After three cannon blasts, senior cornerback Josh Wilson raced from out of the bright red tunnel at Gossett Team House onto the field, zipped 100 yards across Byrd Stadium and leaped into the Testudo’s Troops student section.
“I come out of that tunnel, hear that crowd and all that noise, you can expect anything from me,” Wilson said, excited to talk about it.
Unlimited energy – that’s what the Terrapin football team can always count on from Wilson, whether he’s cruising around the field during pre-game introductions or leading the secondary with his play and his words. Saturday night was a prime example of everything Wilson brings to the Terps as a leader and playmaker.
“[Wilson] is one guy that goes 100 percent everyday – every practice, every play,” coach Ralph Friedgen said. “You can’t ever let down on him.”
After his pre-game jaunt into a sea of red shirts Saturday against William & Mary, Wilson recorded four tackles, broke up two passes and blocked a punt. The punt block electrified the crowd and Wilson’s teammates and set up the Terps’ first scoring drive. Of course, Wilson wanted more – after the game, he claimed he should have blocked three other punts and intercepted a pass.
His energy is so contagious that the defense seems to draw its collective strength from Wilson, the Terps’ top returning tackler.
“Josh Wilson, I don’t think he ever runs out of energy,” senior safety Marcus Wimbush said. “On the field he’s talking, he’s getting everybody motivated, he’s ready to go all the time.”
But during preseason camp, Wilson’s go-all-out-all-the-time philosophy took a hit when his right foot got tangled up with a teammate’s. X-rays were negative, but Wilson missed almost two weeks with a foot sprain.
Impatient about his recovery, Wilson was relegated to stalking the practice fields with his helmet in hand while hoping for a miracle.
“That was the worst feeling in the world,” he said. “You wanna get frustrated at your foot, but you can’t do anything. I remember I used to wake up every morning and say ‘please be right.'”
Wilson returned to practice with just enough time to prepare for the Tribe and went back to his high-adrenaline play. Thanks to his punt block and defensive coverage, the Terps seized the momentum early and allowed only 124 first-half yards.
At the same time, Wilson motivates his teammates with his intense play and eagerness to “demoralize” other teams. Though he loves being on the football field, Wilson said he doesn’t have any problems watching the game from the sidelines after forcing an opposing offense to go three-and-out.
But his expectations are higher, and they jive with Friedgen’s.
“[Friedgen] coaches football how I like to play it,” Wilson said. “[He] wants every play to go for a touchdown. As a defensive player, I want every play to go for a touchdown.”
As a player whose ferocious hate for losing drives him, Wilson suffered through last season even though he put up impressive numbers: 73 tackles, an interception, two sacks and two recovered fumbles.
Wilson lamented how the Terps lacked experience last year, causing them to lose games they shouldn’t have. The final result of not going to a bowl game scarred Wilson.
“That hurt. It hurt me. It might not have been my fault, it might have been my fault, but it hurts me all the same,” Wilson said. “I could’ve done something, I should’ve done something to help the team win.”
Wilson was a freshman when the Terps rolled over West Virginia 41-7 in the Gator Bowl, and he said Friedgen’s unyielding belief that he’ll win every game has rubbed off on him. Friedgen’s fiery attitude and competitiveness have also ignited Wilson’s passion.
“I don’t wanna get beat. I don’t want someone to catch the ball,” Wilson said. “I got too much pride in myself to let anybody ever seem like they have a step on me.”
Though teammates say they look up to him, Wilson isn’t consciously trying to be an example. So when he takes off on his pre-game sprint across the field, he’s not necessarily trying to incite a response from his teammates.
“I just try to do what I can. If anybody follows me I appreciate that. Maybe if they see me doing it, they’ll follow,” Wilson said. “Somebody’s gonna follow. That’s what it’s gonna take for us to be a great defense.”
The same applies before the game starts. Because of that, Wilson’s crowd leap from Saturday night may not be his last. He said that’ll continue – as long as fans catch him instead of moving out of the way.
“I’ll do it as much as I can, as many times as I get the opportunity,” he said. “It’s fun for me. It gets me pumped up, it gets the crowed pumped up. Whatever it takes.”
THE JOSH WILSON FILE
Position: Cornerback
Year: Senior
Height: 5’9″
Weight: 187
Hometown: Upper Marlboro, MD
YEAR G-GS TKLS SCKS INT
2003 11-0 2 0 0
2004 11-4 27 0 0
2005 11-11 73 2 1
2006* 1-1 4 0 0
*through one game
Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.
