One thing I noticed again is that MD continues to play four LB's against the spread offense. All of Duke's passing success seemed to come in the between the hash marks. You would think after being toasted all game long they would go to a dime set and take away the middle of the field. Would the coaches please teach these kids rushing the QB to put your hands up when they are releasing the ball!

Well gang,its official.We are now the worst team in the ACC.How long can this misery continue?

Maryland loses to Duke in football? Are you kidding me? We're at rock bottom. I love the Fridge, but both he and Franklin must go. We need a fresh start. And give Yow her walking papers, too. She has no clue as to what it takes to run a big-time athletic program. Period.

I suspect Chris Turner's dad will blame the weatherman this week. God forbid he blame his son.

When does basketball season start?

oh man...i opted to go to the navy game this weekend rather then listen to the md game. navy is not an exciting team but they sure are finding ways to win. hate to say this but i guess i am starting to agree that sweeping changes are needed. still not sure about yow but certainly the md coaches are accountable for the current state of disaray. young team etc are just excuses and dont cut it...alot of young teams win..still dont get the obvious gap in annual recruiting...where was ralph these past years. i asked this before but noone responded....who is suppose to recruit for md....makes me now wonder why there has been such a turnover on asst coaches. never gave that too much thought but now i have to wonder why there has been so much coaching turnover....name one other team that has such turmoil with the asst coaches...any ideas? come on folks ...md has a long history of good football...we are missing something that is obvious....i'm lostl

Good thing Duke doesn't have a very good basketball team... Oh wait....

Turner gets at most one more start. I personally feel he's due the chance to break a few more records. The O-line has been horrific. He's been bad too, but he's gotten minimal help.

This O-line is totally incapable of a running game. No chance. DRS looked really bad early, and we now know it was due to the line almost totally. No one can get anything done with this line.

I'd be ok with switching to the future now, right now. I feel bad for the seniors, but it's just the nature of the beast. Don't use any more redshirts unless we 1000% have to, save them for when we might not suck (and please no more use of the term "burn").

Start Turner the rest of the way as respect, get Jamarr in there for exposure and a chance to see what he can do.

Everybody saw this loss coming.....I don't believe your honest if you didn't....nothing surprising here....3-9 or 2-10 is looking like a sure thing now.....the downward spiral continues unabated...just an embarrasing trainwreck in CP right now, just embarrasing. Stay hot Ralph.

After the bye the players should concentrate on making Va. Tech or Fla. St. one of their bowl games this year.An upset would validate their future qualities towards next year and I'd sure like to see Turner pocket a big win in his cap before he graduates.I could'nt see the game but it sounded like Duke has a decent passing game this year.Terps committed few penalties and the turnovers came too late to salvage a win in the slop.Without all the starter injuries we had a chance to man up against some of the bigger football programs it seems obvious to me( except Cal,perhaps).

Said it last week and I'll say it again, next to Weiss at N.D., Ralph is the most overrated coach in d-1 football. How much longer can he live off of his orange bowl appearance (not his players), and his alumni status? Not to mention that the coach in waiting is leading this putrid offense --that's offensive....Don't give me all the other bowl games they have been to either. In today's college game, It's harder not to get a bowl bid than it is to get one.

Sad about RF. He cant recruit the top talent we need (for whatever reason), has become increasingly sensitive and defensive with everyone and so conservative its "play not to lose". His people skills are non-existent and worse I think he's losing/lost the team. Love the guy and all he's done but his credit is up.

Sadly, I have no confidence in Franklin. His play-calling as OC for two years isnt good and what on his resume justified the guaranteed $1mil "coach in waiting"? What about him gives us any indication that the future is bright under his leadership? Please, Debbie Yow tell us. What the hell were you thinking? The football program is a mess and since 2004 has slowly sunk to the bottom of the ACC.

I love the kid, but Chris Turner isnt what we need at QB. (I'm not sure anyone would have made a significant difference with the OL we have)
He gives it his all but I think his regression over the past year is due mainly from getting shelled and hurried with no OL, poor play calling has hurt, and I dont think he's being coached very well. I dont 'blame' him for the mess; he's more a victim of it. He proved in the past with adequate protection he could get the job done but still average at best. I hate those who feel it necessary to get personal with their criticism of players - if he's "not good enough" thats on the coaching staff because they didnt recruit better talent at the position or they havent coached him well or designed plays to help him and the team be more successful. I'll never get on a kid for trying even if he isnt successful.

RF needs to get over "sticking with seniors" and play/start Robinson against NCSU. Two weeks to prepare. Nothing served by starting/playing Turner against NCSU except RFs stubborn ego. Give him some rest and maybe he comes back fresh against VT. We need to see what Jamaar can do against competition. Not sure about burning a redshirt on a freshman QB unless - they have clearly been better than Robinson in practice all year. Whoever is starting QB next year needs live reps and you certainly dont want their first experience against VT, FSU, or BC. The best shot at any reasonable chance not get killed when they get their first taste is at NCSU. Although NCSU's DL can play. At least the games away where a new QB wont be under the added pressure and scrutiny of playing at home.

We cant go into 2010 with all our QBs having zero real game experience. We're not going to a bowl game - season was done when we lost consecutively to WF, UVA and Dook. Use the rest of this season to start preparing 'kids' for 2010. Let them take their lumps now when it doesnt really matter. See who wants to play. See who has the heart to stay with it when things are at worst. Find your young players who wont quit and have character.

Still waterlogged from sitting through the game at Dook. Its all very depressing. We should be better. But unfortunately things at the moment are BLEAK.

I must respond to the person who went to the Navy game. I also went to the game and had a great time. It reminded me how have much fun football Saturdays can be. I had Maryland season tickets for 19 out of the last 20 years but gave them up this year because of Ralph and his lack of ability to recruit local talent and field a winning team. Maryland’s side of the ACC has been down for the past 3 or 4 years and we still can’t win the Atlantic side. Ralph’s teams have underachieved since 2005 and except for one year with Hollenbach our quarterbacks have been average or below. I will still support Maryland football but will wait until Ralph is gone to return to games. Please Ralph stop the excuses and admit you just can’t coach anymore

Good thing Dook doesn't have douchebag fans...Oh wait...

For those who want Yow gone. Wasn't she the a.d. when the football team won 31 games in Ralph's first 3 yrs as head coach? Wasn't she the a.d. when the basketball team went to back to back Final Fours? She doesn't coach football..she doesn't recruit football players

"For those who want Yow gone. Wasn't she the a.d. when the football team won 31 games in Ralph's first 3 yrs as head coach? Wasn't she the a.d. when the basketball team went to back to back Final Fours? She doesn't coach football..she doesn't recruit football players"

Why did the football team have to ride a bus to Durham and back?

YOW cut the football budget. She feels that the cash-cow Men's football and basketball programs should share their revenue with other sports. That is fine, but when cuts need to be made, the football and basketball programs SHOULD NOT be the ones who suffer.

Also, been to a football game recently? all her new rules about the tailgating and parking have driven fans away in droves....

Time for changes all around the athletic department. Gary can stay until he decides he wants to retire. He has earned that right.

Rainy day, right? Might have been a good time to give our 220 LB tailback Morgan Green some carries. I thought I saw where Fridge said a couple of times this week what a very good week of practice he had.

Its not like Porzel was tearing it up.

Bottom line = We are terrible! We can't run or throw the ball effectively. We can't stop the pass even when we know it's coming because we shut down the run. We give the ball away at will and the playcalling got so conservative yesterday, I thought I was watching a little kid rec leagure. Yeah, I know, it was raining, so lets just play it cloe to the vest and try not to lose. Pathetic - Duke passed for almost 400 yards in the rain. Turner's arm strength sucks, you'd think he would get stronger over 4 years but it doesn't appear thatg has happened. And, Turner sucks in any knid of adverse conditions - rain, wind. terrible offensive line, etc and so on. Bench him and play someone that can avoid a pass rush, might as well get next year's QB's soem time. I remember Turner talking legacy before the season, his legacy will be that of a mediocre QB that couldn't elevate the play of anyone around him. Nice legacy huh. I don't mean to leave the two-headed coaching monster (Fridge and Franklin) out but there is no need to address their performance - look at the record. But Fridge certainly should shoulder more of the blame since he can't seem to recruit anyone that has any skill rushing a passer. One note on the defense, if we only rush 3 guys and still give up passing yards left and right, there is a problem - this happened quite a few time yesterday. To top it all off - the team looks flat ever single week. Major changes needed this offseason!!!!!!!!!!

debbie yow should just have her paycheck direct deposited into gary's bank account, because if it wasn't for him she'd be a bigger joke than she already is.

oh wait we have the best competitive cheerleading team in the country! now that is prestige.

and if you want to understand the tailgating rules look no further than the increasing growth of big brother on the Maryland campus and the surrounding areas. Why bother trying to stop robberies and assault the police will never be competent enough to stop when they can issue noise citations and ID 19 year olds in parking lots who are minding their own business drinking a bud light.

For those who want Yow gone. Wasn't she the a.d. when the football team won 31 games in Ralph's first 3 yrs as head coach? Wasn't she the a.d. when the basketball team went to back to back Final Fours? She doesn't coach football..she doesn't recruit football players

WASN'T SHE RESPONSABLE FOR "COACH IN WAITING?" AND A MILLION DOLLARS IF HE ISN'T GIVEN THE JOB AND NOW rALPH WANTS TO COACH AFTER HIS RETIREMENT DATE........DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS AND ALL MOSTLY BAD

Jeff, I see some readers continuing to go after Chris Turner, but virtually none of what's been going on in these losses is his fault. Since the offensive line is horrible run blocking, he has to throw more, which wouldn't be entirely a bad thing if it could pass block, but it can't do that, either (not that Turner's backs and receivers have been all that stellar this year ).

People have incredibly short memories. Prior to this season, in which he's had to play with inexperienced players and backups for injured starters, Turner guided the Terps to a 5-1 mark as a starting quarterback vs. Top 25 teams. I doubt there are too many QBs playing on unranked teams who have that kind of record.

So, Turner-bashers back off; he's not the problem here, not by a long shot.

One thing that's missing in the discussion of Ralph Friedgen is the name Ron Vanderlinden, who was his predecessor as the Terp's head coach. As was mentioned in some comments above, Friedgen's had three outstanding years to begin his coaching tenure at UM, which happened to be the three years he was playing with players recruited by Vanderlinden, including linebacker E.J. Henderson, quarterback Shaun Hill, , placekicker Nick Novak, wide receiver Guilian Gary and running back Lamont Jordan (who set the Terps' single-game rushing record with 306 yards).

While Debbie Yow has had her share of successes as AD, the uncalled-for firing of Vanderlinden, who brought some real talent to the school and was in the process of finally turning the program, in favor of the feel-good hire of hiring a Maryland alumnus hasn't been one of them.

True, Vanderlinden hadn't produced a winning team, but the team showed marked improvement under his tenure and the Terps went 5-6 each of his last two years at UM.

The Terps were going to be a very good team in 2001 no matter who coached, because it was loaded, and one has to wonder what Vanderlinden thought when he saw Friedgen get the National Coach of the Year accolades coaching the team that he himself had worked so hard to built! (Similar to the situation when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden guided the Dungy-built team to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII the very next season. Gruden publicly acknowledged Dungy after the SB win and, if I'm not mistaken, Friedgen also mentioned Vanderlinden after his being named Coach of the Year for the 2001 season, to the credit of both of those coaches.)

When we look at what was handed to Friedgen by Vanderlinden, he had an opportunity to make the Terps into a consistent Top 25 team. That hasn't come close to happening. True, to some extent, losing key players early to the NFL. such as Vernon Davis and Darrius Heyward-Bey hasn't helped, but UM football under Friedgen, aside from the Vanderlinden-aided years, has never asserted itself the way dominant teams do.

Unfortunately, the type of scenario described below by Wikipedia for last season has happened in far too of his seasons manning the Terps:

"Numerous observers described Maryland's 2008 season as "wildly inconsistent'. That year, the Terrapins defeated four of their five ranked opponents: 25th-ranked California, 19th-ranked Clemson, 19th-ranked Wake Forest, and 17th-ranked North Carolina. However, they also lost to heavy underdogs Middle Tennessee and Virginia. Ultimately, Maryland defeated Nevada in the Humanitarian Bowl and finished the season with an 8–5 record." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_Terrapins_football

While Friedgen can't be blamed for the current season's collapse, is there any reason to hope for better things to come under him or his putative waiting-in-the-wings successor, James Franklin?

More of the same is more like it.

Now may be the time for Yow to start looking for a head coach outside the program, one with a proven track record of excellence. It's time for Terp football to push past the mediocrity in which it's been for too long mired.

I write this with a tinge of sadness, because everything I've heard and seen about Ralph Friedgen makes me believe he's a great guy and I've defended him countless times on this blog, but it just seems that it's time for a change because there is no reason I can see to hope for any improvement.

If you or anyone else can point to something encouraging for the program, I'll be glad to reconsider, but I just don't see it happening.

Well said Ken Francis and with facts. I hope someone in the athletic department is listening otherwise Byrd is going to be empty. It may not be correctto use your response to say this but I'm going to put my plug in for former Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower. Google his accomplishments at that school and remember no matter who is hired to coach this team it won't change over night because the staff is going to find that there has been a whole lot of poor recruiting and poor coaching before they took over. Let me apologize to you for using your response to post my comment.

@ Tom:

Jeff Bower is an excellent choice assuming he'd want the job. If I was Yow, I'd throw the house at him and promise him the first litter of puppies too if it would get him to College Park. Other names I'd throw around are Tommy Tubberville and Turner Gill, though Tubberville just signed on with ESPN and Gill has been extended through 2013.

@ Ken Francis:

I'd throw the loss of Charlie Taaffe and Gary Blackney into that equation along with Vandy's recruits. We have a football house of cards that has been crashing down ever since Vandy's recruits, Taaffe and Blackney left.

Ken,

As far as DHB leaving early, i think the kid had to go for several reasons;
1.) The NFL $$$, hard to walk away from that no matter what.
2.) The Terps were only using about 50% of his capabilities, why stay when option 1 is available.
3.) DHB was 10'th in the ACC in receiving last year, 10'th....that is unexcusable considering he was arguably the best overall receiver in the league.

Week after week the Terp offensive braintrust couldn't figure out a plan or execute a plan to get him more involved. How many times last year did you see DHB waiting for Turners dying duck to get to him? I saw it just about every week. Nothing against Turner but facts are facts and DHB had to leave considering what his options were. I'm glad for him because it probably would have been worse this year considering the lack of protection and having the same QB throwing heavy balls his way. It just too bad he is in Oakland, not sure that is a good place for him at this time. Oh, another player to leave early that hurt was Randy Starks, he was a monster on the line, his play allowed EJ to roll bigtime in 02. Just my 2 cents. Go Terps!

Kudos Ron Francis.I know that was hard because you have been a RF fan for quite some time.Believe it or not so was I until about 2006,when I would get totally psyched for a big Thurs.night game only to see us drop an equally big stinkbomb. I was a big vanderlinden fan and was really sorry that he didn't get a chance.What if they would have pulled the plug on Beamer after a few years? Anyway,thats history.I hope we finally get someone who will stay and who will take us where we need to go.I truely wish it was RF but it isn't.We have been on a downhill trajectory now for 6 years and that has to change.