University of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen is well-known for his reputation as an offensive genius. However, this season his Terrapins (4-4, 2-3 ACC) have struggled with an anemic offensive attack. Friedgen's saving grace has been the highly effective play of the Terrapins defensive unit, orchestrated by defensive coordinator Gary Blackney.
The Terps defense will face a stern challenge this weekend when Maryland travels south to Scott Stadium to face the Cavaliers, who rank No. 1 in the conference in total offense. Friedgen has nothing but praise for the Virginia offense and realizes the strength of the hand stacked against his defense.
"I think they're going to face their toughest challenge yet," Friedgen said of Maryland's defense. "I think Virginia's offense is excellent, both the balance they have between the run and the pass."
Virginia running back Alvin Pearman said he expects a hard battle with the Terps' defense on Saturday.
"They're very talented," Pearman said. "They have some players on their team that at their positions are some of the best that we've seen in the season thus far. We know what we have before us and it's going to be a challenge."
One such player that Virginia will have to account for is Maryland junior defensive end Shawne Merriman. Merriman is a prominent figure in Maryland's 4-3 defensive system. He plays the hybrid "leo" position which is a combination of both the defensive end and linebacker positions.
"He's a very good player," Virginia coach Al Groh said of Merriman. "He's relentless and he's versatile. He's primarily an on-the-line-of-scrimmage or a rush man, but when they do certain things, when some teams would drop a defensive end and there's zone blitzes, well, now he's that hybrid defensive end."
Other prominent Maryland defensive players include senior cornerback Dominique Foxworth and junior linebacker D'Qwell Jackson. Foxworth anchors the Terrapins' secondary and Jackson has developed a reputation as a scrappy and hard-hitting player. Senior strong safety Chris Kelley is a former highly-recruited quarterback who never flourished in Friedgen's system and has developed a niche for himself on the defensive side of the ball.
Maryland's season looked like it was fading as quickly as Smarty Jones at the Belmont Stakes before registering a monumental upset over Florida State at home last week, 20-17. The victory over FSU kept Maryland's slim bowl hopes alive.
Maryland's quarterback Joel Stathum has been largely ineffective this season. The Terps' defense will likely have to carry the load if Maryland wants to extend its three year bowl appearance streak. The Terps have never missed a bowl game under Friedgen's tutelage.
"They don't give up a lot of points," Groh said of Maryland's defense. "They have a very sound approach to how they play. They have a good talent level. All of the things that are integral to playing good, solid defense are very apparent and really have been there from the outset"
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