Maryland loses to BC in all-too-typical fashion, 19-17
By: Kevin Dunleavy
Examiner Staff Writer
November 28, 2009
Terps sustain their historic 10th loss, wonder about Friedgen’s future
The losingest season in Maryland football history came to an appropriate end Saturday, and with it might have come the end for Terps coach Ralph Friedgen.
In falling 19-17 to Boston College before a sparse crowd of 35,042 at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium, Maryland (2-10) let another winnable game slip away. It was the seventh time the Terps lost this season after having possession in the fourth quarter with the lead or a chance to take the lead.
Afterward Friedgen bemoaned the Terps’ fortunes with a familiar refrain.
“Our kids played with everything they had,” said Friedgen. “I’ve never seen so many kids put so much in and get so little out.”
Friedgen’s fate will become clear in the coming days. Will athletic director Debbie Yow buy out the final two years on Friedgen’s contract for $4 million? Will she hand the job to assistant James Franklin, or buy out his successor clause for an additional $1 million and clean house?
“I expect to be coaching the team next year,” said Friedgen, who has a 66-46 career record. “I put in a lot of time with these kids. I want to see them through.”
Saturday’s loss was the season in microcosm — the Terps playing hard, but not very well, particularly at the line of scrimmage. They didn’t commit a turnover, but were out-gained 353-277, out-possessed 34:53-25:07, and were stopped twice on unimaginative fourth and 1 plays in the fourth quarter.
The second came with 4:15 left. Maryland hurried to the line and ran a quarterback sneak. Sophomore Jamarr Robinson was stopped cold at his own 29 yard line. Four plays later, Boston College senior Steve Aponavivius kicked the clinching 42-yard field goal with 3:59 to go.
“If I had it to do over, I probably would have punted the ball,” said Friedgen. “James [Franklin] called the quarterback sneak. I thought we might catch them … I was kind of all in at that point.”
Even though Boston College (8-4) was predictable and conservative, Maryland had few answers for sophomore Montel Harris (41 carries, 142 yards), who had all but three of the Eagles’ rushes.
BC’s 25-year-old freshman quarterback Dave Shinskie (14 of 23, 227) threw mostly intermediate routes and was victimized by his receivers who had five drops.
One short pass that went much longer than designed, a 66-yarder to sophomore wideout Chris Lamond, on third and 17, put BC up, 7-3, in the first period. Maryland cornerback Anthony Wiseman (10 tackles) missed a tackle and Lamond turned the corner and up the sideline.
Maryland alternated senior Chris Turner (11 of 17, 101 yards) and sophomore Jamarr Robinson (9 of 15, 115 yards) at quarterback. Both had injuries, but started with impressive drives that produced points. After that, however, neither was effective.
Robinson guided both of Maryland’s touchdown drives. The first was an impressive display of precision and arm strength as Robinson completed 4 of 4 passes for 51 yards to set up a 6-yard scoring run by junior back Da’Rel Scott (11 carries, 45 yards), which tied it 10-10 in the second period.
Robinson’s second touchdown drive was largely cosmetic as it came against the Eagles’ prevent defense. Robinson’s 28-yard scoring pass to Torrey Smith came with 2:17 left. It was over when BC recovered the ensuing onside kick.
Maryland struggled to mount a ground attack, rushing 28 times for 61 yards. Boston College linebackers Luke Kuechly (16 tackles), a freshman, and Mike McLaughlin (11 tackles) a senior, excelled along with junior tackle Damik Scafe (two sacks).
Kuechly was key in stopping the critical fourth down play, jumping the snap, and meeting Robinson, head first, before he reached the line of scrimmage.
“I’ve only seen one other player do that and that was LaVar Arrington,” said Shinskie. “I mean he just connected helmets with the quarterback and I knew that we were on the field. That was an amazing play.”
It was an unsatisfying conclusion for Maryland’s 14 seniors including defensive ends Jared Harrell (7 tackles) and Deege Galt (two tackles for loss).
“It hurts,” said senior defensive tackle Travis Ivey. “Even though things didn’t go our way, we still practiced hard and gave great effort. At the end of the day, even though I wished that we could have come out with a W, one thing I will remember is that we fought all the way to the end. That’s what’s important.”
It’s also an important factor when weighing the pros and cons of a Freidgen return. Even in by far the worst of his nine years at Maryland, Friedgen never lost his team, even during the final seven-game losing streak.
“I’m going to sit down with Dr. Yow in the next couple days and talk about some things. There are some ideas I have, from an offensive and defensive standpoint that could help us.”
Notes » BC kicker Steve Aponavicius missed a 31-yard field goal in the third period, his first miss this season. He his 12-of-13 on field goals, 37-of-37 on extra points ... Maryland QB Chris Turner went over 2,000 yards for the second straight season, making him the fifth Terp passer to accomplish that feat ... He finishes with 6,543 career yards, No. 2 on the Maryland list ... Linebacker Alex Wujciak had a team-high 12 tackles Saturday and finished with 131 for the season ... Torrey Smith finished the year first on the Maryland all-time single-season list in all-purpose yards (2,192) and kickoff return yards (1,309).
