Jaclyn Borowski/The Diamondback
DURHAM, N.C. — In the end, the Terrapin football team didn’t even give itself a chance.
Again.
The Terps limited their mistakes early and stayed close with Duke in their 17-13 loss Saturday in a game during which intermittent periods of torrential rain limited both offenses.
But with more than one chance to try and take the lead in the fourth quarter, the Terps became their own worst enemy.
Again.
Trailing by less than a touchdown, Terp quarterback Chris Turner threw a pass into traffic for an easy interception to kill one drive, and punt returner Tony Logan fumbled a punt return to end another possession before it could even start.
“I thought we were going to get through it without a turnover,” coach Ralph Friedgen said. “Then we had the interception. And Tony was trying to make a play, I understand that, but you’ve gotta make the play.”
And so in this nightmare season, the Terps (2-6, 1-3 ACC) added a few more dubious distinctions to their resume.
Heading into their bye week, the Terps are off to their worst eight-game start to a season since 1998, and they just completed their worst stretch of any eight games in Friedgen’s nine-year tenure.
The Terps lost to Duke (4-3, 2-1 ACC) for the first time since 1999, and they allowed the Blue Devils to win back-to-back ACC games for the first time since 1994.
“I said [to the players] ‘I don’t know what to tell you,'” Friedgen said. “‘I appreciate your effort. I appreciate how hard you work day in and day out. I’m sorry that I can’t get you a win.'”
The defense played well enough to get the Terps a win for the second consecutive week only to be foiled again by a Terp offense that couldn’t get anything going consistently.
Blue Devil quarterback Thaddeus Lewis completed 30-of-43 passes for 371 yards even as the conditions got increasingly wet, but he only found the endzone twice as the Terps held their opponent to fewer than 20 points for the first time all season.
Lewis completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Varner in the first quarter and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Danny Parker, who made an acrobatic one-handed catch, in the third quarter.
The Terps did leave big holes in the middle of the field in coverage and struggled to put much pressure on Lewis, especially early in the game.
Terp linebackers Alex Wujciak and Ben Pooler each forced fumbles that were recovered by safety Jamari McCollough and defensive tackle Travis Ivey, respectively, and cornerback Cameron Chism grabbed his third interception of the season.
But the Terps only scored three points off the three turnovers.
“I think we did well winning the turnover battle,” Wujciak said. “But the only thing that matters is the final score.”
On the other side of the ball, the Terp offense finished with a mediocre 249 yards of total offense and struggled to sustain long drives.
Turner finished 16-for-23 for 182 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and Davin Meggett led all rushers with nine carries for 38 yards.
Despite talk during the week about backup quarterback Jamarr Robinson possibly getting some playing time, but the sophomore never entered the game.
The Terps often played conservatively in third down situations even while playing from behind, and they were clearly concerned about throwing passes through the rain.
“We wanted to throw the ball more than we did,” Turner said. “But when it was coming down that hard we couldn’t.”
The Terps converted 5-of-13 third downs and made it into the Blue Devils’ red zone just twice all game.
The lone highlight for the offense came in the third quarter when Turner hit Meggett with a screen pass, and Meggett ran 67 yards for the Terps’ only touchdown in two weeks.
“After I caught the ball I just told my receivers ‘make big blocks,'” Meggett said. “They made the play. I just ran behind them. They’re the ones you should be interviewing.”
Turner passed Boomer Esiason for second place on the Terps’ all-time career passing yards list and is now behind only Scott Milanovich, a distinction Turner said was “bittersweet” given the Terps’ lack of success this season.
With four games to play, the Terps now need to win all four to qualify for a bowl game for the fourth consecutive year.
But with the way things have been going, the Terps’ focus is on regrouping during their bye week and then seeing what they can salvage of the rest of their season.
“I’ve never known a man to just quit,” linebacker Adrian Moten said. “If you’re a real man you’re going to keep fighting.”
schimmel@umdbk.com
