2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
SUNSHINE FOR TERPS
Andrew Zuckerman
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Sports
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Friedgen usually meets with his coaches to make adjustments, but not on this day. Instead, the Terp football coach went straight to his players.
"What do you think, it's gonna be easy?" he told his team. "Wins don't come easily; you have to work for them. There's gonna come a time where it's that matter of will, who's more determined. We're gonna get the ball the second half; it's anybody's ballgame right now.
"So stop sulking and stop worrying what you just did, worry about what you're gonna go out and do."
The Terps responded in a dominating way. After blowing an 11-point lead in the final two minutes of the first half and seeing their quarterback go down with a concussion, the Terps came out and steamrolled No. 10 Rutgers in the second half en route to a 34-24 victory in front of 43,803 mostly-stunned fans.
It was Rutgers' first home loss since Nov. 5, 2005, and the Terps first road win over a top-10 team since Nov. 17, 1990, when they beat then-No. 8 Virginia.
"That type of feeling after that Wake Forest game, it wasn't a good feeling," said running back Keon Lattimore, who carried the ball 34 times for 124 yards and a touchdown. "We didn't want to let this one slip away from us, especially having a top-10 team where we want them."
Very few people gave the 18-point underdog Terps (3-2) a chance in this game, especially given the way last week's contest ended.
But Friedgen had his team ready, and it certainly wasn't intimidated by the Scarlet Knights - even after Steffy went down with what was announced as a slight concussion and injured shoulder. Steffy was drilled after delivering a pass, and replays showed it was a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit that should have been a penalty.
Backup quarterback Chris Turner, a redshirt sophomore, was 14-of-20 in the second half for 149 yards. He showed poise and confidence in the pocket and, most importantly, didn't turn the ball over.
"I was definitely nervous, I'm not going to lie," Turner said. "I definitely had butterflies, but once the game started moving on, that all went away. It was just real exciting and adrenaline took over. I did what I was coached to, nothing more, nothing less."
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Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Jerry
posted 10/01/07 @ 7:21 AM EST
I thought Chris Turner looked pretty good in the Red-White scrimmage in April. Hoped he would get a shot somewhere along the line. Nice, very nice to see him perform so well when he finally got it. (Continued…)
Justin
posted 10/01/07 @ 8:26 AM EST
I think the most notable thing about Turner's performance is that Fridge actually let him throw, including on first down. He called a great game in the second half and Turner executed. (Continued…)
EmeryR
Emery Rudolph
posted 10/01/07 @ 10:46 PM EST
Congratulations on a very substantial win!
I did not get to see the game because I took my daughter to support the Terps Volleyball match against NC State - Go Lady Terps! I do hope to see the football game on CSTV rerun. (Continued…)
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