After a week in which Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen openly questioned his team’s excitement about the season opener against William & Mary, the Terps erased those fears early.
Senior cornerback Josh Wilson, who the first player to rush onto the field from Gossett Team House tunnel and leap into Testudo’s Troops, blocked a punt to set up the first Terp scoring drive.
That play showed the Terps weren’t lacking in adrenaline, but some mistakes and a less-than-impressive second half brought up a couple of questions for future games. Far from a blow out, the Terps held on to beat William & Mary 27-14 tonight at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium.
The crowd of 49,763 was loud early and, even with some first-game jitters, the Terps played well for most of the first half, mostly on the strength of the running game.
Midway through the first quarter, senior quarterback Sam Hollenbach and Joey Haynos hooked up on a 42-yard pass down the left sideline, the highlight of the Terps’ first scoring drive. The drive lasted just over a minute, but was punctuated by a 2-yard Lance Ball touchdown run.
Ball would go on to add another touchdown and rush for 86 yards. Junior Keon Lattimore got the start at running back and turned 13 carries into 89 yards.
Counting the yards by Ball, Lattimore, Hollenbach and senior Josh Allen — who entered the game late in the first quarter — the Terps ran for 213 yards. Terp coach Ralph Friedgen said the running game is “the strength” of the team.
“If we get the offensive line gelling, and if we can get some receivers stepping up and making big plays, then I think we have a chance to have a good offense,” Friedgen said.
That offense, which got the Terps to a 17-0 lead before the Tribe put any points on the board, will also have to become more consistent. Hollenbach was 6-for-9 for 102 yards before a third-and-fourteen play in the red zone. Having plenty of time in the pocket, Hollenbach overthrew an open Danny Oquendo in the end zone, with the ball deflecting off Oquendo’s outstretched right hand. The Terps had to settle for a field goal and the play didn’t make Hollenbach too happy.
“I just put a little too much air under it. That’s a lesson learned. Hopefully that won’t happen again, especially when I get near the end zone,” Hollenbach said. “If we had lost the game — that would have been terrible. At the same time, you can lose games on plays like that.”
The defense shined for most of the first half, with Wesley Jefferson notching a key sack of Tribe quarterback Jake Phillips to end a drive. But a punt return mistake ended up costing the Terps right after Jefferson’s sack.
Off the foot of Tribe punter Blair Pritchard, the ball deflected off Terp safety Isaiah Gardner’s leg and was recovered by William & Mary. The Tribe marched 56 yards through the Terp defense to pay dirt, capped off by a nine-yard pass from Phillips to Elliot Mack to make the game a little more interesting.
Friedgen put Jordan Steffy into the game at quarterback for the Terps’ next drive. Steffy threw an incomplete pass and then an interception and Hollenbach returned for the next drive. Friedgen said in his post-game press conference he just wanted to give his sophomore a chance to play in a close game given his performance in practice.
“I just felt it was a time where I’d like to see what he would do with the first team when it wasn’t a blow-out situation,” Friedgen said. “And you always take a chance of losing your momentum, but sometimes you gotta find out. Hopefully he’ll draw from that.”
Before the half, the Terps made it 24-7 by way of a long drive that was keyed by a 47-yard Hollenbach pass to sophomore receiver Isaiah Williams and finished by Ball’s second touchdown.
Friedgen said his team appeared to tire in the second half, and the Tribe closed the margin after an early Dan Ennis field goal. In the fourth quarter, William & Mary back-up quarterback Mike Potts went 9-for-10 for 199 yards (against mostly second-teamers for the Terps) and threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to D.J. McAulay that made it 27-14.
“The two touchdowns, we really didn’t want to give those up,” Wilson said. “We kind of got lax and came off a little slow both times.”
Steffy fumbled the ball on an exchange attempt with Allen on the Terps’ next drive, but the defense prevented William & Mary from scoring. Hollenbach was brought back in to kneel down and run out the clock.
All in all, the Terps were happy to have an opening season win, but far from thrilled about how it happened. Friedgen drew positives — including the running game and Hollenbach — and negatives — including turnovers — from the win and added his team needed to improve.
“We got a long way to go yet,” Friedgen said. “I’m not satisfied, but I’m not disappointed either.”
Terp Notes: With Steffy at quarterback in the second half, the Terps gained 88 total yards – Josh Allen gained 25 yards in his first game since tearing multiple ligaments in his left knee in November 2004 – Sophomore linebacker Erin Henderson had a sack in his first game since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament – Friedgen said right tackle Jared Gaither did not play for “disciplinary reasons” but as of now, he’ll play next week against Middle Tennessee.
Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.
