52 replies to this topic

[You Play to Win the Game]

Good thoughts. Agree with most of it, and "minimally disappointing" is pretty much the perfect summation, unless you're just really into engaging into hyperbole, IMO. I, too, was pleased to see Craddock bounce back strong - with as talented as he was, a lot of guys can't quite recover from as bad as he was last year... he did. Anxious to see how the rest of this recruiting class shapes up.

[BSLZackKiesel]

I agree with pretty much all of what you said there, Glenn. I think the play-calling concerns are always going to be there for Locksley, but I think Edsall is alright with having a really strong DC and a mediocre OC, since the OC is probably the best recruiter in the DMV (that's a widespread opinion, not just my own). I questioned the play-calling today, as I thought they were even more evident in the Military Bowl.

 

Overall though, I'm happy with the coaching staff. I, like Glenn, am a very strong Edsall supporter. I think that the job he did this season with all the injuries was incredible. Speaks volumes about his heart and coaching ability. Brian Stewart is one of the most underrated coaches in college football. It won't be long before he'll be jumping ship to become a head coach somewhere else. NFL experience is very valuable in today's college football. Hopefully he'll be around a few more years, because I love his 3-4 scheme.

[Oriole85]

Just wanted to give a quick review of this past season of MD football and give my impressions moving forward to 2014.

 

Overall, I'd rate the year as "minimally disappointing".  I thought 7-8 wins was a proper goal coming in to this year.  However, they simply let too many games get away that should have been victories.  Injuries no doubt played a part in some of that, but in some cases the team simply did not appear well-prepared.  But moving on....

 

Player of the Year - C.J. Brown - Honestly there is no really good candidate here.  For me this was basically a choice between Brown and Marcus Whitfield.  Ultimately I feel like Brown is the more valuable player.  He never seemed to me to fully have his explosiveness back - maybe that will come next year, or maybe with the knee injury it never comes back - but I think he proved that his arm is no longer a liability.  Looking forward to seeing what he can do in the B1G next year.

 

Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Whitfield - Whitfield completed his MD career with a very solid season.  He was the Terps' most consistent pass rusher throughout the season, finishing with 9 sacks.  Again, I can't really think of another deserving candidate here.

 

Special Teams Player of the Year - Brad Craddock - Actually a tough choice here between Craddock and Will Likely.  Glad to see Craddock realize the potential he showed last year as a very, very raw but talented kicker.  MD is set at PK for the next 2 years.

 

Best Game of the Year - MD 27, VT 24 (OT) - Obviously the VT program is not near what it used to be, but MD had not even been competitive against VT in its previous matchups.  To win that game, on the road, after the stinker against Syracuse (see below), and to seal bowl eligibility, was huge.  The d-line was terrific and C.J. Brown appeared to finally have recovered from his various ailments.

 

Worst Game of the Year - MD 3, Syracuse 20 - Amazingly, IMO, MD found a way to have a game that was even worse than the 63-0 beating at Florida State.  I said at the time that that FSU game said more about FSU than it did MD, and I believe they justified that statement throughout the year.  But this game against Syracuse was one giant, stinking ball of crap.  I do not care what the injury situation was.  To play that poorly, at home, against a mediocre team, when you've had 2 weeks to prepare, was simply inexcusable.  I legitimately thought MD had a strong chance to lose out after this game (the only thing that cause me doubt was how bad NC State was, as I never expected MD to beat VT).

 

Edsall impressions - Most of you know that I've been a big Edsall backer since the hire was made.  I continue to think that he is a very good program builder who has a good eye for football talent and a good idea for how to develop that talent.  I think that is evident as you look up and down this roster, which next year will have more talent than at any point I remember since following MD football.  Having said that, I think the concerns raised about his game-day coaching ability are very legitimate.  MD always seemed slow to adjust, and played their 2 worst games of the year on weeks where they had 2 full weeks to prepare.  Moreover, they did not look very well prepared for their bowl game.  They are in a tough position with Locksley.  They need him as a recruiter but he is quite limited as a coordinator IMO.  The actual gameday coaching will have to improve if MD expects to be competitive in the B1G.

 

Moving forward to 2014 - As I mentioned earlier, the 2014 MD team will be very talented throughout.  The main weaknesses, unfortunately, will probably be both lines, which are of course the most important units on the field.  I do expect the O-line to be much improved, with everyone returning and the additions of Derwin Gray, Larry Maczyk and, hopefully Damian Prince.  They just had a 3-star tackle decommit, who says he will now choose between MD and Penn State (which, of course, basically means he's going to Penn State). 

 

The upcoming decisions of Damian Prince and Jalen Tabor will be very important.  While the 2014 recruiting class is a decent one, MD has once again let too much local talent get away.  Securing these 2 highly touted players is important not only for the on-the-field product but for the "stay at home" movement that MD is trying to create.

 

Would love to hear the impressions of others. 

First of all, I like the thorough review here.

Like you said POY there was no good choices, so I can't really argue with you here. I hate playing the "if game," I think if Diggs stays healthy it's him though.

Game of the year is pretty obvious, biggest one of the Edsall era by far and probably the biggest one since the late mid-to-late 00s. I wonder what it would've been if they had lost that game? -- UVA but that was a bad team.

Worst Game of the Year, agree with Syracuse to fall flat like that at home was embarrassing, worse than FSU. FSU is still the third worst loss to me. Wake was worse.
 

My thoughts on Edsall, I was a big Fridge fan. I thought they could've done better than him. While I partially blame KA, I do think Maryland football isn't as attractive as some would like to think it is. So besides, Leach this was probably as good as they could do for an established coach. Besides that, they could've gotten a real up-and-comer (not a real hot assistant like Gus Malzahn, who likely wouldn't come here). That said, I was/am willing to give him a chance. Disastrous first year, incomplete second year. This year, he dealt with injuries, but he can't get a pass forever there and next year, I think it be even more of a non-factor regardless of what happens. Good win over WVU, great win over VT, bad loss to Wake, terrible loss to Syracuse. Every other game went as expected results wise. Next year is close to make or break for me, but a ~6-6 season would make it tough for me to go in one direction or another.

[McNulty]

This is going to be blasphemy, but I can't help it.  Johnny Holiday is so bad on the radio for football.  I could not follow what was going on (was driving to work while the game was on).  He was making mistakes on just about every play.  His voice inflection was FAR worse than Manfra.  He would ramble about the complete wrong details of a play.  I swear they could find a student who was better.

 

As far as the actual team goes, I really believe they are going to continue to have a lot of talent that does not live up to its potential because the coaching is so bad (in game).  I miss Ralph.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Would love to hear the impressions of others. 

 

Lots of very good points/observations, and I agree with almost everything. I'm a little less optimistic going forward about whether or not we saw what MD's ceiling under Edsall & Co is this season, but hopefully better health and improvements to the OL next season will prove me wrong.

 

It's just that games like WF, Syracuse, and even today point to something more systemic than simply not having their best players at a few positions. As you pointed out, there is good depth of talent at several positions on this team, and I don't think the dropoff was dramatic enough to have the effect that we saw on several occasions. And good point about Locksley....it really is debatable as to whether what he brings in recruiting makes up for what he lacks as an OC.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Game of the year is pretty obvious, biggest one of the Edsall era by far and probably the biggest one since the late mid-to-late 00s. I wonder what it would've been if they had lost that game? -- UVA but that was a bad team.

 

You mean WVU? The UVA game was mostly awful, and the only thing that prevented it from being a complete disaster was their backup K missing a relatively easy game-winning FG.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Good win over WVU, great win over VT, bad loss to Wake, terrible loss to Syracuse. Every other game went as expected results wise. Next year is close to make or break for me, but a ~6-6 season would make it tough for me to go in one direction or another.

 

Can't let go of the BC loss either. It wasn't the same as the Wake or Syracuse games, obviously. But they totally let that one get away from them. But those things happen and I can forgive that much easier than I can the other two. I guess the best way to look at it is that the BC and VT games cancelled each other out.

[Oriole85]

You mean WVU? The UVA game was mostly awful, and the only thing that prevented it from being a complete disaster was their backup K missing a relatively easy game-winning FG.

Now that you mentioned it, it would've been WVU. I conveniently didn't include it since I was out of town that weekend and couldn't watch the game. I probably overrate the UVA game since it was the one game I was able to make it to this year.

[Oriole85]

Can't let go of the BC loss either. It wasn't the same as the Wake or Syracuse games, obviously. But they totally let that one get away from them. But those things happen and I can forgive that much easier than I can the other two. I guess the best way to look at it is that the BC and VT games cancelled each other out.

I don't look at it BC and VT cancelling each other out, I think the VT win was a much better win than BC was a loss. Pretty bad how they lost the game though. I would say VT/Syr cancelled each other if anything. So in the good win/bad loss department, they are at -1 with WVU/VT being good while Syracuse/Wake/BC being bad. I wouldn't call FSU a "bad loss" but a disappointing performance given how underwhelming their play was that day, but the result was expected.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I don't look at it BC and VT cancelling each other out, I think the VT win was a much better win than BC was a loss. Pretty bad how they lost the game though. I would say VT/Syr cancelled each other if anything. So in the good win/bad loss department, they are at -1 with WVU/VT being good while Syracuse/Wake/BC being bad. I wouldn't call FSU a "bad loss" but a disappointing performance given how underwhelming their play was that day, but the result was expected.

 

I guess it's perspective, but BC and VT are, to me the antithesis of each other. They played pretty well in each game, but made the plays they had to in the end to win one, and let the other team make the plays they had to in the end to win the other. The UVA game stands on its own....it's a game they probably should have, and deserved to lose. But they won. I just had a really hollow feeling after that one. Throw out the score at FSU, I don't care that it was 63-0. What bothered me about that game was the way they completely laid down after Brown got hurt (when it was still just 21-0). You could tell by halftime all they wanted to do was get on the bus and go home.

[ChrisGarman]

Maryland ends their final ACC season with a 31-20 Military Bowl loss to Marshall.  Randy Edsall and the players react to the game and the bowl experience.  Also, a review of the 2013 season and some outlook on the future move to the Big Ten.

 

"When it's all said and done, we had a great year," C.J. Brown said. "We had a winning season and was able to extend to the postseason and go to a bowl game. Today was just proud of the effort, disappointed about the outcome. ... We'll be ready come next year and have a great off season. We'll use this to help prepare for the future."

PressBox: Military Bowl Recap and Reactions Plus a 2013 Season Review

http://www.pressboxo...3-military-bowl

[Oriole85]

Maryland ends their final ACC season with a 31-20 Military Bowl loss to Marshall.  Randy Edsall and the players react to the game and the bowl experience.  Also, a review of the 2013 season and some outlook on the future move to the Big Ten.

 

"When it's all said and done, we had a great year," C.J. Brown said. "We had a winning season and was able to extend to the postseason and go to a bowl game. Today was just proud of the effort, disappointed about the outcome. ... We'll be ready come next year and have a great off season. We'll use this to help prepare for the future."

 

http://www.pressboxo...3-military-bowl

I wouldn't call it a "great" year and saying it's a "winning" one is a bit misleading, since they had three wins before the season even began with their OOC schedule. Thus, they only needed to win four of the remaining nine games. If you asked me was it a successful one, I'd say it was. The goal before the season was improve and get to a bowl game, they did that. But I don't think they should be satisfied they got to the Military Bowl and say "mission accomplished."

[BSLMikeLowe]

I think that was some spin by Brown there. Maybe he's already thinking ahead to next season, and that came out in his comment a bit. Or maybe he's giving a nod to Kevin Anderson there....I don't know. I don't think this season can be labeled "great" by any means of evaluation. Good maybe, not great.