Terrapins get handle on early woes

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The Maryland football team's bludgeoning at West Virginia in the third week of the season did little to suggest the Terrapins could play with a ranked team on the road, contend for an ACC title or even snap a two-year bowl drought.

All those things came to pass in the last two months, with Saturday's 13-12 victory at then-No. 19 Clemson providing the latest evidence the Terps (7-2, 4-1 ACC) are a capable bunch armed with something else that seemed unlikely after their mauling in Morgantown.

"Right now, we feel invincible," sophomore wideout Isaiah Williams said. "We're unstoppable right now."

Maryland has won the last four weeks, prompting its rise to No. 23 in this week's Associated Press poll and BCS standings for the program's first national ranking since October 2004.

The Terps' path to progress is unusual. Maryland, derided in the first month of the season for failing to blowout inferior opponents, has earned its four conference victories by a combined 12 points.

It is the first time in school history the Terps have won four straight games by six points or less, and Maryland has already matched the 1961 team for the program record for victories by that margin in a season (five).

"I don't have any magical things that we came up with," cornerback Josh Wilson said. "We just played football."

More specifically, the Terps have played smarter football. Gone is a rash of inexplicable, ill-timed errors. Instead, Maryland has forced opponents to play with precision while turning around several problems.

• Turnovers: Once a giveaway machine, Maryland has only three turnovers in the last four games. Quarterback Sam Hollenbach has morphed into a quality game manager, limiting mistakes while taking advantage of low-risk, moderate-reward plays.

Meanwhile, the Terps have forced six turnovers during their winning streak, and opponents have gone 1-for-4 on fourth down attempts in that stretch.