Sparked by defense, Maryland is rising after needed win
For defining moments, it doesn’t get any more definitive than Maryland’s final defensive play Saturday.
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When blitzing freshman Demetrius Hartsfield swooped in from his weakside linebacker slot, jarred the ball loose from Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker, and recovered the fumble, it not only assured Maryland’s 24-21 victory, it gave the young Terps hard and fast evidence that they are catching on to first-year defensive coordinator Don Brown’s aggressive, gambling scheme.
“Coach Brown’s been hearing it from everybody that he’s not a good coordinator,” said Hartsfield. “But now we’re just showing people the tip of the iceberg of what our defense is.”
More exciting for Maryland (2-3) is what the defense might become. With dynamic young players such as Hartsfield and sophomore safety Kenny Tate, coupled with standout junior linebackers Adrian Moten and Alex Wujciak, the Terps have the ingredients to play Brown’s disruptive system.
Saturday’s defensive effort was their best this season. Against a team with perhaps the two fastest players in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Terps’ defense surrendered just one touchdown and 274 total yards.
Most importantly, after fourth quarter meltdowns in losses to Middle Tennessee and Rutgers, the Terps finished. In the final six minutes, they stonewalled Clemson three times inside the Maryland 35.
It didn’t start well for the defense Saturday. Clemson scored on three of its first four possessions and rolled up 141 yards in the first quarter. But after that, Brown got more aggressive and the Terps limited the Tigers to 133 yards in the final three periods.
“We went after it,” said Brown. “We played a lot of two-deep zone pressure and got out of our base [defense]. We were better once we started the mix.”
As Maryland was giving up an average of 39.7 points and 466 yards in its first three games, Terps fans were asking when the benefits of Brown’s scheme would accrue. So were the players.
“First game against Cal, I was wondering what happened to all the calls we’ve been running for the past couple months,” said Hartsfield. “Now I see what he does, he waits to see what the other team does, then he attacks them.”
As players have become more familiar with the defense, Brown has become more comfortable utilizing his playbook.
“We got a lot of guys getting first time varsity action, even fifth-year seniors, two of them playing their first significant minutes,” said Brown. “The best thing about them is we got high-integrity guys who have not flinched. They have not questioned. They have just played.”
