Ralph Friedgen’s weekly press conference began on a glum note, when he briefly addressed the weekend arrest of linebacker Rick Costa, who has been charged with one count of first-degree-assault and two counts of second-degree-assault after allegedly punching two bouncers at Cornerstone Grill and a police officer who tried to intervene, as first reported by The Washington Times. Friedgen said Costa had been indefinitely suspended from all team activities until “the issue has been resolved, [when] Rick’s status will be re-evaluated.” In April 2005, Costa, then playing for Temple, lost his scholarship after being involved in another fight and headbutting a police officer who put him in a full nelson. Redshirt freshman Derek Drummond, who was featured by a certain blogger a few weeks ago, will replace Costa at the LEO position.

The loss of Costa won’t be the only change for the Terps defense, which will see Travis Ivey become a full-time starter at defensive tackle and Jeremy Navarre and Dion Armstrong switch to defensive end and nose tackle, respectively.

As for the upcoming game against No. 17 North Carolina, Friedgen praised ACC Player of the Year candidate Hakeem Nicks, who leads the conference in receiving yards (94.9 per game). On the other side of the ball, the Tar Heels are tied for first with Boston College, who the Terps play their final game against on Nov. 29, as the nation’s leader in interceptions with 18. They also rank fourth nationally in turnover margin (+1.44) and second with six non-offensive touchdowns.

Friedgen also spoke about how unusual it has been this year playing in the ACC.

“Never has it been like this,” Friedgen said. “I’ve been associated with league for probably 40 years, and I don’t think it’s ever been like this. The parity in the league is like no other in the country, from top to bottom. How do you explain, we got beat by Virginia 31-0, and we beat Wake Forest 26-0, and then Wake Forest beats Virginia. It’s who’s ready to play that day.”

The players pointed out a few things working in their favor. The Terps are 5-0 at home and 0-3 in night games, and they get the Tar Heels at home at 3:30 p.m., just in time for the closing whistle to sound before the sun goes down. Tight end Dan Gronkowski also noted another characteristic of the Tar Heels which, against all conventional wisdom, has been a good sign for the Terps the last two seasons.

“We just gotta get refocused, forget about out last loss, and it’s another ranked team, so we’re using that as a positive because we’ve done so good against them,” Gronkowski said.

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