Terrapins Say Their Rushing Defense Is Finally Up to Speed

Maryland defensive coordinator Chris Cosh emerged from the team's locker room earlier this week. He had just taken a shower, and his hair, which was slicked back neatly, gave the appearance that he was fresh and alert. The bags under his eyes, however, revealed otherwise.

"Did you get any sleep?" he was asked.

"Look at my eyes," said Cosh, who has spent at least one night in the Gossett Football Team House this week. "You know the answer."

Playing No. 4 West Virginia on a short week has been known to have that effect on defensive coordinators. Yet for Cosh and the rest of the Terrapins, tomorrow night's game with the Mountaineers will take on an even higher level of importance because of what happened nearly one year ago. The Terrapins' defense looked utterly helpless against West Virginia's offensive onslaught in a 45-24 defeat, giving a performance that typified a unit that went on to finish 96th in the country against the run.

But as embarrassing as the defeat was, it helped trigger changes that might help the Terrapins this season against Steve Slaton & Co.

"We're out for respect," Maryland defensive lineman Dre Moore said. "We're out to prove to the nation that we belong and that we can hold our own against quality teams."

In front of a packed house and a national television audience, Cosh watched in agony as his defense wilted against the sheer speed of West Virginia's high-powered offense. Slaton rushed for 195 yards, upping his national profile while leading the Mountaineers to 340 rushing yards. By the time first quarter ended, West Virginia led by four touchdowns.

"They exploited us," Maryland linebacker Erin Henderson said. "There was nothing else to say, nothing else that we could do. We didn't do our part as a defense. They ran the ball whenever they wanted to, and they looked good doing it."

Indeed, it was how the Terrapins fell apart that seems to reverberate even now, despite Maryland's retooled defense.

Maryland looked incapable of performing the simplest tasks, such as tackling in the open field. Against West Virginia's spread option offense -- which tests a defense's ability to play with discipline and precision -- the Terrapins found themselves so horribly out of position that Slaton and fleet quarterback Pat White often penetrated the middle of the field without even being touched.

"We deserved the right to be disrespected the way we were last year," Henderson said.

Moreover, the crowd noise at Milan Puskar Stadium made it difficult for the Terrapins to hear defensive audibles, so some players were able to pick up the calls and some weren't. As a result, there were instances when Maryland's players were running two different plays at the same time.