Terps' coach: Cavs 'came to play' after loss at Duke

By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Virginia football coach Al Groh can't say he saw it coming.

But maybe Ralph Friedgen did.

Friedgen coaches the Maryland Terrapins, who came to Scott Stadium as 14-point favorites Saturday night and emerged as 31-0 victims.

"You know, it's what I was worried about coming down here," Friedgen said. "We don't seem to be reaching these guys. I knew how Virginia would react, very similar to how we reacted after (losing to) Middle Tennessee.

"What's frustrating is, a lot of the things they were hurting us on, we had practiced. We did make an adjustment here or there, but it really wasn't about X's and O's. It was about who came to play and who didn't."

In early September, the Terrapins followed a 24-14 road loss to Middle Tennessee State with a 35-27 victory over then-No. 23 California.

Friedgen's reference was to Virginia's 31-3 loss to Duke on the final Saturday in September. The Cavaliers followed that with a near-flawless performance Saturday.

Groh thought the Cavaliers had practiced well in the days leading up to Maryland's visit, "but it would be pulling everybody's leg to say I was sitting in the room Friday night and thinking, 'Yeah, I think we can win 31-0,' " Groh said Sunday night.

"We've seen progress on a weekly basis. Sometimes, that progress wasn't carrying over till Saturday."

Maybe the biggest lift came from the decision to play fifth-year tailback Cedric Peerman, who had missed the Duke game with a knee injury.

Peerman started Saturday and carried 17 times for 110 yards, including a 9-yard touchdown run with 5:21 left in the third quarter that ended his night.

"It was a stamina thing," Groh said. "Not only was he unable to play in the games, but he hasn't been able to practice. We knew there was a limit to how far he could go."

Indeed, Virginia had marched to the Maryland 9-yard line with Mikell Simpson at tailback, only to insert Peerman on fourth and 1.

Virginia controlled the ball for more than 35 minutes and had 75 offensive plays, compared to the Terrapins' 55. U.Va. had 26 first downs; Maryland had 13.