Throughout the week leading up to Saturday’s game against Clemson, the Terrapin football team’s defense broke their huddles with a one-word reminder: “Finish.”

After lackluster defensive efforts at the end of back-to-back home losses, the Terps made finishing strong a focus against the Tigers.

When Terp linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield broke through the Clemson line to knock the ball loose from quarterback Kyle Parker and recover it with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter, it became a reality.

In an ugly game featuring a pair of inept offenses, the Terp defense earned the 24-21 win with several key stops — and a little luck — in the game’s final six minutes.

The defense answered the bell every time through a fourth quarter, in which the Terp offense seemed intent on letting the Tigers back in the game. Clemson kicker Richard Jackson aided the cause with two missed field goals, but Clemson’s clearly flustered offense, which picked up just 131 yards of total offense the last three quarters, showed the Terps deserve a lot of credit.

The new defense led by coordinator Don Brown is actually improving. By the time Hartsfield made his game-clinching play, the defense looked little like the unit that gave up 438 yards of total offense to Middle Tennessee. While the Terps (2-3, 1-0 ACC) can’t hide the fact that they entered the game ranked 115th in the nation in scoring defense, they at least proved that they gained something from their four disappointing nonconference performances.

“What I learned was to lean on our athletes, trust them to make plays, don’t try to be too cute,” Brown said after earning his first conference win as an ACC assistant. “I kinda rode the things that were good for us throughout the fourth quarter and just let the kids have fun and disguise things to play the way they’re capable of.”

The result was a shutout quarter for just the second time this season — at the perfect time. Maybe it was the hideously good black and red uniform combo. But this week there was no quick and devastating game-winning drive like against Middle Tennessee. The Terps held explosive running back C.J. Spiller in check a week after allowing two long fourth quarter touchdown runs to Rutgers’ Joe Martinek.

Although the game wasn’t pretty, Brown’s game plan was almost artful. As usual, he treated the individual match-ups like a basketball game, focusing specifically on stopping speedsters Spiller and Jacoby Ford. That meant less man-to-man coverage and less blitzing early on. Once Clemson freshman quarterback Kyle Parker started getting comfortable hitting short passes, Brown let loose his blitzers and made Parker’s inexperience shine through.

Head coach Ralph Friedgen praised Brown’s mix of pressure and coverage. Sometimes, as advertised, Brown brought the house. Other times, he rushed just three defenders, leaving the Tigers with an unnecessary number of blockers and no open receivers.

“That’s not his way, but I think when he mixes it in, it’s very, very effective,” Friedgen said.

And this time, Brown, who hasn’t appeared to the media directly after several of those disappointing losses, got the results he was looking for.

The defense had scrambled to make excuses for its poor play in the nonconference schedule. All the players wanted was time to get it right, but they didn’t even play well enough to earn that luxury. It was hard to imagine a break out performance was coming given the lack of turnovers and the avalanche of points allowed.

It almost happened last week against Rutgers when the Scarlet Knights didn’t score an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter. This time, the fourth quarter stands were the cherry on top of a tough defensive performance.

“That’s the joy of how our defense is improving,” Hartsfield said. “Coach Brown has been hearing it from everybody that he’s not a good coordinator. We had to adjust our defense. We’re just now showing people the tip of the iceberg of what our defense is.”

Before Saturday, there wasn’t much hope for the Terps’ season. Now, the ACC Atlantic Division seems wide open, even if the division-leading Terps still have a disappointing overall record.

That should make the next seven games interesting, at least. And for that, you can thank the Terp defense and its inspired fourth quarter performance.

Why not expect more of the same?

They already know that it’s not how you start but how you finish.

edetweiler@umdbk.com