Darrius Heyward-Bey is the spark in the eye of every Terrapin football fan.
The 6-foot-3 receiver’s game-breaking speed makes anything suddenly so possible, so real. Just put the ball in his hands: He can do the rest.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. It never is.
The Terps beat Delaware 14-7 on Saturday in a game that was every bit as boring as the score would indicate. It shouldn’t be like that.
Heyward-Bey is simply the most exciting of a dynamic group of playmakers who stock the Terps’ depth charts. Da’Rel Scott is one of the fastest running backs in the country, and his backup, true freshman Davin Meggett, is a compact ball of explosiveness.
Defensively, the Terps have no fewer than eight linebackers with real run-stuffing abilities. The secondary, led by senior cornerback Kevin Barnes, is also deep and competitive.
Yet, Saturday, we were left with little more than flashes of brilliance. Sparks in our eyes.
It’d be easy to blame it on the quarterback play of Jordan Steffy – and it seems like the majority of the fans did just that as they cheered uproariously when reserve Chris Turner entered. But that’s just not fair.
Saturday’s performance was troubling because of more than a few sloppy passes. There was a general inability to maximize talent that haunted last season’s team as well.
Coach Ralph Friedgen’s response provided little more than the typical coach-speak: “We did a lot of good things, and we have some things we’ve got to get better at.”
It’s worth noting that season openers are typically sloppy. Two years ago, the Terps beat William & Mary in a sloppy 27-14 game that led to a 9-4 season.
So it’s not time to panic. But it is disconcerting that offensive coordinator James Franklin and Friedgen did not feel comfortable enough to throw with a lead, even against a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1-AA) team. The Blue Hens packed the box and often kept no safeties back, but the new “spread” offense proved to be little more than short throws.
Then again, when Steffy did rear back and let one loose, he missed Heyward-Bey in stride, forcing the star receiver to stop and leap for a 36-yard gain that could have been a touchdown.
In the second half, Heyward-Bey touched the ball just once – an 8-yard rush that was called back for holding.
“Football is all about what the defense gives you,” Heyward-Bey said, defending the play-calling. “It’s a game of chess; you’re guessing at every play. … You’ll get a chance to see better things in the future.
“We got speed. Trying to get those speed guys out on the field is key for us. Every week we’ll build on it and try to have more stuff to make sure guys can the ball.”
On paper, the defense should be strong, as well. But controlling the line of scrimmage is everything defensively, and the Terps did not do that.
Two tackles-for-losses. Zero sacks. No consistent pressure.
Friedgen has implemented a smaller defensive line than ever this year, and it was eaten up by Delaware’s blockers. ACC teams will be stacking even larger offensive linemen, and it’s troubling that the Terps were so consistently overmatched up front.
Friedgen said he would need to look at tape to determine what the cause of the issue was, but senior defensive tackle Jeremy Navarre was willing to admit that a small line is a big change.
“It’s more about responsibilities now, everybody doing their job, with us being smaller,” the defensive captain said. “Our techniques have to be flawless for us to play a good game.”
Those techniques tend to improve throughout the season. Everything does.
Saturday provided flashes of brilliance muddled in mediocrity. It was a boring game, no doubt about it.
The pressure is on the coaching staff at this point. The talent is there. But Scott can’t run for 197 yards every week. And the ACC is loaded with better running backs than Delaware starter Johnathon Smith. And the Terps won’t be able to win games on the occasional sparks.
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