Terps vs JMU Game Thread

[Birds of B'more]

Did you see the way the Terps were dancing around like they won a BCS Bowl after needing overtime to beat a 1-AA team? Further evidence that this team is not worthy of being in the upper echelon of Div 1...they should just shake JMU's hand and get into the locker room as quickly as possible after the way they played that game.

[BaltimoreTerp]

Did you see the way the Terps were dancing around like they won a BCS Bowl after needing overtime to beat a 1-AA team? Further evidence that this team is not worthy of being in the upper echelon of Div 1...they should just shake JMU's hand and get into the locker room as quickly as possible after the way they played that game.

Cripes' date=' it's a bunch of young kids, many of whom are playing (or at least starting) their second game, and they came from behind to protect their home field against an underdog smelling blood.

[u']We[/u] shouldn't be happy, but I think whining about them being happy is just that. There's enough to complain about without grasping for those kind of straws.

[Birds of B'more]

Cripes, it's a bunch of young kids, many of whom are playing (or at least starting) their second game, and they came from behind to protect their home field against an underdog smelling blood.

We shouldn't be happy, but I think whining about them being happy is just that. There's enough to complain about without grasping for those kind of straws.

Whining? Look, if these players don't expect any better out of themselves than beating the James Madison's of the world by the skin of their teeth, then that's about all they are ever going to achieve. I'm not saying they should hang their heads, but it seemed to me like they totally lost sight of the big picture at the end of the game. I can only hope that Fridge laid into them really good in the locker room and let them know that far better is expected of them. Then again, games like this against lower-division opponents have become business as usual in College Park, so maybe Friedgen isn't getting that message across. At least the fans that were there didn't buy into that nonsense...I wonder if the players were waiting for them to rush the field and tear down the goalposts?

[OregonBird]

Whining? Look' date=' if these players don't expect any better out of themselves than beating the James Madison's of the world by the skin of their teeth, then that's about all they are ever going to achieve. I'm not saying they should hang their heads, but it seemed to me like they totally lost sight of the big picture at the end of the game. I can only hope that Fridge laid into them really good in the locker room and let them know that far better is expected of them. Then again, games like this against lower-division opponents have become business as usual in College Park, so maybe Friedgen isn't getting that message across. At least the fans that were there didn't buy into that nonsense...I wonder if the players were waiting for them to rush the field and tear down the goalposts?[/quote']

C'mon dude, they've got a right to be happy. They just beat a team w/about 30 less scholarships. Take that JMU!

[section18]

I was told before the season that Friedgen had to have a good year or he would be out. This was his final year unless the team showed improvement.

Well!......we know the answer to that question.....although it's only two games and he never has his team ready in September.

If MD had lost that game last night would he have retired or announced he was leaving? Are Franklin and the new Defensive coach competent enough to be at College Park? 52 and 35 points in the first two games. Did anyone expect this? What happened? Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting! It's always recruiting.

[TyCobb]

Stop knocking my Dukes. They are going to be a great team this year. I am hoping in a few years we switch to Divison 1 A.

[Birds of B'more]

Stop knocking my Dukes. They are going to be a great team this year. I am hoping in a few years we switch to Divison 1 A.

Based on these first two weeks, I would think the entire Colonial Athletic Association should move to Div 1-A. Followed immediately by the demotion of the ACC to 1-AA.

[Birds of B'more]

I was told before the season that Friedgen had to have a good year or he would be out. This was his final year unless the team showed improvement.

Well!......we know the answer to that question.....although it's only two games and he never has his team ready in September.

If MD had lost that game last night would he have retired or announced he was leaving? Are Franklin and the new Defensive coach competent enough to be at College Park? 52 and 35 points in the first two games. Did anyone expect this? What happened? Recruiting, recruiting, recruiting! It's always recruiting.

Well, Fridge has one more season left on his contract after this year. And we know the UMd Athletic Dept isn't exactly flush with cash right now. So if they do let Fridge go and eat the remaining year on his contract, I'd say it is 100% guaranteed that Franklin takes his place, since they won't be able to pay him a cool million as well and then hire a new coach and an entire new staff on top of that. Debbie Yow and Co. really painted themselves into a corner this time.

[OregonBird]

Well' date=' Fridge has one more season left on his contract after this year. And we know the UMd Athletic Dept isn't exactly flush with cash right now. So if they do let Fridge go and eat the remaining year on his contract, I'd say it is 100% guaranteed that Franklin takes his place, since they won't be able to pay him a cool million as well and then hire a new coach and an entire new staff on top of that. Debbie Yow and Co. really painted themselves into a corner this time.[/quote']

Franklin isn't ready IMO and Fridge won't be gone until his contract is over. That is my best guess.

Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships. Right now we have neither and have quite a few suites that aren't sold. Go out and get a hardworking OC at some big program that has a prolific spread offense.

[RShack]

Offense sells tickets, defense wins championships. Right now we have neither and have quite a few suites that aren't sold. Go out and get a hardworking OC at some big program that has a prolific spread offense.

They don't need a prolific spread offense. What they need is what used to be the traditional Fridge offense. When he was OC at GT, it was great: You never knew what the hell they were gonna do. Same thing when he first went to College Park. A Fridge-run offense is one of the more entertaining and high-scoring things you can do on a football field.

What the hell happened? Did he forget his very own kind of offense? Or can't he recruit the guys he needs? Or what?

[Dr. FLK]

They don't need a prolific spread offense. What they need is what used to be the traditional Fridge offense. When he was OC at GT, it was great: You never knew what the hell they were gonna do. Same thing when he first went to College Park. A Fridge-run offense is one of the more entertaining and high-scoring things you can do on a football field.

What the hell happened? Did he forget his very own kind of offense? Or can't he recruit the guys he needs? Or what?

He went to a "pro-style" offense for some reason, which by nature is boring and predictable. I believe he made the change based on personnel. How I miss the McBrien days...

[OregonBird]

He went to a "pro-style" offense for some reason, which by nature is boring and predictable. I believe he made the change based on personnel. How I miss the McBrien days...

Did Fridge just wake up w/Brain damage one day? I don't get this decision.

[Danielos38]

I've been really busy since Saturday, so I haven't had time to post my observations from that "game".

I'll start with attendance. Not too bad. All I was able to see from the student section was the bowl which was mostly full. Pretty good turnout there. Didn't see the upper deck, but I'll assume it was generally empty as always.

Now, onto the game... HORRENDOUS. Not much else to say there. This team is screwed moving forward as well. Without our best defensive back and lineman, we're as good as done. During this game I also lost a lot of respect for Franklin. The offensive play calling was Cosh-esque (horrendously conservative). It was the most unimaginative play calling I've ever seen. On D, I'm still waiting to see something good out of Don Brown. I'm very unimpressed as of yet.

Now to the celebration at the end of the game. What a joke. No offense to JMU (I know they are a top 1-AA team), but if we were a decent team, we would have won by 21 at the very least. But somehow, this team wants to celebrate after BARELY beating a 1-AA team!!!! Are you kidding? I've never been closer to booing one of my own teams before in my life. Honestly, I really could have cared less about the result of that game. I learned all I needed to know about the team by the way they preformed and acted after the game. Also, does the rest of the student body have absolutely no concept of when to go crazy? It was like a friggen mosh pit when we made an easy field goal to beat a team that isn't in 1-A. I was depressed througout that entire game. No chance I wasgoing to celebrate that win.

In my eyes, this was the worst MD football preformance in the last 5 years. Worse than the loss to Northern Illinois and MTSU.

This may be the first "reactionary" post I've ever made, but I'm just so dissapointed in this team. The idea of them ever becoming a usual contender in the ACC is such a joke right now.

I knew we were going to suck coming into this season, but THIS bad, no way.

The game against Va Tech is going to be a massive embarassment. It'll be at least 1/3 Tech fans and we'll get beat by 35. And for the first time, when a Tech fan tries to make fun of the MD football program, I won't even try to defend it. I wish we could trade programs with them badly at this point.

I would absolutely love it if this team can make a miraculous comeback in the season and make me look like an idiot for this post. But the chances of that are next to none.

[Dr. FLK]

Did Fridge just wake up w/Brain damage one day? I don't get this decision.

Well, he hasn't had the personnel he had that first year or two. He's never had another McBrien at QB, and I think he's had to go conservative to match the lack of talent.

[Baltimore Chop]

I've been really busy since Saturday, so I haven't had time to post my observations from that "game".

I'll start with attendance. Not too bad. All I was able to see from the student section was the bowl which was mostly full. Pretty good turnout there. Didn't see the upper deck, but I'll assume it was generally empty as always.

Now, onto the game... HORRENDOUS. Not much else to say there. This team is screwed moving forward as well. Without our best defensive back and lineman, we're as good as done. During this game I also lost a lot of respect for Franklin. The offensive play calling was Cosh-esque (horrendously conservative). It was the most unimaginative play calling I've ever seen. On D, I'm still waiting to see something good out of Don Brown. I'm very unimpressed as of yet.

Now to the celebration at the end of the game. What a joke. No offense to JMU (I know they are a top 1-AA team), but if we were a decent team, we would have won by 21 at the very least. But somehow, this team wants to celebrate after BARELY beating a 1-AA team!!!! Are you kidding? I've never been closer to booing one of my own teams before in my life. Honestly, I really could have cared less about the result of that game. I learned all I needed to know about the team by the way they preformed and acted after the game. Also, does the rest of the student body have absolutely no concept of when to go crazy? It was like a friggen mosh pit when we made an easy field goal to beat a team that isn't in 1-A. I was depressed througout that entire game. No chance I wasgoing to celebrate that win.

In my eyes, this was the worst MD football preformance in the last 5 years. Worse than the loss to Northern Illinois and MTSU.

This may be the first "reactionary" post I've ever made, but I'm just so dissapointed in this team. The idea of them ever becoming a usual contender in the ACC is such a joke right now.

I knew we were going to suck coming into this season, but THIS bad, no way.

The game against Va Tech is going to be a massive embarassment. It'll be at least 1/3 Tech fans and we'll get beat by 35. And for the first time, when a Tech fan tries to make fun of the MD football program, I won't even try to defend it. I wish we could trade programs with them badly at this point.

I would absolutely love it if this team can make a miraculous comeback in the season and make me look like an idiot for this post. But the chances of that are next to none.

I wouldn't be sooooo fast to write them off quite yet. Usually someone steps up around week 4 or 5 that nobody saw coming. I am hoping that happens again this year.

Regarding the fact that MD eeked by a I-AA team -- there are other teams out there struggling against I-AA teams. UVA lost by 12 to William and Mary. Duke lost to Richmond. Florida State eeked out a win against Jacksonville State (they scored two TDs in the last 35 seconds of the game to turn a 9-7 deficit into a respectable looking 19-9 win). FLORIDA STATE. Almost lost to Jacksonville State.

At least MD held on against last year's I-AA champs -- they were a good team and probably could beat their share of I-A teams.

One thing to keep in mind about this year's squad is that something like 58 of the 94 players on it have three years of eligibility or more. So, there is going to be a learning curve. Fridge knows how to develop players. Keep in mind that his teams tend to be better towards the end of the season than in the beginning of it.

So -- I wouldn't write this team off quite yet. Now, if injuries set in, then you can start writing them off -- the injury to Nolan Carroll certainly hurts, as does having Bruce Campbell out. However, Campbell should come back which should help the offense.

Oh, and by the way, these are college kids. They have every right to celebrate a close win, regardless of who the opponent is. This young team scratched and clawed to come back, when they easily could have mailed it in. Let's not lose sight of that.

ETA: One other thing to keep in mind is that the number of scholarships for football has levelled out between I-A and I-AA. Basically, this has levelled the playing field somewhat between the two. So, I'm not so sure you are going to be seeing as many drubbings between TOP I-AA teams and I-A teams as you would have in the past.