After suffering a close loss to the hands Virginia last week at home, today the Terps had their hands full with the Clemson Tigers and by the end of the game the final score did not reflect how long of a day the Terps had both offensively and defensively in another ACC loss 30-17.
Maryland (4-4, 1-3) scored on its first drive, but the Tigers built up a lead in the first half. The Terrapins scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer than 13 points.
The biggest story of the day was the Clemson running game and James Davis who rushed for 129 yards and a score, and just when Terps fans thought it could not get any worse, C.J. Spiller added 106 yards to help the Tigers rack up 249 rushing yards against a Terrapins defense that looked half asleep for most of the game.
Terps Head Coach Ralph Friedgen did not have much to say about his defense that spent more than half of the game on the field.
“I think our defense got tired because they were on the field a lot. We gave them a short field with the missed fourth down and the two turnovers. I think we just got tired,” said Friedgen.
While the running game usually works for the Terps today it did absolutely nothing and the power two backs of Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball managed just 104 yards.
“We don’t want to make losing a habit. But once you get in that rhythm, it’s hard to pick it back up again. We just have to really dig down deep. The losses really hamper our chance at an ACC Championship, which was originally our goal. Now we just have to work on getting to a bowl game,” said Lattimore.
