Well, the Terrapin football team was the talk of the ACC following its thoroughly perplexing shutout of Wake Forest. No one seems to know what to make of the Terps, but that hasn’t stopped the media from trying anyway.

Terp Links

• John McNamara of The Capital writes that the Terps have finally learned their lesson and won’t call it in this Saturday against N.C. State. I wonder if they mean it this time…
• Bob Parasiliti of the Herald-Mail thinks Kevin Bacon could be the key to a Homecoming victory against the Wolfpack…
• ESPN’s Mark Schlabach broke down each of the BCS conference races this week. Any guesses as to which team he picked as the ACC Atlantic Division’s darkhorse (hint: we’re still in the “Terp Links” category)?…
• So after cutting former Terp Erin Henderson before last Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, the Minnesota Vikings decided to resign him a couple days later. If only the Vikes could collect decent quarterbacks the way they collect Henderson brothers…
• Ex-Terp Leroy Ambush III might not be suiting up in pads anymore, but he says he runs just as much at his new job with the Frederick County courthouse…

N.C. State Links

• Ken Tysiac of the News & Observer chronicles the missing players from the Wolfpack’s 2006 recruiting class…
• While most of us will be voting for either Barack Obama or John McCain in little more than week, N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien might have his own write-in candidate: his quarterback, Russell Wilson…
• While his alma mater will be facing off against the Terps on Saturday in College Park, ex-Wolfpack…er(?) and current San Diego Charger Philip Rivers will be taking on the New Orleans Saints in…London! That’s London, England, not London, Calif., which by the way does exist…
• Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson, another ex-Wolfpackite, might have made his name by delivering big hits in the NFL, but he claims the high point of his life has been the establishment of his own shoe store. Must be some nice shoes…

ACC Links (many of which turn into Terp links):

• Whatever happened to Clemson? Suddenly forgotten, running back James Davis and the Tigers are hoping to turn around their season without former-coach Tommy Bowden…
• After seeing a total of 10 plays in his college career, junior linebacker Darren Childs played 60 snaps for Virginia in its 16-13 overtime win over North Carolina…
• Dan Collins of the Winstom-Salem Journal details how last Saturday’s loss to the Terps hurt Wake Forest…
• ESPN’s Heather Dinich is taking a gamble by selecting the favored Terps to edge the Wolfpack in her weekly ACC picks. The Terps have shown that when they are expected to beat a team, they shouldn’t be, or something like that…
• Check out who’s leading the ACC in passing efficiency…

jnewmandbk@gmail.com

Senior cornerback Kevin Barnes will miss the rest of the season with a left shoulder injury, Terrapin coach Ralph Friedgen said Thursday.

Barnes, who injured the shoulder on a second quarter hit against Wake Forest’s D.J. Boldin in Saturday’s 26-0 win, has a fractured scapula and labrum and rotator cuff damage. He will require surgery and five-to-six months of rehabilitation, according to Friedgen.

The announcement ended days of speculation about Barnes status, which Friedgen held until the corner back consulted with team doctors. The 8th-year coach described Barnes as in “good spirits” but also “a little bit of denial” regarding the premature end to his Terp career.

Check tomorrow’s Diamondback for more on this story…

 edetweilerdbk@gmail.com

In a random turn of events during his media availability after practice Wednesday, coach Ralph Friedgen answered an innocuous, football-related question about Canadian-born defensive back Michael Carter this way:

“We have a lot of political talks, Michael and I,” Friedgen said in slightly hushed tones. “I think he’s a Socialist.”

Ralph didn’t say whether this is why Carter has been mostly blacklisted from the playing field this season.

In the spirit of how far our country has come these past 50 years, I decided to give Carter a chance to explain himself, rather than just alert the authorities right away.

Carter, fittingly wearing a bright red sweatshirt, laughed when I asked him if he was in fact a Socialist.

“I think the U.S. should have free healthcare, and it would be better for everybody,” Carter, of Windsor, Ontario said. “[Friedgen] was like ‘Mike, you know it’s probably not as good [in Canada] as it is in the states when you pay for it. You could be getting anything,’ which is not true. I think it works, and I don’t pay for anything.”

“Obama for president,” Carter added.

So Michael Carter is not a full-fledged Socialist, but Ralph will probably keep an eye on him, anyway.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

You’d never know from their press conference that the Terrapins were the only team in the country with three victories over ranked opponents, but that’s probably a good thing. A week after declaring the second-half of the season a “six-game playoff,” Ralph Friedgen noted that with a victory this weekend against North Carolina State, the Terps would be 6-2 and bowl-eligible. Last season, the Terps did not earn their sixth-victory until their last game – a 37-0 victory over the Wolfpack.

Despite throttling N.C. State last year, Friedgen and the players at the press conference were quick to point out that, historically, victories over the Wolfpack do not come easy.

“Over the years this has been a very tough game,” Friedgen said. “I think in the seven previous years [before last year] the [average] differential has been 5.4 points.” Friedgen’s math is right, but after last season’s win, the average point-differential over the past eight seasons rose to 9.4 points.

The Fridge, who mentioned the lack of Terp fans at Byrd on Saturday, said today that he thinks winning ball games will fill the stands again. He also confirmed that cornerback Kevin Barnes will miss this Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury. Safety Jamari McCollough will replace the senior at corner, and  Drew Robinson will take McCollough’s spot at safety.

Wide receiver Danny Oquendo, who caught his first touchdown of the season against Wake Forest, said that it’s hard to get motivated every week, and that the key is to ignore what the media has to say about the Terps and their opponents. He also had something to say about quarterback Chris Turner’s new hair-do.

“He trimmed it down a lot,” Oquendo said. “It’s looks a lot better now, not Napoleon [Dynamite]-esque.”

jnewmandbk@gmail.com

Congrats to Jonathan for winning this week’s NCAA Football 09 game contest for the post of the week. I tend to agree with his point, though my boss doesn’t so I’m still working here.

Well we all know the Diamondback exists to crticize the Terp sports teams, but I really hate the guy who does the predictions on the Friday “Gameday” page. This idiot is 1-6…please fire him now!”

We are all out of Xbox360 games, though. Only PS3 remains.

ajosephdbk@gmail.com

Early in the second quarter against Wake Forest, things weren’t looking so good for the Terps. Sure, they were ahead 7-0, but they’d fumbled away two of their first four possessions and all four of the Demon Deacons’ opening possessions ended in Terrapin territory. The Terps looked sloppy on offense, but resilient on defense, allowing the Demon Deacs to drive after receiving a kickoff and punt, but stonewalling quarterback Riley Skinner and company following the two fumbles, which gave Wake Forest the ball twice inside the Terp 30.

Both times, Wake Forest blew scoring opportunities by missing field goals, and it was the last time they would get a chance at points. The Terps’ defense would only allow the Demon Deacons past the 50-yard line once more – early in the fourth quarter – but down 19-0 and having already missed two field goals, Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe decided to go for it on fourth-and-six from the Terps’ 28-yard line. Skinner’s pass was incomplete, and the Terps took over on downs.

After opening the game with four possessions that ended in Terp territory, the Demon Deacons ended eight of their next nine possessions on their side of the field. Only one Wake Forest drive lasted more than six plays or went for more than 24 yards after the first quarter. Yet, the Terps and Demon Deacons had identical average starting field position – their own 29 – for the game.

There was no single statistic that summed up the Terps’ most complete defensive performance of the season. They held Wake Forest to 219 yards of total offense, a gain of 2.2 yards per rushing attempt, a completion percentage under 50 percent, 3-for-15 on third downs and nearly a 10-minute discrepancy in time of possession. It was a dominant showing against an offense that for the last couple years had given the Terps fits.

jnewmandbk@gmail.com

Some observations compiled during the Terps’  26-0 win against Wake Forest

-Do wins like this really surprise anybody anymore? After a terrible loss against a bad opponent, the Terps bounced back yet again and played very well Saturday to win their fourth straight game against a ranked opponent. Wake didn’t play particularly well, but the Terps were solid in all facets of the game.  

-The Terps did a great job getting Darrius Heyward-Bey involved after he did virtually nothing the past two weeks. That needs to happen more often. If Heyward-Bey can have such a big day against Alphonso Smith and a very good Demon Deacon defense, why couldn’t he have done it against Virginia?

-With that said, has Chris Turner ever hit Heyward-Bey in stride?

-The Terp defense did a tremendous job limiting the Demon Deacons, but they also got a lot of help from the Wake offense. The number of dropped passes was outrageous.

-Da’rel Scott was extremely lucky to get away with three fumbles in the first half. Edwin Williams bailed him out when he recovered the first one on the Terps’ opening drive, and the Wake offense saved Scott the other two times. Still, his inability to hold onto the ball was disconcerting. 

-The Terps opened up the playbook this week, breaking out some reverses and passes from Scott and Danny Oquendo. It was interesting that Josh Portis only got two snaps before garbage time.

- Kenny Tate would’ve taken it to the house if he’d held on to that interception early in the second quarter. I guess he won’t be moving back to wide receiver any time soon.

-There was a ridiculous amount of speculation this week about whether Demon Deacon kicker Sam Swank would play. He didn’t, and it ended up making a difference. Backup Shane Popham missed two field goals and hit some wobbly punts.

-The Terps are back on track. Let’s hope they don’t regress into some bad habits next week against N.C. State.