TAMPA, Florida — The mistakes started early at Raymond James Stadium for the Terrapins football team against South Florida on Saturday. And they didn’t stop until the final seconds ticked off the clock.

The Terps fumbled seven times in the contest, losing four of them. Quarterback C.J. Brown tossed two interceptions, the last of which came inside the red zone in the third quarter of a three-point game. The defensive line missed tackles that resulted in a South Florida touchdown. The offensive line missed assignments that resulted in free blitzers and crushing sacks.

But through the blunders, the Terps escaped with a 24-17 victory. Fullback Kenneth Goins Jr. keyed the win when he blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone for the go-ahead score with less than 13 minutes remaining. And despite six turnovers, coach Randy Edsall’s squad remains undefeated two games into its 2014 campaign.

“I’m proud of our team for hanging in there and finding a way to win when things weren’t going our way,” Edsall said. “They showed me something about their character, their will, their grit.”

Character, will and grit aside, though, Edsall concedes the Terps experienced some struggles.

Four of the offense’s six turnovers came in the first half. Two of them came in back-to-back drives to open the game — one on a misfired deep ball from Brown intended for wide receiver Stefon Diggs and another on running back Brandon Ross’ fumble.

Brown committed his second turnover of the first quarter when he fumbled inside his own 20 after a run up the middle. Bulls linebacker Auggie Sanchez scooped it up and returned it for a then-game-tying touchdown.

Ross lost another fumble minutes later, an error that all but ended his afternoon.

“We just didn’t do some smart things today,” Edsall said after the game.

The second half brought much of the same from the Terps’ offense, but the defense held the Bulls without a point.

Wes Brown replaced Ross as running back, and on a series early in the third quarter with the Terps trailing by three points, the sophomore accounted for 31 yards on the ground during a 12-play 46-yard drive that moved his team into the red zone.

That’s when C.J. Brown threw behind Diggs on a crossing pattern over the middle near the 10-yard line. The ball deflected off the speedy receiver’s hands, and Sanchez secured the interception — the Terps’ fifth turnover of the day.

“It wasn’t anything they were doing,” said Brown, who completed 17 of 28 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns, both to receiver Marcus Leak in the first quarter. “It was things we were doing ourselves — the turnovers, the fumbles, the interceptions. Obviously, we can’t play like that.”

The sixth turnover was perhaps the most frustrating for Edsall.

After Goins’ punt block and a field goal from kicker Brad Craddock, the Terps held a 24-17 lead with possession and less than three minutes remaining in regulation. But running back Albert Reid fumbled the ball away to give the Bulls and backup quarterback Steven Bench — who entered for injured starter Mike White (left forearm) after the first play from scrimmage — one final shot at spoiling the Terps’ quest for an unexpected victory.

“You’ve got to have two hands on the ball in the hitting zone. You can’t throw the ball behind guys,” Edsall said. “It’s discouraging. If we didn’t work on it, that’d be a different story. But we work on that stuff.”

South Florida’s effort came up short, though, after Edsall’s defense forced a turnover on downs.

“I was just happy with the fact that even though we went through all of that … we were still able to come back and win the game,” defensive end Andre Monroe said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do.”

At practice Tuesday, in an act of clairvoyance, Edsall warned his players of the downfalls of complacency.

“Guys, you’ve got to make sure that you work and do everything that we ask you to do,” Edsall told the team, “because if you don’t, you’re going to get surprised.”

Apparently, the message was not clear enough, as the Terps flirted with an early-season catastrophe Saturday.

But after the near-embarrassment and close contest, Edsall is confident the Terps understand no game will be handed to them. And the message didn’t even cost the Terps a loss.

“I’d rather be able to teach the lessons that we’re going to be able to teach coming off a win,” Edsall said. “Right now, we’re 2-0. That’s the best we can be. Do we have to get better? Yeah. Will we get better? Yes we will. Does this send a message to our team? Yes it does.”