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There was a general feeling of “we are going 0-12″ in Byrd Stadium yesterday.  At least in section 22 anyways.  At the end of the day, they won, which is more than I thought we were going to get out of the game as it turned from the 3rd to 4th quarter.  It was far from a thing of beauty.  It was far from fun to sit through.  However, when you think back to how long it has been since the last Terps win, it was pretty important.

Look, they are not going to the national championship game (though my co-writer always likes to say you are in the hunt until you lose your first game, so I guess there is a chance) so style points aren’t very important.  They could have packed it in, not fought through it, and continued the losing streak.

Here are some bright spots (this will be short):

• Despite the excellent field position the offense gave William and Mary, the defense held them to FG’s and made some plays late to seal the game.
• We got 12 true freshman playing time.  You may see this listed again under lowlights.
• Despite Perry Hills’ three interceptions, he completed 16 of 24 passes and went to 7 different receivers.  There were times where he looked comfortable in the pocket, and others where he didn’t.  I think he may be develop into an ok option at QB, it is just a few years down the road.
• There was over 31,000 people there (again you may see this listed under lowlights), I really expected to see the stadium a little more empty.

Now for the lowlights:

• Perry Hills threw three interceptions (one deflection probably wasn’t on him).
• Maryland had only two drives that lasted more than 5 plays.  The offense was able to only muster 236 total yards.  That is going to put a lot of pressure on a defense that is depleted playing a lot more plays than they need to.
• Dexter McDougle was flagged for 3 pass interference penalties.  I cringe to think what the likes of Sammy Watkins might do against the Terps secondary.

I am sure I could really add to that list, but those are some of the things that stand out.  There are minimal expectations on this team, but yesterday did little to excite me about the way things are trending in the football program.  It is evident they are starting from scratch.  New defensive system (which at times looked much improved over last year).  A new offensive system, which has a long way to go if they are going to sniff more than 1 or 2 wins.  Throw in the fact that 12 TRUE freshman played yesterday, and you can say we are building from scratch.  Almost as if we were being elevated from 1-AA.  At least that is how I feel about the program right now.  We are going to have to take pride in moral victories and seeing slow and steady improvement.  I don’t think there is anyone that can look you in the eye and say if this happens or that happens something good could come of the season.

That being said, I will be there week in and week out.  We will do our best to support the guys on the field.  But the administration had better do something quick before this thing drops another level, and based on the feeling in the stadium yesterday that is quite possible.

I tried to focus on the game and the win, but the frustration level is at an all time high for me.  I never expect us to be and elite football program.  But I also don’t think we should be anywhere near this bad.  And for us to have a legitimate chance of having 3 seasons in the last 4 years where we don’t get over two wins, I am starting to lose faith, and am starting to get restless.  I know it is only one game, but if anyone from Loh, to Anderson to Edsall thinks this is going to be acceptable, they had better look at themselves in the mirror.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2012 at 8:54 am and is filed under Maryland Terps Football. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.