Maryland's been known to have its issues against unranked teams, but this Thursday was an even more glaring example of being ranked and plain old rank at the same time. Despite Virginia Tech's obvious youth and plans to not throw all that much, the Terrapin defense still gave up 253 yards to a freshman and 400 overall, dropping a 23-13 match that wasn't as close as you might think. But that's sort of a side story to what's been something of a festering problem, namely, head gastropod in charge Ralph Friedgen's comfort in completely airing out defensive coordinator Chris Cosh. On national TV, no less.
What this overlooks is the fact that even with the loss, Maryland still has a fairly good shot at the division, provided they win out- they still get a date with Wake Forest and their losses have occurred outside of their own division. Still, you have to wonder if this whole kerfluffle is a matter of projection on the part of Ralph, considering he's every bit as much of a hot seat candidate in '09 as his 2001 cohort Al Groh.
