Randy Edsall
Ten months and 24 days ago, the Terrapins football team began the fourth quarter at Carter-Finley Stadium with a 20-point lead against N.C. State. They were a dismal 2-9 at that point, but a victory over the Wolfpack in the season finale would have sent the Terps into the offseason on a positive note.
Only it wouldn’t happen that way. N.C. State scored 35 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes, turning a 20-point deficit into a 15-point lead and sending the Terps home with a 56-41 loss.
“That game hurt a lot,” linebacker Demetrius Hartsfield said. “To go out like that was just bad. I think we all remember that.”
Randy Edsall has said numerous times this season he doesn’t like to reflect on last year. But this week, he likely couldn’t help it. In his Tuesday press conference previewing the Terps’ homecoming matchup with the Wolfpack at Byrd Stadium tomorrow, the second-year coach’s opening statement revolved around one key motif: finishing.
“We had two opportunities [against Virginia] the other day to really put the game away, and those are the things, as we continue to move forward and we get into the second half of the season, we got to get better,” Edsall said. “Kind of put the dagger in people.”
Finishing off games is something the Terps weren’t able to do last year. After cornerback Cameron Chism’s interception return for a touchdown sealed the team’s season-opening win over Miami, the Terps slid straight downhill. They blew halftime leads in losses to Clemson and N.C. State as they lost 10 of their final 11 games.
So in spring practice, summer workouts and early this season, the Terps have stressed the importance of finishing games.
“With the strength staff, with every drill we did, we focused on doing the drill right the whole time,” guard Justin Gilbert said. “Not just starting fast and sort of tapering off towards the end — really finishing.”
And for the most part, it’s worked. The Terps (4-2, 2-0 ACC) claimed early leads and held on to win games against Temple and the Cavaliers, dug out of holes to defeat William & Mary and Wake Forest and nearly completed a comeback in a loss to Connecticut.
Quarterback Perry Hills can be credited for much of that success. Though he’s completed just 53 percent of his throws in the first three quarters this season, the freshman has compiled 390 passing yards and two touchdowns on 24-of-35 passing in the fourth quarter — a completion rate of nearly 70 percent.
“I hate to lose, I’m competitive, and whatever it comes down to, I just want to get the job done and lead my team down the field,” Hills said Wednesday. “I don’t want to disappoint them, so I put everything I have into the fourth quarter.”
Hills wasn’t around for last year’s game, but he said he’s gotten a sense that revenge is on a lot of his teammates’ minds. And after what happened in Raleigh, N.C., last season, no one could really blame them.
Mike Glennon — who totaled six touchdowns against the Terps last season — is still the Wolfpack’s (4-2, 1-1) quarterback, and many of the Terps’ defenders who played in that game are still on the team this year.
The Terps are off to a 4-2 start and are two wins away from bowl eligibility. Like they did last year against N.C. State, they got off to a hot start. Now, defensive end Joe Vellano said they have to finish it.
“We definitely owe them guys,” Vellano said. “This is the biggest game of the season this year, right now. We’re all in on this game, and we got to really take it to them.”
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