Since the start of the season, Terrapin football fans had been yearning for the sight they finally laid eyes upon Saturday. They discussed it among friends and clamored about it on Internet message boards.

The scene of hundreds of students chanting and celebrating victory on the Byrd Stadium field on the clear, warm afternoon was also welcomed, but not what they had been fussing about.

It seemed the key to winning for the Terps rested partially in a sleek black uniform top that has been available in bookstores, but only rumored to be worn at some point this season.

That might seem a little ridiculous until you consider that the players shared the same desire to pull on the gold-trimmed Under Armour jerseys that several students had already purchased.

So, looking for another way to spark his young team, coach Ralph Friedgen decided to employ the secret weapon Saturday against No. 18-ranked Virginia, realizing the team had to win to have a strong chance of reaching a bowl game.

Fearing some sort of leak, Friedgen hid his intentions from both of his families – his wife and kids, as well as the players and coaches – telling only Head Equipment Manager Ron Ohringer and Director of Football Operations Tom Deahn of the plan.

While the players went through drills about 45 minutes before kickoff – wearing their usual red jerseys – Ohringer and his staff hung the black finery at the players’ lockers, a surprise that would provide enough emotion upon its disclosure to spark a 45-33 drubbing of the rival Cavaliers.

“When we came in and saw those jerseys, we knew it was time to play,” said cornerback Josh Wilson, who joined a group of players yelling and jumping around in the locker room as if victory had been secured by the shirts’ mere presence. “You don’t understand how much we wanted those black jerseys. When you don’t have something, you just want it more. When we saw those things, we knew how important this game was.”

The Terps (3-2, 2-1 ACC) sprinted out of the locker room minutes later, exposing the new uniforms to a screaming crowd of 52,656 like models on a 100-yard catwalk.

“I thought for a big occasion we’d wear them,” Friedgen said. “I just told them it’s not the jersey that wins the football game. I also told them, if you don’t win this game, it will be the last time you wear those jerseys.”

But that wasn’t going to be a problem. A week after the Terps made their loudest defensive statement of the season, the offense used this Homecoming game to bring back memories of Friedgen’s first years at the program.

Former quarterback Scott McBrien was back in town to watch current signal caller Sam Hollenbach throw for a career-high 320 yards. ACC all-time leading scorer Nick Novak was here to see his protege, Dan Ennis, drill a career-long 45-yard field goal and improve to 10-for-10.

The rest of the fans were treated to a running game that had them wondering if these were the same Terps who sent them home unhappy in two consecutive losses earlier this season.

Running back Lance Ball paraded the ball down the middle of the field on continual runs from the shotgun, totaling a career-best 163 yards on 17 carries using a play that had garnered far less success through the first four games.

“For some reason today it worked and we just stuck to it,” Ball said. “The [offensive] rhythm was a lot different.”

Some players had suggested last week that the play-calling had become too obvious to opposing defenses, but Saturday, it seemed as unpredictable as the Terps’ new attire. By executing runs from passing situations, the Terps made the job easier for their offensive linemen.

As many times as the Terps ran the inside zone play with Ball, there were play action fakes and options to counteract the runs. When Ball wasn’t rumbling toward the inside – as he did on fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 14 and 35 yards – Keon Lattimore, Jo Jo Walker and Hollenbach were breaking to the outside to combine for another 92 yards on the ground.

A Virginia team (3-1, 1-1) that hadn’t surrendered more than 327 total yards in a game this season allowed a whopping 570, the most any Cavaliers’ opponent has had since 2000, when Friedgen’s Georgia Tech offense rolled up 627.

“We weren’t expecting a game like that,” Virginia safety Nate Lyles said. “They had something to prove and they did it.”

Perhaps the clothes don’t actually make the man, but the Terps hadn’t amassed this much total yardage in the home red uniforms since 2003, when they beat North Carolina, 59-21, on Homecoming.

In many ways, this game was about the fans almost as much as it was about the players. The team knew it had let down its legion at Byrd this season, and at its regular Friday meeting, several players expressed disappointment with the way they’ve performed before their followers.

So as the cannon exploded and the fans rushed the field, the Terps found the greatest gratification shaking hands with those holding “Believe” signs and chanting “Holl-en-bach” as the quarterback finally found his way to the locker room about 15 minutes after the final whistle.

“I’m glad they came out on the field and celebrated with us,” Wilson said. “Any time they want to, they can come out and celebrate.”

And with confidence building within their locker room, it’s not just that black formal attire that has the Terps feeling like an invitation to a bowl game – or maybe something better – isn’t out of reach.

“We’re also 2-1 in the division and we haven’t played Florida State yet,” Friedgen said. “I still haven’t given up on playing in Jacksonville [for the ACC championship]. I don’t know what y’all are thinking, but that’s my goal.

“If our team can get some confidence and maturity, who knows what can happen? We’re going to be a success here. I promise you that. We’re going to win ACC championships and we’re going to win national championships before it’s all over.”

And as far as the jerseys, Friedgen says they’ll be back “when the time’s right.”

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.