers. “We knew they had a really good defense,” FIU Coach Mario Cristobal said. “But we were able to move the ball on them. They gave us a lot of stuff underneath the coverage, and we were able to go fast and get the ball into some of our playmakers’ hands.We missed a few plays and they made us pay in the fourth quarter.” Maryland linebacker Adrian Moten and cornerback Trenton Hughes each intercepted passes by
quarterbackWesley Carroll, who attempted 58 passes and was erratic much of the game. The Terrapins also managed to stop the Panthers on fourth down at the Maryland 4 in the fourth quarter. “I thought we did a good job when it counted of getting our [butts] off the field,” Brown said. —Eric Prisbell
NEXT UP: Saturday vs. Duke, 6 p.m.
EZ SU
KLMNO College football The region
FROMHOKIESJOURNAL Gouveia-Winslowbounces back
Linebacker Jeron Gouveia- Winslow got the first interception of his career in the third quarter of Virginia Tech’s 19-0 win over Boston College. It was just one
week ago that Gouveia-Winslow, Virginia Tech’s starting whip linebacker to begin the season, saw his playing time drop dramatically after a poor performance in the Hokies’ shocking loss to James Madison. He played just nine defensive snaps in Virginia Tech’s 49-27 win over East Carolina. “The interception definitely broughtmy spirits up and got me through the second half,” Gouveia-Winslow said. “Obviously after the JMU game,my performance wasn’t what it should be ... but I never really got down. I took it as more momentum to get better.”
—Mark Giannotto
NEXT UP: Saturday at North Carolina State, time TBA
FROMCAVSJOURNAL Dowling makes debut
Senior cornerback Ras-I Dowling and junior strong safety Rodney McLeod made their season debuts
Saturday against VMI. Dowling entered the game on VMI’s fourth offensive series, and the Keydets went at him right away. On the first play of the drive, VMI’s Cam Jones completed a 36-yard pass to T.J. Talley with Dowling trailing in coverage. Dowling was called for pass interference on the first play of the second quarter. McLeod entered the game with
12:52 remaining in the second quarter and did not record a tackle. —Steve Yanda
NEXT UP: Sat. vs. Fla. St., time TBA
NEXT UP: Saturday at Air Force, 2:30 p.m.
FROMMIDSINSIDER Headed to Dublin
The 86th meeting between Navy and Notre Dame will take place on Sept. 1, 2012, at
Aviva Stadium in Dublin. “To see this stadium is to believe it has to be one of the finest venues in the world,” Naval Academy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said. “Although modest in capacity, few stadiums anywhere have attended to the detail, aesthetics and fan comfort found at Aviva.” --Kathy Orton
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
AREAROUNDUP
Morgan State conquers its touchdown woes, Howard
FROM NEWS SERVICES AND STAFF REPORTS
Morgan State scored its first
two touchdowns of the season off two turnovers in the first half to beatHoward, 20-3, onSaturday in the 40th annual New York Urban League Football Classic in East Rutherford,N.J. More than 34,160 attended the
first college football game at the NewMeadowlands Stadium. Morgan State had yet to score a
touchdown of any kind in three games, including a 14-7 opening winoverBowieState,whichitwon withfour fieldgoals anda safety. But that streak ended with 10
PHOTOS BY JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Maryland‘s Da’Rel Scott heads to the end zone on a 56-yard scoring jaunt late in the opening half.He finished with two touchdowns and 103 yards rushing on 15 carries. O’Brien sparks Maryland past FIU, 42-28 maryland from D1
backs who took the most reps in practice this week were Devin Burns, a true freshman whom Friedgen would prefer to red- shirt, and Tony Logan, a wide receiver-punt returner who played quarterback in high school. Franklin said Burns took 80 percent of the quarterback reps this past week. O’Brien said he was limited in
practice Tuesday, but practiced Wednesday and Thursday and said his ankle improved by spending two hours a day in treatment that involved ice, vi- bration and laser procedures. Robinson did not practice all week and, Franklin said, was relegated toan“emergency back- up” when he could not lift his arm before Saturday’s game. O’Brien, who said he was told
Thursday that he would start, said his ankle is near 100 per- cent. But if he had aggravated it against a defense that amassed six sacks the previous week, would Friedgen really have turned to his punt returner, Lo- gan? Friedgen answered the question with a nod that ex- pressedmorefear thananything. Friedgen pulled a white Terps hat from his head, revealing a
Terps wide receiver Torrey Smith shakes free in the third quarter.
balding scalp and said, “That’s why I look like this.” O’Brien had a strong perfor-
mance — three touchdowns in his first four pass attempts — in relief of Robinson against divi- sion I-AAMorgan State on Sept. 11. But his two plays against I-A
competition — a fumbled ex- change against Navy and a sack against West Virginia — were less positive. Because of O’Brien’s inexperi-
ence, coaches wanted to empha- size the running game early Sat- urday. But the Terrapins gained
just tworushing yards in the first quarter. It was O’Brien who got Maryland going by floating a pass to the back left corner of the end zone, where wide receiver LaQuan Williams hauled it in for a nine-yard touchdown recep- tion early in the second quarter. “Wasn’t that a big-time
catch?” Friedgen said. Friedgen said O’Brien did a
strong job exploiting FIU’s man coverage and recognizing hot readswhenFIUblitzed.Oneplay that resonated in Friedgen’s mind occurred midway through the second quarter: Franklin called a running play, but O’Brien saw that FIU was com- ing on an aggressive blitz called “cross-dog,” so he threw a screen pass to wide receiver Adrian Cannon that went for 15 yards. “That’s what you need at the
quarterback position,” Friedgen said. “You need a guy who can make decisions, put you in the right play and give you a chance to be successful. He got the ball to our guys who can make some plays.”
About the only mistake coach-
es sawfrom O’Brienwaswhenhe turned the wrong way on a red zone play. O’Brien, though, pin- pointed at least six mistakes he made during the game.
“I felt pretty confident,”
O’Brien said. “I didn’t feel ner- vous at all.” Regarding O’Brien’s impres-
sive play, Smith, who caught eight passes for 159 yards, said, “What you saw is what we see every day.” Because of the week-long un-
certainty at quarterback, Fried- gen had preached thatMaryland needed to score on special teams and defense. He saw Logan re- turn a punt 85 yards for a touch- downand linebacker AdrianMo- ten and cornerback Trenton Hughes make key interceptions. A noon kickoff, steamy tem-
peratures and an unappealing opponent attracted an an- nounced crowd of 33,254 to Byrd Stadium, but far fewer seemed to be in the stadium formuchof the sun-baked afternoon. Those who did come witnessed a sneak pre- view of Maryland’s future at quarterback. O’Brien said he planned to
enjoy Saturday night in Balti- more with family members, who made the trip from Kernersville, N.C., and then celebrate his birthday on Sunday.He turns 20. “For how young he is,” run-
ning back Da’Rel Scott said, “he is a very poised person.”
prisbelle@washpost.com
Terrapins’ offensive line thrives despite hardships
Reworked group paves way for two long runs, allows only one sack
BY LIZ CLARKE AmongthebleakstatisticsinMaryland’s
14-point losstoWestVirginialastweekend, two pointed squarely to shortcomings on the offensive line: the eight sacks surren- dered (a record in the Ralph Friedgen era) and theminus-10net rushing yards. So the priorities were clear, at least,
when the patched-together line reassem- bled for practice. With starting quarterback Jamarr Rob-
inson sidelined by an injured throwing shoulder, redshirt freshman backup Dan- nyO’Brien hobbled by a high-ankle sprain and a freshman next on the depth chart, the line had tomake surewhoever started under center Saturday against Florida In- ternational didn’t get pummeled further (O’Brien ended up getting the start). And the line had to do a far better job run blocking to help take the pressure off the passing game. Moreover, the linehadto achieve all this
despite losing its starting left tackle for the season, playing its right tackle out of posi- tion and starting a redshirt freshman at right tackle. While FIU’s defense is hardly as formi-
dable asWest Virginia’s,Maryland’s offen- sive line acquitted itself well in Saturday’s 42-28 victory at Byrd Stadium, helping the Terps avoid the indignity of losing to a Sun Belt opponent for a third consecutive sea- son and head into conference play with a 3-1 record and amodicumofmomentum. Against FIU (0-3), Maryland’s retooled
offensive line gave up just one sack (and that hardly counted, with O’Brien hitting the ground before getting flattened after sensing a defender breaking free) and helping running backs Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett combine for 186 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Theturnaboutwasn’tbyaccident. Itwas
the resultof a concertedeffortbyFriedgen, himself a former offensive lineman, to “coach up” the unit in technique and pas- sion alike. And it was the result of a pact among the linemen, who imposed a post- practice penalty of extra pushups on any man who let a quarterback get hit during practice. Friedgen slipped into offensive line meetings early intheweek, sittingnear the
back in an effort not to overrun the pro- ceedings under offensive line coach Tom Brattan. “He’d be sitting behind certain people,
kind of whispering in their ear, saying, ‘You’re taking a good step here, but you could be lower,’ ” senior center Paul Pine- gar said. Then on Friday, when Brattan was re-
cruiting off campus, Friedgen took charge of the offensive linemeeting. “They saw a side of me they probably
haven’t seen,”Friedgensaid. “I justwanted themto know they hadmy support, and I knewwewere gonna get it right.” It was hardly ideal, starting redshirt
freshman PeteDeSouza at right tackle just four games into the season. It was equally tricky for R.J. Dill to slide to fromright to left tackle, fillingthe spotvacatedbyJustin Gilbert,whowas lost for theseasonagainst WestVirginia. “It causes challenge for everybody,” Pin-
egar explained. “But Pete handled himself beautifully.AndR.J., switching sides—it’s like being able to switch the pen to the other hand and writing left-handed. It’s not as easy as it looks.” And during meetings, Friedgen ad-
dressed the hardship posed by all the re- shufflinghead on.
“I put the pressure onDeSouza and R.J.
Dill: ‘You gotta show up!’ ” Friedgen re- counted. “ ‘What arewe gonna do?We lost our left tackle! Are we gonna go home? Take our ball and go home? Or are you gonna fight?’ “I told ’em last night: ‘You all got these
goals. But you gotta have convictions! When it’s tough, what are you gonna do? All the sudden, your goal is not really attainablenow?You give in?’ ” Still, players and coaches alike agree
that there’s roomfor improvement on the line, particularly onrunblocking. Though the final numbers looked en-
couraging, the Terps gained only 37 yards on the ground once the two monstrous touchdown runs by Meggett and Scott (of 76and56yards, respectively)werededuct- ed fromthe total. And when pinned deep, with terrible
field position at the start of drives, the running game couldn’t be counted on to help dig the offense out of trouble. Too many series ended up three plays and out. Saidoffensive coordinator JamesFrank-
lin: “I’d still like to be able to run the ball a littlemore consistently, especially early in the game. But they protected, for themost part, prettywell.”
clarkel@washpost.com
minutes 52 seconds left in the second quarter when Donovan DickersonhitChukaOkakpuwith a 16-yard touchdown pass, giving the Bears (2-2, 1-1Mid-EasternAt- lanticConference) a 10-0lead. Reshaude Miller picked off
Howard’s Casey Council, return- ing it 89 yards for a touchdown to putMorgan State ahead by 17.The interception and score was Mill- er’s first ofhis career. Kemar Scarlett’s 46-yard field
goal, the longest of his career, put theBearsup20-3onthe firstdrive of the secondhalf. SeniordefensiveendBiconTate
forced turnovers in the first and second quarters forMorganState, knocking the ball loose for a fum- ble in the first and intercepting a pass tipped by senior nose tackle KevinMyrie. Council fumbled four snaps in
the first half for the Bison (0-4, 0-4), recovering themall, but also had a lost fumble forced by Tate. Howard got the ball back on the next play, though, when strong safetyLannyKellypickedoffDick- erson. Charles Brice finished with a
career-andgame-high96yardson 13 carries forHoward. The Bison have not won a con-
ference game since Oct. 27, 2007, when they beat Norfolk State, 17- 10.
l CASTLETONSTATE31, GALLAUDET 28: The Spartans’
offense amassed 524 yards of total offense, and Carl Ojala booted a 20-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining in an Eastern Colle- giate Football Conference win over thehostBison. Gallaudet (2-2, 0-1 ECFC) tied
the game at 28, a minute before, when the Bison finished a seven play, 80-yard drive and converted a two-point conversion. Sopho- more running back Phillip Hayes ran in from 10 yards out for the touchdown and then scored on the two-point attempt. Castleton started its final drive
at its 35-yard line and had 1:17 to work with. Behind quarterback Shane Brozowski the Spartans marched down the field on an eightplay,62-yarddrive.Brozows- ki ran the ball four times and completed three passes to set up the game-winning fieldgoal. l ALBRIGHT41,CATHOLIC31:
Down 41-17 in the fourth quarter, theCardinals ralliedtopullwithin 10 points in the final minute, but thatwas as close asCatholic got as it fell toAlbrightonthe roadinthe ShrinersBowl. l BOWIE STATE 28, VIRGINIA
UNION 27: The Bulldogs chris- tened their new synthetic turf field and junior Clifton Budd set two school passing records in Bowie State’s victory over the Panthers.Buddcompleted32of51 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. Budd’s 32 comple- tions and 355 yards surpassed the mark of 24 completions and 324 passing yards set byArthur Lee in 1983.
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