Joel Statham’s 24 passing yards against Temple didn’t exactly reignite a quarterback controversy on the Terrapin football team, but down in Chatsworth, Ga., his family is still counting the days until Thursday.

As usual, they will be making the trip to College Park to watch Statham and the Terps play Virginia Tech in a nationally televised primetime game.

And like her son, Statham’s mother Denise Bartley will be sitting in Byrd Stadium rooting for Sam Hollenbach.

“I hate it that Joel’s not playing, but Sam’s doing an absolutely fantastic job,” said Bartley, who has traveled to almost every Terp game since her son joined the team. “We knew he’d do well when he got a chance.”

While Hollenbach’s play this season has been a pleasant surprise to many, Statham’s demotion to backup after a rocky season as the starter was widely expected and encouraged around campus. He threw 15 interceptions and averaged just 159 passing yards per game for coach Ralph Friedgen’s first losing Terp team. A common college football adage says the most popular player on the campus is usually the backup quarterback, but for Statham, that doesn’t hold true.

The fans and media criticized Statham throughout the past year and there hasn’t been any uproar about an upheaval at the position this season, mainly because of Hollenbach’s success.

But little do the fans know how valuable Statham has been this year.

He’s not sulking or complaining about his status. Instead, he’s generating positive influence from a negative situation and serving as an extra coach for Hollenbach.

“I couldn’t be more pleased with how he’s handled a personally disappointing situation,” offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe said. “I haven’t seen Joel disgruntled at all or having an attitude. We all face disappointment in our lives, it’s how you handle the disappointments that really define who you are as person. And I really think Joel has improved.”

The 21-year-old who orchestrated the program’s only victory against Florida State now stands on the sideline during games, usually calling plays wearing a headset over a backwards cap. That style may be more for comfort than fashion, but the cool demeanor Statham shows while communicating with Hollenbach is a stark deviation from some of the defeated faces he showed at times last season.

Perhaps last year wasn’t the ideal situation in which to judge Statham’s character. In fact, his mother feels his current attitude is exactly what she would expect considering the situation.

“He’s always been a team player,” Bartley said. “In high school he could have been a ball hog and tried to do more than he could, but he never did.

“A lot of people thought he didn’t want to do good, or couldn’t do well [last year]. I hate it that he’s had to go through the rough side of it.”

Statham realizes he struggled to control the ball and maintain consistency in his first year as a starter, but he has hardly shelved those experiences in order to move on with his own career.

Now, Statham willfully conjures those sometimes painful memories to lend experience to Hollenbach, who is conversely thriving in a similar situation.

“It’s really a great situation,” Hollenbach said. “I don’t know if there’s any other school in the country that has a guy like Joel. He really has a lot good to say. He’s over there on the sidelines with me between every series letting me know what he’s thinking. With him having the experience from last year, he really has a different input than the coaches do.”

Statham and Hollenbach share a hotel room the Friday night before each game, and fellow teammate Brad Schell says they’re two of the closest friends on the team. The quarterbacks’ relationship has developed around competition for the starting role, and both say they are more comfortable this season.

“I understand why he’s playing,” Statham said. “Obviously, Sammy’s playing good as crap right now. I just try to do my part anyways. It’s pretty much like I’m coaching him. I hear what coach Taaffe says, and I interpret it in a way that he’ll be able to understand it better.”

Sure, Statham would rather have an opportunity to play more. But despite admitting that he figured he wouldn’t get the job to begin the season, transferring is something Statham and Bartley says they’ve never discussed.

Bartley tries to attend every game, but she wasn’t able to make the Oct. 8 trip to Philadelphia.

Coincidentally, that game has been Statham’s lone action since being pulled by Friedgen on two occasions in the Terps’ 55-6 loss against the Hokies last season.

When Statham called home after the Temple game – in which he went 3-for-6 with two fumbles in a game already out of hand – he vented his frustration.

He went on to tell his mother about a situation where he had a chance to connect with Isaiah Williams for a big play, but the first-year wide receiver ran his route incorrectly.

“His comment was that he wanted the freshman kid to look good,” Bartley said. “It wasn’t about making a showing for himself. That’s Joel.”

But what’s left for Statham in his final year and a half of eligibility?

A storybook result would cast Statham as the unexpected hero this week, after his three interceptions in a primetime game against Virginia Tech set the tone for the team’s long summer and gave Hollenbach the opportunity to earn a starting role.

But while Statham realizes he’s one snap away from becoming a starter again, the Terps are counting on him to fulfill all backup duties so they can redshirt sophomore Jordan Steffy.

And by doing that, it’s almost as if Statham is inflicting more damage to his own career. With Hollenbach returning and the highly recruited Steffy rejoining the fray, Statham will have an even slighter chance of emerging.

“Sam is developing into a very good ACC quarterback – he’s the total offense leader in the conference – so he’s certainly got a foothold on the position,” Taaffe said. “But competition is a healthy thing. I’m sure at some point over the home stretch of the season that we’re going to need Joel.”

Hollenbach was in a deeper hole on the depth chart when he went from fourth string to the starter in the Terps’ final game last year, and his coach knows a little bit about unexpected quarterback play.

“Sooner or later, you’re going to get a break and there’s going to be an opportunity,” Friedgen said. “And the people that are ready when that opportunity comes are the ones who have got a chance to be a success.”

Statham realizes he’s had such a chance – twice. But the opportunity for a third has him continuing to improve in practice every day.

“I learned that two years ago when I had to go in against Georgia Tech,” Statham said of the Terps’ 7-3 loss when he took over for an injured Scott McBrien. “I’ve got to come in every week and practice like I’m going to be the starter.”

But is that satisfying enough?

“Yeah. For now, yeah.”

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.