Terps' Chism Fighting to Put Trying Week Behind Him

When Maryland returned from its 42-32 loss at Wake Forest in the wee hours of Sunday morning, cornerback Cameron Chism did not go to his room and sulk after what he called the worst performance of his life. Instead, Chism got in his car and drove to a Baltimore hospital, where he remained for most of the final hours of his cousin's life.

"My whole night was just crazy," Chism said. "My whole night was just going wrong."

Saturday's game between Maryland and Virginia will feature two coaches who have been subject to varying degrees of criticism this season and players who have battled injuries and other setbacks. But perhaps no one involved in the game has dealt with more recent heartache than Chism, whose on-field struggles in the Terrapins' stumble at Wake Forest were overshadowed by a far more significant personal loss.

The sophomore's adversity began after Maryland's Oct. 3 game against Clemson, when family members told him that his cousin, Dion M. Prout Jr., a 25-year-old District firefighter, was in a coma after being involved in an automobile accident.

Chism was very close to his cousin, so his condition weighed on Chism throughout the week and also during the Wake Forest game. Chism recalled images randomly popping into his mind over the course of the game in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Even without a heavy heart, Chism's challenge that night would have been significant because Wake Forest's Riley Skinner was the most accomplished quarterback Maryland had faced, and the senior appeared determined to test Chism at every opportunity.

As the Demon Deacons scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives to start the game, Skinner picked up Maryland's blitzes and carved up the defense with precision passes to receivers who repeatedly found themselves wide open. Late in the first quarter, Skinner threw in Chism's direction and the cornerback thought he was well positioned for an interception. But he slipped, and wide receiver Chris Givens caught a 33-yard reception.

"It was very frustrating," Chism said. "I know that if I didn't slip, I probably would have picked the ball off. I slipped, and that was my chance."

The more Chism struggled, the more he tried to focus. But it only got worse. On the final play of the first quarter, Skinner fired a crossing pass into the end zone, where wide receiver Marshall Williams had shaken free from Chism. Williams caught the pass for a 10-yard touchdown.

Chism was among several players at fault in a disastrous first half in which Wake Forest grabbed a 35-10 lead. In the second half, Maryland's defense made adjustments only with its disguises; the players adhered to coverages better and, for the most part, tackled better. Wake Forest scored only one touchdown. Skinner completed a pass inside the 10-yard line to Givens, who stopped as Chism's momentum kept him moving, allowing Givens to gather himself and prance into the end zone for Wake Forest's sixth touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter.

"That one score was on me, too," Chism said.

The performance was uncharacteristic of Chism, who had played well since stepping in for injured senior Nolan Carroll. In his first game as a starter on Sept. 19, Chism gave up a long pass play late in a 32-31 loss to Middle Tennessee because his hamstring had tightened, but he also had two interceptions in the game.

The Wake Forest performance was something he had never dealt with before. Throughout the game, he said, he put more and more pressure on himself to make plays, only to get burned time and time again.

"This was probably the toughest game I have ever dealt with," Chism said. "The harder I tried, the more plays were made on me. I would tell myself, 'Okay, I have to step up and make a play.' Then I slip. Just one of those nights."

Chism's mind was also focused on the condition of his cousin. Once the team plane returned to Maryland, Chism headed directly to the hospital to join more than two dozen family members by Prout's bedside.

When Chism arrived after 2 a.m., Prout "was pretty much gone. I was touching him. He was cold. I kind of knew, but I didn't want to think it." Chism remained until 7 a.m., only to receive a telephone call from a family member later Sunday telling him that his cousin had died.

On Monday, Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen didn't particularly like Chism's body language in practice, so he sent the player a text message afterward saying that he wanted to meet with him. The two met for 20 minutes in Friedgen's office, where Friedgen offered encouraging words about resolve and adversity.

Friedgen told Chism that he knew he didn't mean to slip, that Skinner was a good quarterback and that responding to on-field setbacks is part of being a cornerback. He added that coaches had not lost a bit of faith in Chism, and he could not lose faith in himself or he would lose the aggressiveness that made him an effective cornerback earlier in the season.

"Sometimes you have to just stay with them," Friedgen said about the meeting. "He is a young kid who I think will have a bright future here. I just didn't want to see him lose his confidence."

Chism valued the advice, pledging to turn to his schoolwork and football as an outlet for his personal loss.

On the field, he has tried to rebuild his confidence this week. Don Brown, Maryland's first-year defensive coordinator, said Chism has "done a very good job; his response, it is everything that I thought it would be."

Off the field, it remains a process.

"A lot of people are encouraging me," Chism said. "I am still trying to move on."