Maryland Defense - Bent and now Broken

[Todd-O]

Here's the stat of the week.

Guess how many first downs the Terps have given up in the last three games.

Not 20. Not 30... Not 50... Not 60... Not 70....

But, SEVENTY SIX.

What the hell?

After watching these home games... I think this may be one of the worst defensive lines I've seen college park in the last decade. Our corners are absolutely useless - I can't figure out if they are taught not to play the ball and to go for the hit post-catch... or if they are just so out matched that they are in capable of keeping up with the wides on other teams. Our LB corps is mediocre at best. Henderson is by far the best player on this unit... but I'm wondering how good he really is. Does the weakness of the rest of the "D" make him look better?

I'm sure I'm just pointing out the obvious... and I know there's a ton of frustration with the inept schemes and strategy that Cosh has pushed. But good Lord.

76 first downs in 3 games?

Are you kidding me, America?

Just as a frame of reference... over the same span, the Terps' O has only gotten 46.

That's a big disparity.

One of the most glaring facts about Fridges' tenure is that he did almost all of his impressive winning with kids that Vanderlindin recruited. Quite simply put: The Fridge hasn't been able to re-stock. He served up a major buffet and now all we have left are a few boxes of Mac-N-Cheese and some cans of Black Beans.

I hope I'm wrong... but this is really disturbing.

[OregonBird]

Over the past 3-4 years, when Vandy's recruits should have mostly graduated, I'm wondering what the following statistics are:
1. Wins/Losses per year excluding the 2-3 annual creme puffs
2. ACC Wins/Losses per year
3. Points per game, per year, excluding creme puffs
4. Yards per game, per year, excluding creme puffs

I think the overall record during that time, excluding creme puffs, is just a few games over .500, while the yards per game and points per game has probably gone up steadily, perhaps drastically once Cosh came/Blackney left.

They've also missed on several QB's, haven't brought in a DE pass rusher.

Very interesting indeed.

[glenn__davis]

They've also missed on several QB's, haven't brought in a DE pass rusher.



Was Merriman a recruit of Vanderlinden's or Friedgen's? I can't remember.

Also, Melvin Aleaze was supposed to be a beast of a pass rusher before he had his legal problems.

[Todd-O]

Merriman was the Fridge.

It's not like Ralph has brought in some awesome players...

Merriman, D'Qwell Jackson, Vernon Davis...

It's that he isn't reloading and improving across the board. Maryland has always had one or two studs surrounded by a bunch of lesser talent.

They need a couple of huge classes to push them over the edge.

[Dr. FLK]

Was Merriman a recruit of Vanderlinden's or Friedgen's? I can't remember.

Also, Melvin Aleaze was supposed to be a beast of a pass rusher before he had his legal problems.

I believe that the Fridge recruited Merriman.

http://umterps.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/020602aad.html

[Dr. FLK]

Merriman was the Fridge.

It's not like Ralph has brought in some awesome players...

Merriman, D'Qwell Jackson, Vernon Davis...

It's that he isn't reloading and improving across the board. Maryland has always had one or two studs surrounded by a bunch of lesser talent.

They need a couple of huge classes to push them over the edge.

Your list isn't very long. He hasn't been able to even get an adequate QB since McBrien left. They have no defense. He hasn't been able to put together a secondary. He doesn't have any pass rushers on the D-Line. His O-Line isn't much to write home about. Basically, he's brought in a few studs and a bunch of junk. A good recruiting class is solid across the board, and he never brings in enough talent for to say that.

[Todd-O]

I totally agree with you... like I said, you not only have to reload at the position where you lose someone, but you also need to improve yourself in other areas. Ralph has suffered some major recruiting loses to grades and the law... but... still!

This year's class is looking decent... but - AGAIN - we have some deficits at the positions where we are SUFFERING.

He just ain't gettin' er done.

[OregonBird]

Yeah, the recruiting is a bit misrepresentative. Its a couple of positions where the Terps seem to really struggle.

QB: Statham, Steffy, Ricker, no return on recruitment investment. Statham was a bust, Steffy is a backup QB, while Ricker was a "miss" as he basically quit school and left the program.

DE: Abiamiri (only partially MD's fault), Harvey, Alaeze (not MD's fault), Austin. Abiamiri wanted to come but the whole Xbox incident w/Coach Sharpless killed that. Harvey went to Florida. Alaeze's academic and legal troubles are well documented. Austin didn't seem like a good fit w/the Fridge, although a great talent, not sure his ego would fit in CP.

Recruiting is nice and I'm glad this year's class looks good but let's face it, in the Fridge's program it will take at least 2, more likely 3 years before we see any tangible results. We could be in for 2 more years of 5-7 seasons.