MIAMI – Well, for those of you who didn’t catch Saturday night’s game because of its online-only telecast, don’t worry; you didn’t miss much.
The Terrapin football team wanted to run over Florida International to make up for last year’s near-debacle, but there was none of that. The Terps led by just six points early in the fourth quarter before pulling away late in an unimpressive 26-10 win over the Golden Panthers.
With fewer than 10,000 fans in attendance at the 72,319-seat Orange Bowl, the Terps (2-0) played well in the first quarter but struggled for the next three. The Terps know they will need to play significantly better if they have any chance of upsetting No. 4-ranked West Virginia Thursday night.
“We just didn’t play as well as we were capable of playing,” said coach Ralph Friedgen, who praised the defense and special teams but was hard on the offense – and deservingly so.
There’s no doubt it was an unemotional game for the Terps and one that probably was tough to get up for.
The Golden Panthers’ stadium is under construction, forcing the team to play its entire 2007 home schedule at the Orange Bowl – Miami’s home. Stadium officials blocked off an entire side of the stands, forcing everyone to sit on the Florida International sideline.
The end zones and field logos were painted in a different shade of green, with Miami’s “U” logo still easily visible, even with an “FIU” logo over it. The “ACC” logos on each side of the field were also quite visible. And on top of that, the Terps were playing in sweltering heat with a high humidity that led to lightning flashes and bolts throughout the entire second half.
“I’m not making any excuses, but this was a trap waiting to happen,” Friedgen said. “I don’t like playing in these games. No one in the stadium, you got a big game coming up Thursday, this team just got beat [big].”
For the first seven minutes of the game, it appeared as if the Terps were on their way to a blowout.
A botched snap on a punt led to a safety, and on the Terps’ ensuing drive, senior Keon Lattimore ran for 62 yards, including a fourteen-yard touchdown run. Redshirt freshman linebacker Adrian Moten then picked off a pass, after the ball hit a Golden Panther on the helmet, and Lattimore scored from 14 yards out to give the Terps a 16-0 lead.
The Terps couldn’t have asked for a better start, but then their offense completely disappeared. If not for the Terps’ defense, Florida International just may have won its first game since 2005. The Golden Panthers were 0-12 last season and were coming off a 59-0 loss at Penn State.
“You take the first two drives and go through them like its nothing, human nature has a tendency to relax,” Friedgen said. “I don’t relax, but most people do. I told them that on the sideline, but it’s like you can’t do anything about it.”
The Terps gained 120 total yards in the first quarter but just 150 combined the rest of the game, including 32 rushing yards during the final three quarters. Travis Baltz punted nine times. There were five three-and-out drives.
“Coach [Dave] Sollazzo talks about it all the time, we gotta have that killer instinct, and after the first quarter, we lost it,” said cornerback Kevin Barnes, who had his second interception in as many weeks but was also burnt on Florida International’s only touchdown – a 49-yard pass. “Against a good team, we’re not gonna be able to do that. So it’s good to get it out now. But next week and every week after that, we’re not gonna be able to do that.”
With 14 minutes, five seconds left in the game, the Golden Panthers cut the lead to 16-10 after a 42-yard field goal. And after the Terps went three-and-out, it appeared Florida International was going to have a chance to take the lead, but the Terps got a break when Lionell Singleton muffed the punt.
Obi Egekeze kicked a 36-yard field goal and then with just less than four minutes to play in the game, Barnes picked off a pass. The Terps locked up the win after Lance Ball rumbled in from a yard out to give them a 26-10 lead with about a minute left.
The win left the Terps happy to improve to 2-0, but there was certainly a feeling of needing to improve before Thursday.
“Without a doubt, [we have to play] a whole lot better,” Lattimore said. “We can’t breakdown mentally, we can’t mess up on checks, we can’t miss assignments. We gotta be almost perfect. They got a very high-powered offense, they don’t make mistakes mentally, and we just gotta be firing on all cylinders.”
