Barnes Talks Defensive Adjustments

Despite the rash of injuries in the secondary, and despite the general struggles of Maryland’s pass defense, perhaps there is hope. After all, Eastern Michigan threw for 217 yards in the first half but only 65 in the second half.

The difference? A slight adjustment in the secondary that enabled the Terrapins to better defend quarterback Kyle McMahon’s throws over the middle.

“It wasn’t blown assignments,” Maryland cornerback Kevin Barnes said. “It was play-action and then they would dump it over the top. We were expecting their offense to be more like MTSU; they did it some but not as much of what MTSU did. We study hard every week and expect them to do different things. We had to make adjustments. They were attacking our linebackers. We had the safeties lean a little more toward the linebackers to help with that zone [in the second half]. The safeties were protecting the linebackers more in the second half.”

Stay tuned, because I will post updates in five hours, after the teleconference with Ralph Friedgen, on whether the Terrapins could get any injured players back this week.

Barnes said the defense has to improve ASAP, adding: “It is not acceptable anymore. We were sloppy. We are going to be playing tougher teams. Everyone knows, when you go to Death Valley, you have to play your best. When we went there two years ago, we were not expected to win. Nobody gave us much of a chance. And we pulled it out.”

By Eric Prisbell  |  September 21, 2008; 12:02 PM ET  | Category:  Football
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