Healthy Tailbacks Are at a Premium
By Eric Prisbell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 10, 2003; Page D06

Yesterday, Bruce Perry jogged along a football field, shook his head to decline an interview request and observed yet another Maryland practice in which he did not participate. Perry's status remains questionable because of a sprained left ankle the tailback suffered in the victory over North Carolina on Nov. 1, when he rushed for a season-high 96 yards.

If Perry does not practice today, Terrapins Coach Ralph Friedgen said, he probably will not play in Thursday's game against Virginia, the first of three games to close the regular season of a suddenly muddled ACC. Hampered by nagging injuries the past two seasons, Perry has missed two games this year -- Northern Illinois and The Citadel.

An effective Maryland running game helped open up a passing attack that was nearly flawless against the Tar Heels. The Terps' three lowest rushing outputs of the season were against Florida State (73 yards), Georgia Tech (96) and Northern Illinois (112), all Maryland losses. "When we struggle to run the football," offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe said, "we generally struggle as an offense."

If Perry is sidelined or less than full strength, the responsibility to carry the running game will rest with tailback Josh Allen, the speedy sophomore who leads the Terps in rushing with 461 yards. "No matter what the situation is," Allen said, "you have to make sure you're ready to come in and play your role."

Third-string tailback Sammy Maldonado, meantime, is done for the season after tearing his ACL on the final play of the first quarter against North Carolina and will undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday.

Exhaustive Preparation

Friedgen took some of the blame for last season's 48-13 loss at Virginia, which snapped the Terps' eight-game winning streak and squashed hopes for a second straight ACC title. After a game at Clemson the week before and a difficult practice that Monday, Friedgen said, players complained of fatigue. "I really didn't listen to them," acknowledged Friedgen, who since has dissected last year's Virginia game 10 times.

The Terps practiced as usual the rest of the week and jumped to a 7-0 first-quarter lead against the Cavaliers. Maryland then surrendered 20 points in the second quarter and "were tired and a little out of it," said Friedgen, who abridged the following week's practice schedule and beat Wake Forest by 18.

Game Plan for Spectators

School officials have developed a comprehensive parking plan for Thursday's 7:45 p.m. game. Fans are encouraged to arrive on campus between 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., and Byrd Stadium gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Parking on Route 193 will be allowed except on the median. Fans without season-parking passes will be directed by uniformed parking attendants to the first available parking space not held for season-pass holders. Fans should use Beltway exits other than Route 1, including New Hampshire Avenue and Kenilworth Avenue.
 

UM's ACC title hopes get a lift over weekend
No. 3 FSU's loss creates scenarios for tie at top
By Kevin Van Valkenburg
Sun Staff
Originally published November 10, 2003

COLLEGE PARK - Ralph Friedgen tried his best to stay awake Saturday for the Florida State-Clemson game, but by the time the second half rolled around, he had drifted off to sleep on his couch.

He woke up to find that the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship was suddenly up for grabs again.

"It's a pretty crazy league, isn't it?" Friedgen said.

Whether Clemson's 26-10 victory over the third-ranked Seminoles will help Tigers coach Tommy Bowden keep his job is debatable, but it definitely shook up the league race. If Maryland (6-3, 3-2 ACC) wins its next three games, and N.C. State beats Florida State on Saturday (something the Wolfpack has done two years in a row), then the Terps could finish tied for the league championship. That scenario seemed highly unlikely after Maryland lost to Georgia Tech, 7-3, on Oct. 23, but the possibility was alive and well in Friedgen's mind yesterday.

"We have a shot," Friedgen said. "We've got to find a way to win, and then root like hell for N.C. State. Hey, go Wolfpack."

Of course, Friedgen pointed out, none of it matters if Maryland can't beat Virginia (5-4, 3-3) on Thursday, something the Terps could not do last season with a shot at the league title on the line. In that game, Maryland went down to Charlottesville riding the wave of an eight-game winning streak - and left on the wrong side of a 48-13 blowout.

The game only added fuel to the growing rivalry between the two teams. This year, for the first time since 1945, the winner of the game will take home the Tydings Trophy, which was awarded to the winner of the Maryland-Virginia game in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. The two schools stopped issuing the trophy to the winner in 1945 when the teams didn't play each other for 11 years, but this year the tradition will re-emerge.

It also doesn't hurt that Virginia coach Al Groh took a thinly veiled shot at Maryland's schedule (which included Akron, Eastern Michigan and Wofford) last year after the Cavaliers were passed over for the ACC's top three bowl berths, despite beating both Maryland and N.C. State.

"Anytime you've got the two coaches going at it a little bit, it just shows how competitive it is," said Maryland guard Lamar Bryant.

Perry doubtful

Terps tailback Bruce Perry did some light jogging in practice yesterday, but his availability for Thursday seems doubtful. Perry injured his ankle in the first half against North Carolina on Nov. 1 and hasn't been able to run on it since. Friedgen said that if Perry couldn't practice today, he wouldn't play.

"He just wouldn't get enough reps in the game plan," Friedgen said.

With Perry doubtful and running back Sam Maldonado out for the season with a torn knee ligament, Maryland is no longer that deep at running back. Sophomore Josh Allen will start, and Mario Merrills and J.P. Humber will serve as backups, but Friedgen said he hasn't ruled out using freshman Lance Ball, who hasn't played this season.

"I'm not going to play him if it's a blowout, but if he's the second-best running back and we need to win, I'd do it," Friedgen said. "He's looked pretty impressive catching the ball out of the backfield in practice this week."

Ball rushed for 3,403 yards and had 39 touchdowns during his three-year varsity career at Teaneck (N.J.) High School.