Boston College at Maryland: 5 Big Questions with Terrapin Station

I can’t do this segment every week, so some weeks, I have others do it for me. Today, I turn to the site which recommended my invitation to Fansided, Terrapin Station. I asked its editor, Pete Volk, five questions, and we got answers. One thing you will notice right away is that Terps fans are apparently starting to feel the same way about their coach as we do about ours, though we’ve now suffered through several years of incompetence.

5.) Like BC, the Terps are having a tough season, which happens to be Randy Edsall’s first. How would you rate his debut so far, and what key differences can we expect from his team as opposed to a Friedgen-coached Maryland?

Terrapin Station: On an A to F scale? A solid D. The only thing that’s saving him right now is the win over Miami. Edsall came in with promises of a military background and a strict environment. As a result, about a dozen players left the program in his first month or so. I’m all for a strict approach, but there’s one problem – he hasn’t been consistent. Ronnie Tyler and Quintin McCree, two receivers, were suspended earlier this season after an altercation at a local 7/11. Tyler was charged with second degree assault, and McCree was apparently just there. They received the same punishment – a two week suspension. Tyler’s trial is next week, and he’s still able to play. It’s incredibly frustrating to see that kind of inconsistency so soon into his term.

On the field, it’s been putrid. The two coordinators that he hired, Gary Crowton and Todd Bradford, have been plain awful. Maryland’s team has a lot of talent, but it just seems they’re underprepared against every team they’ve faced. They have been outplayed by every team they’ve faced this season, including Towson, and for a team coming off a nine-win season with a lot of players returning (especially on offense), that’s just inexcusable.

You’ll see less penalties than you have in the past, that’s for sure. But you’re also going to see a whole lot more of a shotgun-based attack, with very little going on under center. Crowton started the year out calling a ton of bubble screens and zone reads, but seems to have abandoned that strategy since bringing in the more run-based Brown, which is incredibly puzzling and frustrating. On defense, you’re not going to see anywhere near the same kind of blitzing that you saw with Don Brown – instead, expect a poor zone defense that seems to leave the first down line unprotected while simultaneously backing off of short routes. It’s something I’ve never really seen before, and it doesn’t work.

So somehow, you’re going to see more ineptitude than a Friedgen-coached Maryland.