Terps Readying For Wolfpack

Ralph Friedgen addressed the media earlier this afternoon at his weekly press conference. The head coach was clearly pleased with his team's performance this weekend in a shutout victory over Wake Forest, but was also quick to make sure the Terps are ready for Saturday and not taking North Carolina State lightly.

As it stands the Terps have won four out of their last five games and are currently the only team in the country to have defeated three ranked opponents this season. Now, on to the news and notes.

• Kevin Barnes will be out this weekend after undergoing an MRI on the shoulder he injured in Saturday's game. Friedgen said he didn't want to go into any more details about the severity of the injury or the length of time Barnes would be out until he got further confirmation from doctors. He further added that at this point Jamari McCollough will probably move to the corner position. "Michael Carter, Trenton Hughes and Cameron Chism are all going to have to step up," he said.
  
• Friedgen said one player to keep an eye on offensively for the Wolfpack will be redshirt freshman quarterback Russel Wilson. "He's a good athlete and is very mobile," Friedgen said. "He's given some life back to their offense." Friedgen later mentioned that he had concerns with NC State's return game, saying it was one of the best in the ACC.
• Friedgen was happy with the defensive plan put together this past Saturday by Chris Cosh and the defensive coaches. "But like all good plans," he said, "they have to be executed. I think our players played very well, I thought our effort was excellent. This is something we need to build on."
• When asked about the lack of bigger crowds for the last couple of games, Friedgen said he hoped that having won four out of five games and with this weekend being home coming, a larger crowd would turn up. "I hope they can be a positive influence at the end of the game," he said.
• The Terps went with a much more pass oriented offense against Wake Forest and when asked about the offensive philosophy this weekend Friedgen said the goal was to be balanced. "That doesn't mean we're going to throw fifty percent of the time and run fifty percent of the time. We're able to do both equally well. Going into the game they knew a lot of our tendencies; we would run with certain personnel and run with others. I think coach Franklin did a great job of being able to throw when running personnel were on the field and running with passing personnel."
• The players are ready and waiting for NC State as well. Senior center Edwin Williams said he felt the Terps would need to be playing at their very best to beat a team that has lost a pair of close contests in the past two weeks.