When Maryland and Clemson meet on the field this Saturday in College Park, Md. a lot more will be on the line than is apparent at first glance. Maryland, which stands at 3-2 on the season after bouncing back from a 0-2 start, is looking for its first ACC win of the season. Farther South, Tommy Bowden, son of legendary Florida Sate coach Bobby, is feeling the pressure to make something happen on the field.
Following an opening day pasting by rival Georgia, 30-0, Clemson has rebounded with three consecutive wins over Furman, Middle Tennessee State and a 39-3 drubbing of Georgia Tech two weeks ago in Atlanta. The Tigers had a bye last week.
Clemson's offense finally has started to gel under the direction of sophomore Charlie Whitehurst as he completed 23 of 28 passes for 298 yards with three touchdowns and one interception against Georgia Tech. Whitehurst's knowledge of the spread attack coach Bowden utilizes has increased with each outing since his baptism-under-fire last season when he was thrust into the starting role in the ninth game of the season at Duke, following the ineffective play of Willie Simmons.
Bowden had much to say about Clemson's potential for this season.
"What you do is like to show signs of improvement over the course of the season," Bowden said. "This year, we've been healthy. The players have gotten a little bit better."
Behind Clemson's solid start there is a strong sense of urgency to win and win now. Supporters in Death Valley have not been pleased with the mediocre results of the past two seasons, in which the Tigers have not won more than seven games. Tension was especially high following last years 55-15 hammering at the hands of Texas Tech in the Tangerine Bowl. Their opening loss to Georgia has only heightened the pressure, and many feel that if Tommy Bowden can't put up a solid eight or nine wins and make a run for the ACC title this season, he will take the fall.
Since Friedgen returned to coach his alma mater two years ago, Maryland has owned Clemson, beating them solidly in both contests.
"The past two years [Friedgen] had our number," Bowden said. "He's a good motivator and has obviously done a good job with the team."
This year though, Friedgen has had more trouble than in the past as injuries to star punt returner/receiver Steve Suter and running back Bruce Perry has kept him from fully jumpstarting his complicated offense. One source of stability on offense has been returning senior quarterback Scott McBrien, who is 58 for 106, passing for 821 yards with two touchdown passes and three interceptions on the season. Perry did not play last weekend when the Terps played at Eastern Michigan and instead Josh Allen started in his place and ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
After their 0-2 start, Maryland can't afford to let up. Said Friedgen, "This is it. Now we're in league play and seven games are going to determine our fate. This is a big one. Clemson is a team that is very talented, and we've been successful against them the last two years, so they're hungry to beat us."
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