Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey made his lone touch in Saturday’s win at Clemson memorable when he broke off a career-high 76-yard run, which set up the Terps first touchdown.

But the play overshadowed a poor game for Heyward-Bey. It was the second straight year the Tigers held the Terps’ No. 1 receiver without a catch and just the third time Heyward-Bey has gone catchless in his three-year career. (The other was his first career game against William & Mary in 2006.)

After the game, Friedgen said Heyward-Bey had apologized for his performance, which included a pair of drops.

At Tuesday’s press conference, Friedgen was clear about what went wrong.

“We tried to throw the ball to him,” Friedgen said. “There were plays designed to get him the ball. He dropped two. The other ones he didn’t get open. They’re covering him. They want to take him out of the game.”

It was the first game in which Heyward-Bey to find the end zone for the Terps. And Friedgen said it won’t stop the Terps from continuing to find ways to get the junior speedster the ball – as long as Heyward-Bey does his part.

“Darrius is always going to be a major part of our gameplan,” Friedgen said. “We’re going to do what we gotta do, but he’s got to do it, too.”

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