Used Fridge for sale... All you have to do is come pick it up.

Here is a nice one on one interview with Gary Williams...Can't wait for the season to start!

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/terrapins-insi...

He is very relaxed and comfortable in his own skin.
The number one asset of this year's team is its experience.
I can see an Elite Eight finish. Most everything this year is a given, but it will come down to the two unknowns, Williams and Padgett.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

Do these guys read this site or what? We were just talking about attendance being down and that being the biggest problem for Fridge. I think Harry led us down that road first.

I do think they needed to give a little more space about the economy's impact on attendance. How about comparing our attendance decline to other ACC schools to see if it's part of a bigger overall trend?

Rick...I thought the same exact thing when I read that this morning. It's not the first time they've aped The Soup. I just wonder what Pris-Yan's screen name is on here.

Well I heard something interesting the other day, how for UVA's last home game it was the lowest attendence since Groh became head coach, now I'm thinking that means about 25K people.... no it was actually 48K, or a really good number for MD during winning years....further proof that MD has always been a basketball school.

Gary goes in-home with Terrence Jones tonight, go get 'em Gary...get an OV scheduled let's get him on campus!

Hope Gary has TRoss packed in his suitcase, and wound up ready to do his thang.

Great news about our B-Ball Program http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel...

Nik Caner-Medley is one of 5 on the Terp all decade team?

I dunno about that.

I've heard of Blue Ribbon Mag, jeremy. I too feel #45 is BS by rivals. I like Andy Katz's assessment at #17. Well, I am a homer. Let me add, though, that Padgett and Williams, as raw as they possibly are, were something absent from the cupboard last year.

Blue Ribbon Magazine rated the Terps #20. Why am I not linking to it you may ask? Well, apparently Blue Ribbon Magazine hasn't learned about the Internet yet. That's probably why no one has heard of Blue Ribbon Magazine before.

Last year, Blue Ribbon was available on ESPN.com if you pay the monthly fee. You got the entire book on there. #20 is pretty good!

espn updated their 2010 recruiting ratings

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/classr...

7 out of 25 = ACC, the rich get richer

ChuckW,

That write-up in Rivals was fair. This line was a perfect description of last season:
"Maryland's split personality makes the Terps easy to disparage but impossible to overlook."

That said, rating the Terps 45 is wrong....very wrong. Every team in the NCAA enters the season with question marks. Very few enter the season with a GV-type player, so much experience, and a pair of incomming blue-chip big men.

By Turkey day (after the Hawaii Tourney) we will have lots of questions answered. Hopefully, we'll have the last laugh.

I hear you harryfish, and I think there may be something to that comment regarding Fridge making sure everyone knows it was Franklin making the call to bench Scott. But I have a feeling that it was the frustration of the moment and the fact that no coach likes to be second guessed by the media after games.

It's something to watch and a lot will depend on wins and losses. I do feel strongly that the Fridge is not scared to overrule anyone on that team.

Wheels and Ricksterps. Agreed!

I really didn't notice Chism's mistake. I watched the last 7 minutes late last night with a few too many cocktails in me! After looking at it again today, it WAS a pretty glaring mistake. Funny because the 360 commentator was saying that Chism can't allow the receivers the room in front to pick up eight easy yards every play. Next play...ooops...I guess 8 yrds isn't too bad.

Did anyone notice during that last drive that after one of their first downs, they gave the guy forward progress which was inbounds, then he got knocked back and out of bounds. The clock stopped for the chains but then they didn't run it after blowing the whistle. Considering they barely got that last FG in time, this could have been a notable error. Not that it lost the game for us but...

I'm with you on the play calling Wheels. I'd have much rather seen the waggle as opposed to that naked boot, but like I said before if it works the guy looks like a genius. Probably not the time for it either way you slice it. They seem to be over-thinking themselves. If we are getting shut down then maybe you start taking some chances with something out of the ordinary, but this was not the case here.

Thanks for posting your thought on the game-play. I think people are getting caught up in the fact that we lost a winnable game to a mediocre team and kinda forgot that teams are lining up 11 guys and playing football just like us. While some of the struggles of this team certainly fall on the shoulders of those on the sideline, I don't think we should start asking for heads to roll. Both JMU and MTSU had some ballers on the field and we simply didn't (couldn't) do enough to shut them down. Execution starts with good teaching and smart coaching but players need to take it to the field. In UMD's case, young and inexperienced players. They'll get better...I hope!

International player? I like that. Those kids are usually more polished products. They don't have quite the upside of American kids but they usually have a more complete game. They have those kids in ball 12 months a year over there.

Good stuff DBR...

As usual Rivals slams Md.. 45 you got to be kidding. Andy Katz has us as a perennial top 25 next yr.

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp...

Well, if our starting line up is Gregory, Milbourne, Mosley, Bowie, and Vasquez then #45 could be about right for the beginning of the season. That line up doesn’t give us a consistent inside scoring threat to open up the perimeter passing lanes and shots. Last season Gregory showed some flashes that he can play at this level but wasn't consistent enough for my tastes and Mosley MUST improve his jump shot. Add to that, we’ve got two freshmen bigs who are unproven and Steve Goins who hasn’t shown anything of merit yet. But most Gary Williams coached teams get better as the season progresses. So, I expect us to be a top 25 team this year if, as the writer mentioned, the the Terps beat the teams they're supposed to beat. We can’t keep having these annual losses to the likes of AU, Ohio, Morgan State etc.

Remember when we had the 80 game non-conference home winning streak? Ahhh the awesomeness that was Cole Field House!

"I don't think this team is really that bad. Is it possible that both JMU and MTSU are pretty good teams?"

The problem is we now have let this creep into our expectations. JMU is a pretty good team for DII or whatever they call it now. MTSU is pretty good for the Sun conference. They are not expected to win that conference.

This isn't basketball. It doesn't take that much money to get a decent program up an running when you are talking about 12 kids. We are talking about 50+ kids you have to get each year. One player won't have that great an impact. In BB, you can get a couple really talented players and take your program to the next level.

I'm okay with Franklin benching Scott. Yes, that kid will play on Sundays, but I like that the coach sent a message that everyone on the team will hear. On this site, we often want Gary to do the same thing to starters when they are making mentalo mistakes.

Mental mistakes...the one thing no coach in any sport will tolerate. It's one thing for a player to make a physical mistake. Chism claims that his blown coverage on the 50 yd pass at the end of the game occurred because his hammy was about to rip, but when you watch the replay, you see that he bit on the stop and go. But Ralph, Franklin, and Brown all said "Look, the kid's hammy was pulling..."

Ralph has always been good at backing his players. I like that Franklin had the balls to bench Scott. When Ralph benched Scott last year for fumbling early in the season, the kid responded. When Scott was benched for the bowl, he came out on fire. The coaches know what they have in that kid, so I agree with Jeremy's post above.

As for the play calling, I think Franklin gets too cute by a half sometimes. I'm all for counter-tendency play calling, but you still need to factor in time and distance. A naked bootleg, whether or not it worked, is not just a counter-tendency call, it's a risky call at that point in the game. Why not roll him out and give him a run-pass option with a TE or FB slipping out (my favorite waggle play!)? At least the risk of the play decreases.

Know, the "Wildcate" stuff...that to me smells like a coach who is coaching not in the now but for later in season. When you're up 13 pts, I think you do that kind of stuff. But when you're down 7 coming off a TO, maybe you put that back in the bag until the team gets back on track. Again, the timing of that seems immature to me.

As for Locksley, he hasn't been an exceptional OC anywhere he's been. Yeah, at Illinois he got a ton of credit for that Rose Bowl team...and USC obliterated them. Locksley can recruit, though. In the long run, I think Franklin is a more stable choice. Looks like he's going through some growing pains, too. I do like the benching, though. Shows some mettle.

There are some new 2010 recruits whose names are bubbling up as Gary and staff are continuing to evaluate players just in case we don't land any of the 'big 3' front court guys.

It's very early in the recruitment and no visits are planned at this time. At least one kid is an international player. No word on any JuCo kids at this time.

I'll keep ya posted as things develop. At least one of the recruits has indicated he may wait until spring to choose a school.

Gregg, sometimes you need to read into things. This was in my opinion was a passive/aggressive shot at Franklin. If he really supported it he could have said something like "James made that call and I agree, you can't have people putting the ball on the ground". Instead he was clear about the fact that he didn't make that call. I think this shows the growing chasm between the head coach and coach in waiting.
Just a thought, not a sermon.

So I finally got to watch the game.

A fluke INT leads to 6. A Scott fumble leads to 7. Both quick scores (not really marks against the D either). There's 13 pts that we spotted to MTSU. If anyone thinks that Scott should not be in the game or is lacking the skill necessary to play in the ACC, that's one thing. However, I think he's a solid halfback and unfortunately had a bad day. Yes, he coughed it up again, but these two plays led to our downfall and they won't happen every week.

As far as the line play goes, it appeared to me like both sides did a fairly good job.

Turner had time to throw and did it effectively. Minus a couple false starts, they were pretty much penalty free. The times when Turner got in trouble were due to untimely play calling that put him in a bad situation. I suppose you can blame that on the sideline, but if those couple plays work they look really good. The only qualm I have is the hokey scheme with Robinson at the helm. WHY??? There is no need to run some kind of wildcat set when the offense is routinely marching down the field. There were only two possessions that I can recall where our offense stalled without laying the ball on the ground. Both were deep in our own end and the play calling dictated the result. I really hate taking away 3/4 of your options on offense by bringing in another "QB" to run the show. It just doesn't make sense to me. Especially if the guy can't hold on to the football...another TO...

I thought we brought plenty of pressure the entire game. Dasher was always rushing things and made a couple big plays on his own by escaping and showing off his athleticism. I felt the the "push" up front was pretty consistent. A couple amazing plays kept MTSU driving and I'm not sure we could have done much about them. Someone mentioned that it's evident that we miss Carroll in the secondary. While that may be true, I thought Chism played really well and our secondary looked fairly good. Maybe I'm missing something.

I don't think this team is really that bad. Is it possible that both JMU and MTSU are pretty good teams? Sure we got blown out by a Cal team that seems to be living up to the hype, but as Minn showed, if we play them at home, it would most likely be a closer contest.

We had 4 TO against MTSU, 3 of which I don't think we have seen or will ever see again. Two of them resulted in easy scores. While I disagree with some of the play calling and absolutely hate direct snaps to a second QB, I also think the coaches aren't too far from a winning combination.

What's wrong with this team? They happen to be losing! As of now however, I'm not convinced that is due to inferior talent or horrible coaching. I think it's more a combination of bad luck and reasonably good opponents that aren't afraid to take advantage of untimely mistakes.

One last thing. Our defense has shown some emotion after making big plays, but has anyone seen our offense get excited? I feel like no one gets hyped when they make a big play. I'm all for sportsmanship and classy play. In fact Kelly Washington on the Ravens is really getting on my nerves with his antics after every single catch. But cmon guys! When you go 70 yrds for a TD, feel free to look alive. High fives and fist pumps are not banned by the NCAA so take advantage while you still can because it's not looking like too many NFL teams are going to want you jumping into the stands in their stadiums any time soon. Unless of course you turn this season around. Which I for one think is very possible.

Mightyterps, I went back and found the comment at Tracking the Terps you were talking about. I don't know exactly what he was referring to, but I think it was Lamont Jordan, who was bashing Friedgen on the radio last year after they lost to MTSU.

Ironically, Jordan said that they should have hired Mike Lockseley as head coach in 2001. Lockseley is now first-year head coach at New Mexico and his team is 0-3: 41-6 vs. Texas A&M; 44-10 vs. Tulsa; and 37-13 vs. Air Force. Lockseley might be a good hire as Maryland OC when Franklin moves up to HC, though.

It was frustrating watching megget go absolutely nowhere while Scott sat over on the bench after a touchdown.
Why didn't smith get more throws? His number is 82 as in hey-bey two. The coaches seemed to be wanting everyone to get touches like this was a preseason game. You gotta do what it takes to win.

On a separate note, does anyone know anything about the stastical software that football coaches use to create matchups and make calls for specific set-downs and yards to go and minutes left and other variables? Do you know whether a team's recent performance gets more heavily weighted than past? I know coaches talk in terms of "tendencies" but I wonder where they get their info. Plus, sometime I feel like they totally ignore what the smart play should be. Any insight?

It is becoming apparent that Fridge may not be in total control. This is from Feinstein's article in the post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...


"Friedgen is 62. In February, at Yow's insistence, James Franklin was put in place as the "coach-in-waiting," a move that apparently didn't thrill Friedgen, who would like to decide when to retire on his own terms."

At the time, we were led to believe this was done at the behest of RF. Looks like it may be Yow pulling the strings behind the scenes again. If that is the case Ralph should have pulled a page out of Gary's book and called her out publicly.

Gregg, I agree if Ralph wanted Scott in the game he would have been in there. There is a site call tracking the terps, done by Bracken from the balt sun. One of his bloggers says some former terps. are calling for the replacement of Ralph. Has anybody seen or heard that?

There is nothing wrong with the head coach letting the OC make that call. If Fridge disagreed strongly, he would have overruled him.

Don't look to much into that. Fridge is not a passive guy. If he wanted Scott in there, Scott would have been in there.

CJ Leslie has planned two (2) visits to Kentucky next month. Looks like visit #1 will be on the first weekend in October and the second visit will be for Kentucky's Big Blue Madness.

What? That is crazy Harry. I can see leaving play calling and other strategic decisions to your OC but benching your star RB HAS to come from the head coach.

You can't have two people in charge of a football team. There needs to be one voice in that locker room.

Wheels said it like i saw it as well. No more need be said.
RickTerps, one slightly disturbing thing was Ralph did not bench Scott...
"Friedgen's reply to a direct question of whether he ordered Da'Rel Scott's benching after each of the tailback's lost fumbles: "I didn't make that call," he said. "But we can't have guys turn the ball over. It can't happen."
Well if he did not make that call then it must of been Franklin. So who is in charge here?
Ralph had said at a booster meeting recently that he is like a CEO of a large organization, and that Franklin and Brown are really running things. So I am wondering given his health issues that he is really disengaged. He looks tired and defeated on the sidelines.
I hope beyond hope that we deliver the beat down to Rutgers. Ralph has done it before coming up big when we are down. I will be rooting hard and may go to the game to cheer on. However if we lose that one then Al V becomes prophetic with his 4 win prediction.

Here is some B-Ball news, a way to maybe clear the mind of some of the football stuff going on from umterps.com...

Williams Earns Contract Extension
Longtime Maryland coach signed through 2013

Sept. 21, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Gary Williams, who is in his 21st season as the men's basketball head coach at his alma mater, recently earned a one-year extension to his contract, University of Maryland director of athletics Deborah A. Yow announced Monday.

Williams' current contract includes automatic extensions for achieving benchmark standards by the Terrapins both athletically and academically. This extension takes the term of his contract through June 30, 2013.

"I'm pleased for Gary that he met the competitive and academic benchmarks of his contract," said Yow. "The 2009-10 season has the potential to be one of the best in recent memory."

Williams, recently voted onto the board of directors of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, is the winningest coach in Maryland history and enters the season with a 418-229 mark in his previous 20 seasons in College Park.

"I'm looking forward to coaching this team this year," said Williams. "We're all very anxious for the start of the season."

He is sixth nationally among active coaches with 625 victories (625-357) in 31 seasons overall.

- dd -

Regarding Scott....

everyone has a game like that. He is the best player on the team. He'll be back.

Very good writeup Wheels. I would disagree to a point with Turner. I think he gets happy feet but I guess that's too be expected when you get drilled that many times.

I understand Ralph benching Scott during that game but it really broke my heart. That kid is a player. The camera caught him on the sideline a few times after the benching and there was no sulking, he was into the game trying to keep everyone up. He is a team guy and I love him. He also may have made a difference at the end when we were trying to salt the game away. Yea, I know, he also could have coughed the ball up and killed us.

Wheels - Great points on the O-line. The thing that kills me is that if Turner could actually get the ball to his WRs great plays can happen. Torrey Smith's catch in the 2nd half was right in front of me and it was a thing of beatuy (1 handed catch while using the other to stiff arm the DB), Smith, Cannon and co. can do that all day if they actually were able to get the ball in open space. But with such a weak line Franklin settles for calling short passes and the dreaded bubble screen, so frustrating!

Looper...

I went to the Cal game and watched the MTSU game on 360 (which I might add isn't a bad product at all). To add to Rick, the offensive line, while loaded with talent, is getting abused. Watch a MD game and you'll notice a pattern. MD generally moves the ball pretty well in the 1st quarter (assuming no fumbles). They run well and keep the D on its heels with a nice mix of run and pass. I think Turner has played very well. He comes off of receivers to second and third reads. The problem is that opposing D coordinators start to release the hounds around the start of the 2nd quarter. Turner spends the rest of the game in 3 step drops to try and get rid of the ball before taking one in the chin. I'll say this, too, Turner is a tough kid. He's been sacked more than any other QB in the ACC (only 13 other QBs in the nation have been sacked more than Turner).

On D, I am just really disallusioned. Maybe it's because the front 4 can't get any pressure, but I can't believe how much 2 and 4 deep zone they play. They're just trying to limit big plays because they can't make any of their own. They got some pressure this week through blitzing, but the flip side is that they give up 35 yard slants for TDs on 4th and inches. I don't think having the two injured DBs back will really help that because I saw Cal do it to them with those guys back there. MD gets zero push in the middle. None.

Next week might be different. RU doesn't run a spread offense. They have a new QB, and this will be his 1st road game. He's struggled so far even at home. RU runs to pass, so if MD can make them play behind the sticks, that bodes well. They also have new WRs, but a pretty experienced line. RU plays aggressive on D, but MD had their way with them 2 years ago both running and passing. Again, if they can protect Turner, he will throw for 300 yards against RU. MD has better athletes at all skill positions than does RU. If Scott can get his head in the game, he should run for another 100 yards or so. He had fumble-itis early last year, too; but he finished strong.

Look...this is a big game. A must win. Not only for this season but for recruiting. MD has raided NJ for talent over the past 4 years. They're in the running for a lot of NJ kids this year, too. A win helps that out. Also, they can't go into that CU game 1-3. If they do, they might not win another game all year. As I said earlier, young kids can go in the tank pretty quick. I'd say that this is where senior leadership plays a huge factor, but MD only has 9 seniors...2 of which are hurt.

Ralphie has always done a good job of rallying after losses. I haven't seen them give up in a game since that Thursday night massacre in Bleaksburg a few years back. A loss this weekend and I will owe Al V from our bet over the summer. I thought MD was good for 8 wins. Al thought 4. Who's looking better on that now?

Looper,

I have watched most of the games we have played. The easy answer to our teams troubles is the line play on both sides of the ball. We have some speed at the wideout position and the defensive backfield. Neither of it is helping much because we are getting crushed at the line of scrimmage. Turner has been average this year, he has not stepped up and played like the seasoned senior we all expected.

The problem with this year's start is last year's finish. We had a team that should have been in a good bowl at the very least, a BCS bowl at best. Instead we struggled to a 6-6 record and another crap bowl invite.

When you talk about the future of your head coach it is germane to the discussion to talk about his history. As head coach of a college football team, you are GM and HC. You are responsible for the talent coming to your program and their performance once they are in your program.

It is my belief that Ralph keeps his job unless we go totally in the tank. If we get another two or three wins. If we go winless or win two games for the year, there will be blood.

This team is teetering right now. They need a win against Rutgers like life itself. If we lose that it could get historically ugly this season.

The Princeton Review is a rates colleges on, not only academics but, various non-academic categories. This past year they threw the best party school award (not a category a school likes to win) to Penn State. Maryland actually rated as the nation’s best in one category, Best Athletic Facilities. With the improvements to Byrd, the Comcast center, and other areas, we are on top of college athletics. We pay our coaches very well and should have a national program that reflects that investment. I wonder what James Madison and Middle Tenn pay their coaches and what those schools’s athletic investment look like. The product that I see us putting on the field is an embarrassment. While I know that athletics is not totally about money, do we not deserve a better product for our investment? Do we spend millions only to offer this? This week was a very good week for the ACC except for Duke, Virginia, and Maryland. Get used to being mentioned in that company. This program has been in decline for a several years and is now in free-fall. We are reduced to pointing out how strong JMU is in the FCS. Maybe that’s where we belong.

Constructive criticism anyone? I'm going to watch this game tonight and if I have anything to say, I'll post it.

Why is everyone here focused on the past? The only real football talk I've seen is about what we'll see next week in Rutgers' defense. It's almost like no one actually watched the game. I know it was on our beloved 360 so maybe it was an unwatchable game for a bunch on turtlesoup, but then why come here and talk about nothing but the past? Former coaches...5-6 seasons...weak recruiting...cmon people, post something relevant to THIS SEASON!

I suppose I'm just used to more relevant discussions around here related to the team we are currently fielding.

Maybe one down year in football results in a heck of a year for the BBall squad? I'll take that trade!!!

Taaffe left to take a head coaching job in the CFL, but didn't do too well in his second stint there. He was fired and then hired at UCF. As I understand it, Blackney retired from coaching to Florida. He then took on a job as the UCF DL coach (not DC) more as a hobby in retirement than as a career.

Wheels, I mostly agree with you, except on a couple point. I think you need to relook the record, because the "program went downhill when Taaffe/Blackney left" or "Friedgen won with other coordinators" argument is unfounded. Blackney and Taaffe were BOTH still coaching in 2004 and 2005 when we finished 5-6 both seasons. In 2006, Friedgen hired the hated Chris Cosh as DC and took over offensive play-calling himself. That year, we got 9 wins. The following year, we managed another bowl game despite being murdered by injuries, and could have easily won three or four more games. If I recall correctly, two or three games were decided by 3 points or less that season. In 2008, we lost at least two games we should have won (MTSU and BC) and were still challenging for the ACC Atlantic title at season's end.

Wheels, you also say "If Ralphie could land 5 of the Top 10 players in MD and 3 of the Top 5 in DC every year..." Well, we DID sign four of the top 10 Maryland players last year.

J...you're right...but land 4 or 5 of the Top 10 in MD plus 3 of the Top 5 in DC year in and out. Last year's class was one of his best. If you look at MD verballing so far for next year, 4 of the Top 5 have already verballed out of state. All three Hayden brothers are playing elsewhere. Jelani Jenkins is playing for UF. Lamaar Thomas is playing for Ohio St. Hakeem Hebron is down at UGA. Marvin Austin is at UNC. Regis Benn is at Illinois. Nevermind the flow of 4 and 5 stars to PSU. There are four likely 1st round NFL draft picks next year that grew up in MD or DC but who all played elsewhere. Imagine if one or two stayed at MD.

Let's be honest. Someone mentioned earlier that MD locked up Franklin because he could recruit. I'm all for that if he can also translate it to wins.

Jeremy...MTSU beat Memphis last week...so they can't be the 4th best team in TN.

Slope posted Ralph's season by season W-L record on the last thread, and I mentioned on MTSU game thread that MD's decline began after Taafe and Blackney left MD. You can see it in the record. Now that they are with O'Leary at UCF...well...let's watch and see what happens at UCF. Taafe left because he wanted to be a HC (took at HC job in the CFL). Blackney retired (supposedly, I guess). Both are in their mid 60s. With those two and Ralph, MD had the most coaching experience on the sideline of almost any team in the country. Experienced coaching can offset inexperienced players.

I don't know if any of our diatribes change the facts on the ground one bit. I hear Gregg...but DBR's point is valid. MD is all in with football. Empty seats at Byrd = less margin for error.

The state of MD has turned into a hotbed for football recruiting. More kids see football as a means to an end than hoops. So the level of athleticism in football at the HS level has dramatically increased. Look at a site like Rivals. MD has like 10 4 star recruits. That's as many as PA has. The depth of talent is still weaker than PA and NJ, but MD is now a destination of college football recruiters around the nation. Even Pac 10 coaches are coming to DC now. If Ralphie could land 5 of the Top 10 players in MD and 3 of the Top 5 in DC every year, the talent level on the team would be on par with teams ranked between 10-25 in the AP and Coaches poll.

Money and recruiting...that's where the pressure is coming from. Guys that Harry hangs with know that the talent available in MD/DC/NoVa is considerable enough to make MD a Top 15 program year in and out. Look at VT. How do you think Beamer did it? Hell, Bleaksburg is a terrible place to attract kids, but look at what Beamer has done. He built this off of the same talent that MD has access to within a 60 minute drive of CP.

I really like Ralphie. He does everything the right way. He benched Scott...proof enough that the man has integrity. But he is in his early 60s. He has health problems. He is still at least 50 lbs overweight. He is at the head of a multi-million dollar a year enterprise. It doesn't take an insurance actuarial specialist to see the trend line on this. Franklin has to be better. He's a marked man. He's the HCIW. This is his dress rehersal. What do we have so far? In year 1, a senior dominated team that underachieved. In year 2, a sophomore dominated team on the verge of cratering.

Next week is THE must win game of the year. Hopefully, the most overrated coach in the nation (Schiano) will give MD a gift and use a traditional pro style O and a 4-3 D. MD has more talent than RU. MD has to win this game or they might not win another game. Young kids get shaken. A loss to RU at home coming off of this debacle (let's call it what it was), would leave them at 1-3 heading into a home game against Clemson (home team has last 5 in the series). This can get worse. 2-3 is a hell of a lot better than 1-4.

Those 2 guys are coaching? Crap, why did they ever leave? It seems thats when things went down hill.

Funny, someone mentioned Taaffe and Blackney and they are both assistant coaches right now at UCF. Taaffe is O coordinator and Blackney secondary coach.

DBR has cut through to THE biggest issue as far as RF's tenure goes. Money. Dave Leitao was shown the door for this reason. UVA's shiny new building was about half full.

Maybe more important than Ws is butts in the seats. If there are a bunch of empty seats the rest of the season something will change. Debbie is a bottom line person if there ever was one. She will make a change if she sees dollars flying out the door.

This team's margin of error is razor thin so taking care of the ball is a MUST. This reminds me of how I felt after we lost to NIU two years in a row. Yeesh.

Go back a few years and we had a football team that won 10 games three seasons in a row with trips to the Gator Bowl, Peach Bowl and Orange Bowl with victories in 2 of the 3.

Now we've got a multi-million dollar upgrade going on at Byrd Stadium but season ticket sales are down by 7,000. Attendance at the game yesterday was around 35k according to one person that was at the game.

Things aren't looking too good. Hopefully things will turn around quickly because Rutgers is coming to town this Saturday.

Ricksterps, I don't dispute that there are Fridge detractors out there and some people want to see him go. That's the way it is at every school.

I just disagree and think, while this sucks and is frustrating as hell, that much like Gary Williams, Fridge can turn this young team around by the end of this season or next.

All we heard before the season was our defense looks great we can't handle them in practice. They look great you know why they were playing against our offensive line. I stand behind our coaches. We have good players at our skill areas but cannot block well enough for them. I watched Corey Jackson on Scotts touchdown run.He was still driving his man downfield when Scott scored. Jackson is a beast.

The season is still very young. This team can turn it around. We play in one of the worst power conferences. I think a bowl game is still reachable and should be the goal. Maybe Fridge should start eating again. I've heard him say that he's tired all the time. Meanwhile, not too long before the "GVFT" begins (Greveis Vasquez Farewell Tour).

Ricks, JMU is a Division I FCS team, not Division II. I would also dispute your characterization of them being "good, not great". I think they are a great Division I FCS team. They were in the national championship semifinals last year, which they lost to national champions Richmond. JMU is a perennial FCS playoff team and powerhouse.

However, I do agree with the sentiment. How we got to this point, though, I can't explain. How is it that we graduated 30 seniors and had to start so many inexperienced players? It is not like 30 players left for the NFL early -- their eligibility expired. That can and should be planned for. Even given a high rate of attrition among the linemen that were recruited (transferred, dropped out, etc.), which there was, how is it that we entered the season with only two OL with any game experience?

I am not one of the fanatics that have been calling for Friedgen's head since 2004-2005, and I think the "he only won with Vanderlinden's recruits" argument is bogus. Well, if Friedgen did that (which he did), what does that say about Vanderlinden, who couldn't win with his own recruits? I think Friedgen is a great guy and a good coach, but something is wrong with the program. It is clear we have headed in the wrong direction. It is a very real possibility we finish with a 1-11 or 3-9 record. We may squeeze out six wins to become bowl eligible, but I think that is a very remote possibility. So, how did we get to this point?

I also think the choice to name Franklin head-coach-in-waiting was short-sighted and done for all the wrong reasons. He was named HCIW after one season. We did okay last year, but it was premature. The athletic department did it to keep Franklin on as a recruiter. But what about his management and play-calling skills? They had hardly been tested at that point. The West Coast offense just sucks inherently.

I hope my skepticism and discouragement is unfounded, but for now, it remains until proven otherwise.

I am no expert on JMU but from what I read they lost a ton of players from last year's team and aren't suppose to challenge for a playoff spot this year.

Whatever the case, we agree that we have no business playing them in OT on our home turf.

In Week 1, JMU was ranked #6 in the FCS, so clearly some people think they are headed back to the playoffs. Although, they lost Rodney Landers and some other guys, they are a perennial FCS powerhouse. They won the national championship in 2004 before any of the players that graduated last season were even playing.

The JMU game is what it is, and like you said, we agree that Maryland's performance was terrible. But we shouldn't downplay the opponent. Truly, they are a better team than Maryland, judging by that game's performance. They would have won had they not assessed 100+ penalty yards. A lot of Division I FCS and even Division II teams are comparable skill-wise to many Division I FBS teams. The main differences are the linemen are much smaller and their rosters lack any depth. Those things mean that Division I FBS teams should not only be out-coaching FCS teams, but their players should be pushing them around and wearing them out through substitution.

Wheels is a good indicator of the moderate UMD football fan and he is saying the end is near. I know Gregg thinks people are going crazy with the fire Fridge talk but it's real. Harry, the inside booster that he is, has already said the natives are beyond restless.

We have to see how the season plays out. Like is said earlier, we are playing in a bad conference so we may be able to find some wins. But if you have actually watched this team play you know that there is not one game left that you can say we WILL win. There are some we may win but no locks.

Fridge brought us out of the darkness. If we don't win another game all year I would be okay with having him back for another season. At this point in time, it would really feel like delaying the inevitable. Franklin is another matter. I haven't been a fan of him being our HC since the head-coach-in-waiting label was put on him last year.

There is still a lot of season left to play. We haven't played one ACC game yet. With all that said, it don't look good. Next week we play a very average Rutgers team.

No matter what happens the rest of the year, the first three games are stained on Fridges report card. A absolute beat down by Cal (who got taken to task by a middling Minnesota team), a very fortunate win over a good, not great, D II team and a two year sweep over a mediocre team in the Sun conference. THE F'N SUN CONFERENCE!

As they say in the justice systems, those are the facts and they are undisputed.

This looks like a good plan to me. (1) Bring Fridge back for another year in 2010, and honor, appreciate and thank him for a truly great job in showing the football world that the Terps can have an excellent program, (2) Announce maybe towards the end of this season that Franklin takes over in 2011, and move forward.

In the unlikely event that the Terps turn it around somehow this season, then the 2011 goal becomes 2012, but everything else stays the same in the transition plan.

Losing to Middle Tennessee State at all is bad enough. But losing to them twice in a row, the second loss coming at home, following a near loss to JMU at home - and giving up over 60 points collectively to both teams ... this is unacceptable.

I like crazed and rambling....sane and rational showed be saved until Monday.

Oops. sorry Gregg. I didn't realize you had already made a post. In tandem, the posts pair nicely with each other. One is sane and rational. The other is crazed and rambling. Which one is which is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose. Haha.