Maryland Terrapins Defense Could Be for Real in the ACC

It's tough to definitively gauge anything just two games into the season, especially when one of those games was played against a group of young men who looked to have taken a wrong turn on their way to a bachelor party.

Good thing for me, then, that I'm a blogger for whom relatively baseless speculation is not unlike cigarettes for prison inmates. It is my currency, my lifestyle, my milieu—my Everything.

Having said that, the Terps' defensive unit is, to me, showing signs of being one of the top units in the ACC.

After Summary ACC Deflation Week, in which Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State, and Georgia Tech all lost in pretty humiliating fashion, that may not be saying much. But it's something, and after last year, a lot of Maryland fans will definitely take it.

To this point, Maryland's defense has allowed 17 points in two games. They have scored as many touchdowns (two) as they've allowed. Sure, the 62-3 smearing of Morgan State probably said more about the Bears than the Terps, but the wins and stats that happen in the easier games count just as much as that for the tougher contests, and it was good to see Maryland handle their business at home.

Navy might have been a stylistic aberration, but the Terps still repeatedly slammed the door—often in spectacular fashion—on one of the nation's most buzzed-about offenses.

With the continuing quarterback controversy exacerbated Saturday with injuries to C.J. Brown and Danny O'Brien (although O'Brien could be ready for West Virginia this Saturday), questions abound for the offense.

Meanwhile, though, on the other side, you can almost see the gel forming between defensive players, like mortar between bricks. I've looked at the defense and thought more than once that the group just seems to play with bad intentions. In two games, and in their second season playing in Don Brown's blitz-the-kitchen-sink defense, the Terps seem to finding their comfort zone, much to the discomfort of their opponents.

But hey, don't take my word for it. Check out the numbers:

• First in the ACC in scoring defense
• Third in the ACC in total defense
• 32nd nationally in total defense, ahead of Nebraska, Penn State, Oklahoma, and LSU
• First in the ACC in red zone defense
• First in the ACC in pass defense and pass defense efficiency
• Second least-penalized team in the conference.
• Alex Wujciak is currently the ACC's leading tackler with 23
• D-lineman Joe Vellano and LB Demetrius Hartsfield are tied for 11th in the same category
• Vellano is also fourth in the conference in sacks and tied for second in tackles for loss
• Linebacker Adrian Moten and safety Kenny Tate are tied for 21st

Now, they're not perfect by any means. They're last in the ACC in rush defense and ninth in sacks, but that's not surprising given that their line has been questionable since the spring and Navy called 72 running plays. What's more surprising are the stats and rankings listed above.

There's real talent here too. Tate, a junior, was named the nation's defensive player of the week after the Navy game, and Tate and Vellano were the ACC's top defensive back and lineman, respectively, for Week 1.

It's well deserved, especially for Tate, the converted receiver whose game-saving hit on Navy QB Ricky Dobbs could have illustrated the difference between a fairly confused year one in Don Brown's aggressive "organized chaos" scheme and a more confident second season.

To be sure, stiffer tests are around the corner. Fresh off a come-from-behind win at Marshall, Noel Devine and the turbocharged Mountaineers are flexing in Morgantown. We'll see how Maryland handles its first hostile environment of the season. But for now, this defense is as nasty as any in the ACC, and they don't seem ready to cede that mantle easily.

(For this and more baseless speculation and lots of other fun stuff about the Terps, visit us at www.shell-games.com.)