Lessons from Wake Forest

Well it's been a little while since there was any new material on the blog, so what better reason to write than a 26-0 win over another ranked opponent. The enigma that is Maryland football continued on Saturday with the Terps playing their most complete game of the season to improve their record to 5-2 (2-1) putting them atop the ACC Atlantic Division for the time being. With that, here are some thoughts from the weekend.

Turner Big Against Another Ranked Team
The junior quarterback had one of his best games ever in a Maryland uniform, completing 28 of 41 passes for 321 yard, a touchdown and no interceptions. Turner is now 5-0 all-time against ranked opponents having thrown 7 touchdown passes and no picks. This performance comes on the ankles of a poor showing two weeks ago at Virginia, in a pattern that has become the norm for the California native; bad games against bad teams, great games against good teams. Which Turner will show up on Saturday for the homecoming game against NC State? Your guess is as good as mine.

Heyward-Bey Finally Gets His Touches
Maryland fans who have been waiting for Darius Heyward-Bey to be the focal point of the Terrapin offense for one game, finally got their wish on Saturday. The junior hauled in 11 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. It was a career high in receptions for Heyward-Bey and was almost two-thirds the number he had recorded in the previous six games. The two biggest differences in this game as opposed to the those earlier in the season had to do with coverage schemes and pass routes.

In every game prior to Saturday defenses dealt with the issue of covering Heyward-Bey by having two defenders follow his every move. With All-American cornerback Alphonso Smith in the secondary though, Wake Forest felt comfortable leaving Heyward-Bey in single coverage. In addition, Maryland ran many more short routes for Heyward-Bey in this game than they had in games earlier on in the season. Rather than trying to hit him down field play after play, they set him up in the flat and on short slants a lot more often.

Defense Comes Alive
The Terps have done a solid job defensively for the majority of the season, but this was by far their most complete effort. A season high four sacks, coupled with good coverage in the secondary, kept the ACC's top quarterback, Riley Skinner, in check all afternoon. Skinner never really got comfortable at all, and was only able to drive the Demon Deacons inside the Maryland 30-yard line once the entire afternoon. The other two times Wake was that deep down the field was as a result of fumble recoveries.

In all, this was a very encouraging performance from the Terps. This is the kind of game that leads one to believe they are capable of reaching the ACC Championship; then you remember the inconsistency. Every game left on their schedule has to be viewed as a big game, especially with the amount of parody the league is proving to have this year.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for news and notes from Ralph Friedgen's press conference.