Terps' Woes Are Wide-Ranging

Youthful Inexperience Is Not Maryland's Only Problem

Because Maryland was branded as one of the nation's youngest teams this summer, every mistake by its inexperienced players has been scrutinized and magnified, and every underwhelming performance has been followed by Coach Ralph Friedgen talking about patience and growth.

Although youthful shortcomings remain a significant issue for the Terrapins, this week brought the first acknowledgment by players and coaches that the team's problems extend beyond the inexperience. Almost no veteran has been immune from uncharacteristic miscues.

"They are making mistakes, too," Friedgen said. "It has not been totally the young guys. That's where we have to get better."

As Maryland (1-2) prepares for Saturday's critical game against Rutgers at Byrd Stadium, talk of inexperience and patience is wearing thin among coaches and players, not to mention fans who have tired of mediocrity and what some see as convenient excuses. In fact, Friedgen has suggested he may play more -- not fewer -- freshmen this week because older players have been less productive.

"It is time to start playing like a mature football team and win football games," quarterback Chris Turner said. "The whole young thing is not an excuse anymore."

In the season-opening 52-13 loss at California on Sept. 5, Friedgen was surprised that experienced defensive players did not blitz when they were supposed to. In a 38-35 overtime win against James Madison the next Saturday, Turner threw an interception that was returned 62 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. And last week's 32-31 loss to Middle Tennessee, junior linebacker Adrian Moten, one of four team captains, had a clear path to Blue Raiders quarterback Dwight Dasher but fell down before he reached him.

"I made mistakes," said Turner, a fifth-year senior. "The receivers made mistakes. The running backs and the O-line made mistakes. Everyone made mistakes. If I would have done one thing differently, we would have won the game. It is a collective thing. We all need to make the corrections and limit the missed assignments."

As junior linebacker Alex Wujciak said, "We made mistakes everywhere in the Middle Tennessee game."

As a result, Friedgen took a back-to-the basics approach this week in practice. At times, he did away with timed periods and simply had the team repeatedly run specific plays until everyone got everything right. Friedgen repeated his mantra: "Do it right, do it light. Do it wrong, do it long."

In recent weeks, Friedgen has second-guessed whether he had been too easy on the team -- he canceled one preseason practice to take the team to the movies, for instance -- but decided he made the right decision. The one thing he believes he could improve upon -- with players young and old -- is "insisting" they do things consistently correctly in practice.

"'Your hat has to be here, it can't be over here,'" said Friedgen, citing an example from practice. "A guy has to get over to the A-gap, all of the sudden he doesn't get down the A-gap and the play breaks. It is kind of a discipline thing. You've got to be precise. You can't be just gray about it. It just can't be almost. [I] probably have not done enough of that."

The season's first three games -- all disappointing overall performances -- have revealed unexpectedly uneven efforts from a handful of older and more experienced players.