DE Jeremy Navarre has started 28 of the last 30 games for the Terps.
The Terrapins have been fairly solid on the defensive side of the ball for most of the season. The Terps come into the weekend ranked 43rd nationally in total defense (345.17 ypg), including the 30th-ranked pass defense (198.33 ypg). In their victory over 10th ranked Rutgers, the Terps held the nations 9th best offense to 392 total yards. The Scarlet Knights came into the game averaging 525.0 ypg.
Maryland was without its top playmaker in the win over Georgia Tech, as junior linebacker Erin Henderson sat out with a knee injury. Junior LB Dave Philistin, a first-year starter, picked up the slack vs. the Yellow Jackets with a career-high 21 tackles. He is second on the team with 53 stops.
Tackles Dre Moore and Carlos Feliciano lead the rush defense, which is allowing 146.8 yards per game, and held Heisman candidate Ray Rice to 97 yards Junior cornerback Kevin Barnes is tied for fourth in the league in interceptions (0.50 pg). He has three of the team’s seven picks.
Statistics
- In their first two games of the year, the Terps held back-to-back opponents below 200 yards of total offense for the first time since 2003.
- Maryland has had at least one defensive player drafted into the NFL in each of the last 11 seasons, and 17 defensive players overall in that time span, including cornerback Josh Wilson last season. Of the Terps’ defenders selected, 11 have gone in the first three rounds, including first round picks Chad Scott (1997) and Shawne Merriman (2005).
- The Terps allowed 4.6 yards per carry last season, their worst categorical performance in six seasons. That number has improved some this season to 4.3 yards per game. Three teams have rushed for over 175 yards this season against UM. Maryland is 1-2 in those games.
- UM has given up over 392 yards of offense in each of its last four games. In that span West Virginia, Wake Forest, Rutgers and Georgia Tech have averaged 430.2 yards per game.
Coach Groh Says …
“Our players have done a good job of overcoming adversities and fighting back and not getting discouraged by them, but the reality is that we have given the other team the ball three times from the 13-yard line in. To play the type of game that is going to be this team’s style this year, it doesn’t mean that it is the chosen style or the preferred one, it’s the best for this team and the one that this team is most capable of. We just can’t continue to do those things. It makes it too easy for the other team and too hard for us. We just can’t continue to do that. Whoever is responsible for it, and it’s been across the board, it’s been ball carriers, it’s been throwers, it’s been kick returners. There’s got to be substantial awareness that the ball isn’t a toy, it’s not a toy. When somebody has the ball, he’s carrying the aspirations and the dreams of everybody in the organization.”
Subscribe to read full story
Tired of low effort articles and clickbait? So are we. Subscribe to read great articles written by a full-time staff with decades of experience.
Already a subscriber? Login Here