Pick A Side

After the Maryland Terrapins lost 23-13 to the Virginia Tech Hokies on Thursday night, there was the usual varying reactions in Terpland. Some people shrugged it off, some started the same panic that followed the losses to Middle Tennessee St. and UVA. Now, of course, with me being fair and objective, I won't tell you how to think, so instead I'll lay out five points from the game and tell you why you could be optimistic or pessimistic about each one. Which one are you?

1. The Terps lost. 

The optimistic person can say: Out of the four remaining games, this was the one you thought you were most likely to lose. Winning in Blacksburg on a Thursday night is not something you do unless you play perfectly, and the Terps didn't play perfectly. They usually don't on the road. Anyway, nothing changes. All you need to do is win the Florida State game and one of the two other games you play this year.

The pessimistic person can say: Let's be real here. The Terps have played eight halves of football on the road this year. They've only looked good for one of those eight (the second half against Clemson). They've shown a complete inability to win on the road, so it's unlikely they will do so against Boston College. You may need that game, though, considering UNC is ranked and will be very difficult. 

2. Chris Turner lost his cool in the second half.

The pessimistic person can say: This is just further evidence that Turner is not the leader of this football team. He plays on pure adrenaline against the ranked teams, but when his team really needs him the most, he's just too frazzled to lead an adequate comeback. Did you see him the second half? He couldn't come within 5 yards of a receiver. The only reason it got interesting at all was because Heyward-Bey made a great play and we got lucky on special teams.

The optimistic person can say: We knew Turner wasn't a great leader coming into the season, or else he would have been granted the starting job. This is a very veteran team - just look the offensive line. The leadership role generally falls on the quarterback, but we don't need that. Turner hasn't been vocal all year - why would you expect him to be now? Plus, any quarterback who has never played that kind of game before would get riled. He's a junior, and this is his first major night game on the road in one of the hardest places to play in the nation. It's awesome he was as good as he was in the first half. 

3. Darren Evans ran for 253 yards against the Maryland defense.

The optimistic person can say: Evans had a great game. These things happen. It's bad that he ran for that much, but you really have to give the guy credit. He did have some huge holes, but he also had some miniscule ones that he just powered through. Either way, let's be real here and just say that our linebackers didn't tackle well. What this really was, though, was that Maryland wasn't sticking to what they do best - filling the gaps with their plethora of linebackers. If they had done that, Evans would have been competely contained. Cosh will realize that, and Maryland won't let the same mistake happen twice.

The pessimistic person can say: If we let VT run all over us like this, imagine what's going to happen when we play FSU. Stop saying "that's the game that matters" because if we put up the same rush defense against FSU, we'll lose by 30. Our tackling was terrible, and what's even worse is that we couldn't stop him in the second half, when our offense desperateley needed the ball. 

4. The Terps' character is in question. 

The pessimistic person can say: This team is a bunch of prima donnas and quitters. Whenever the going gets tough, they don't get going; they start thinking about going home. Did you see the offense at the end of the first half? Just chilling on the bench like there wasn't a thing wrong in the world. Friedgen no longer motivates this team. They play when they want to, and don't when they don't. It's pathetic.

The optimistic person can say: You're right, it should be questioned from before, because the Terps showed more character Thursday night than they have all year. They got blown out in the first half. Injuries were piling up. They could have quit, and this would have been another 58-7 type game. But did they? No. They outscored VT 10-6 in the second half. Look, they just didn't have enough to win the game, but they tried their hardest. Look at Heyward-Bey. He gets lit up on a failed 3rd down conversion and was down for a little while. When he was able to get up, did he look down on his trek to the sideline? No. He got up, and you could see the passion in his eyes as he was firing up his teammates. This team didn't quit against VT, the breaks just didn't go their way.

5. The Terps had -12 yards rushing.

The optimistic person can say: Well, I mean, you know ... Never mind, I got nothing here. That was terrible.

The pessimistic person can say: The blog won't allow me enough characters to talk about that.