The Maryland Terrapins' nightmare season came to a close Saturday, as they lost another close game 19-17 to Boston College.
The Terps fell to 2-10 to finish the season, by far the worst season of head coach Ralph Friedgen's nine-year tenure. Despite their record, Friedgen has said time and time again that this group of players has been his favorite to work with.
“I just told them how proud I was of them,” Friedgen said. “I told them how I expect to be back and if not, tell them how much I love them and appreciated their efforts this whole year.”
The Terps started the game on the right foot, taking their first possession and marching down the field for a 32-yard field goal, courtesy of freshman Nick Ferrara, in only 3:03.
The Eagles fired right back, however, turning a third-and-17 hole into a 66-yard touchdown pass from freshman David Shinskie to sophomore WR Colin Larmond. Shinskie finished 14-23 with 227 yards. Larmond had three catches for 105 yards.
Big plays were the bane of the Terps D all year. Friedgen said after the game that of the 70 plays that BC ran, they played good defense on “about 65 of them.”
It was senior day for the Terps, who said goodbye to 14 seniors, including Chris Turner, C Phil Costa, twins Deege and Tommy Galt (a DE and TE respectively), DBs Terrell Skinner, Jamari McCullough, Anthony Wiseman, and the injured Nolan Carroll.
The Galt brothers had big games, as Deege had both Maryland sacks, and Tommy had the longest catch of his career, a 26-yarder.
Turner and sophomore Jamarr Robinson split time at quarterback, due to each having injuries that prevented them from practicing much this week, according to Friedgen. Robinson threw the final score of the game, a 28-yard beauty to Torrey Smith with 1:34 to play.
The Terps did not have any timeouts left, so after failing to recover the ensuing onside kick, the Eagles were able to kneel and end the game.
“It was a hard one,” said Friedgen. “Our kids played with everything they had, they just couldn't find a way to pull it out.”
Sophomore WR/KR Torrey Smith finished his stellar season with 61 receptions, 824 yards, 1,309 kick-return yards, and 2,192 all-purpose yards.
He set Maryland records for single-season all-purpose and kick-return yards, career kick-return yards, and broke the ACC record for single-season all-purpose yards. However, Clemson's C.J. Spiller now has the ACC record for single-season all-purpose yards, with 2,207 already and two games to go.
Smith and the rest of the Terps are waiting to hear about the future of their coach, as there have been calls for Friedgen's job, but Smith's preference is the Fridge.
“I love coach Friedgen to death,” Smith said. “I support everyone here, from the top to the bottom.
He brought me here, believed in me when a lot of people didn't, and I feel like through him I became a better person.”
Friedgen said he knows the team will improve, and hopes he's around to see it
“I expect to be coaching this team next year,” he said. “I put a lot of time in with these kids ... We'll just have to see. The kids never quit on me. Why would I want to quit on them? I want to be with them when they're good."