Seemingly resigned to the final result more than three hours after West Virginia’s 28-0 start, Terrapin football coach Ralph Friedgen pointed out a lot of positives.

But when the time came to discuss the performance of his defense, Friedgen spoke out of frustration and confusion.

“They were just gashing us,” Friedgen said. “Defensively, we gotta sit down and evaluate where we are there.”

Thursday night, the West Virginia offense shredded the Terp defense for 230 yards and 28 points in the first quarter alone. Never in the Friedgen era has the team given up that many points in one quarter.

By the time the defense clamped down on the Mountaineer attack, it was too late. Led by sophomore running back Steve Slaton, West Virginia scored a touchdown every time it got the ball in the first quarter. Friedgen said falling behind was a problem because the offense isn’t yet ready to make up big deficits.

Friedgen pointed to confused lines of communication to try to explain how excited optimism turned into utter frustration.

“I know we’re having some communication problems. Defenses are being called and they’re not being executed,” Friedgen said. “Other defenses are being run. We gotta get that solved and fixed. I don’t know why that’s happening. We gotta find out.”

In the greater part of Friedgen’s first five seasons at the helm, the defense has been the Terps’ backbone. This season, however, the defense has been a cause for concern.

The Terps made a defensive transition in the off-season after five-year coordinator Gary Blackney retired and Friedgen replaced him with Kansas State linebackers’ coach Chris Cosh. Senior cornerback Josh Wilson said last month the defense was “right on stride.”

When asked if the new system was the source of Thursday night’s confusion, Friedgen wondered why it would be and questioned how the defensive wires got crossed.

Junior linebacker Wesley Jefferson said the problem resulted from the 60,513 mostly hostile fans at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“Sometimes in the game, it gets real loud,” Jefferson said. “Sometimes guys don’t hear things; sometimes guys mistake things or make stuff up.”

But the problems that put the Terps in a four-touchdown hole against the Mountaineers weren’t new ones. Even with blowout games against William & Mary and Middle Tennessee, the Terps have allowed 23 points and 338 yards per game. Friedgen and his players had been pointing out the problems all along – from missed tackles to miscommunication.

After the Terps’ win against Middle Tennessee, Friedgen said he and his staff knew the Blue Raiders would call a screen play to the right and told players to prepare for it. Despite knowing what was coming, the Terps couldn’t make a stop.

It also happened against the Mountaineers, as the Terps prepared all week for a run-heavy offense.

What all amounted to an embarrassing first-quarter effort and the Terps’ first loss of the season may be an indicator of a larger problem with the defense. Friedgen said he was concerned about West Virginia’s speed – something likely to test the Terps again when they face ACC foes like Clemson and Florida State.

“We haven’t been tackling well all three weeks,” Friedgen said. “We gotta get better.”

Jefferson didn’t put the blame on any single person or unit, but said everyone – from players to coaches – didn’t get the job done Thursday night.

The junior linebacker saw a positive in the Terps’ second-half performance, when they allowed only 127 Mountaineer yards. Jefferson said the problems can be fixed.

“This doesn’t set us back. This is just one game,” he said. “Just practice – that’s the hard work. We know we can do it – we just gotta execute.”

Contact reporter Stephen Whyno at whynodbk@gmail.com.