In a season that could be his last in College Park, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen has repeated a poignant motto for the Terrapins. “Play every play like it’s your last,” he said.
Wake Forest (2-5) has lost five straight as it has struggled to find a replacement for graduated four-year starting QB Riley Skinner. One positive in Saturday’s 52-21 loss at Virginia Tech was the emergence of freshman RB Josh Harris (20 carries, 241 yards, 2 touchdowns).
| UP NEXT | |
| Wake Forest at Maryland | |
| When » | Saturday, 3:30 p.m. |
| Where » | Byrd Stadium, |
| College Park | |
| TV » | ESPNU |
| Radio » | 980 AM |
On Thursday night, the Terps got a real-life lesson in “carpe diem,” as freshman Pete DeSouza was badly hurt in an on-campus traffic accident. The driver of a car struck the moped DeSouza was operating.
DeSouza, a 6-foot-6, 310-pound starting right tackle, suffered multiple leg fractures and is recovering at Washington Hospital Center, finally out of the intensive care unit.
“The theme all [last] week had been, ‘play every play like it’s your last play.’ For that to actually happen to Pete, made it a lot more real to me,” freshman quarterback Danny O’Brien said. “It just makes you appreciate going out there with the guys you spent all year with and just play a fun game of football on Saturdays.”
Forty hours after DeSouza’s accident, the Terps did their best to enjoy Saturday’s game at Boston College, winning 24-21, ending their 10-game road losing streak and pulling to within one win of becoming bowl eligible.
On Sunday, Friedgen received a call from DeSouza’s mother, asking him to discourage players from coming to the hospital. DeSouza was in pain, was receiving transfusions, and was heavily medicated.
“Pete is a guy who is a very dear person to our players,” Friedgen said. “We’ll be seeing Pete for the next three or four months, whatever it takes.”
On Tuesday, Friedgen and several players said they were upset about a cartoon in The Diamondback, an independent campus newspaper, which lampooned the accident.
“It was an insensitive cartoon. That’s the bottom line,” sophomore tackle R.J. Dill said. “I took offense to it. I’m sure that Pete would have taken offense to it. In my opinion, that was inappropriate.”
Dill, who arrived at the scene of Thursday’s accident shortly after DeSouza was loaded into the ambulance, was shaken up.
“I was kind of in disbelief,” Dill said. “Then I saw the scooter, almost in two pieces, the dent in the car, the shatter on the windshield, which I assumed was from his head, it kind of hit me then [that] this is serious. I prayed all weekend that he would be able to walk again.”
According to Freidgen, DeSouza is expected back in six months.
Until then, the Terps will play, and live, with a newfound sense of perspective.
“It was more like, wow, I need to cherish this while it’s here,” Dill said. “All of a sudden, a 24-period practice on a Tuesday isn’t that bad.”
