November 9, 2012 by The Diamondback

2EVEN FRIDAY, NOVEMBer 9, 2012 | SPORTS | THE DIAMONDBACK

TIGERS From PAGE 8 second career start at quarterback i n hosti le Death Valley tomorrow. “I already know we’re going to go down there and it’s going to be a rough environment,” Petty said. “They’re going to be a tough team, and we’re just going to have to come on Saturday and play hard. If we don’t play hard, we can’t get the win. But we’re going to play hard either way.” Petty predictably struggled in his fi rst start, completing just nine of 18 passes for 115 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a 33-13 loss to Georgia Tech last week. It won’t get any easier tomorrow. The Yellow Jackets’ pass defense ranked No. 8 in the league, while the Tigers enter the contest with the fifthranked unit. “I’m not really concerned about them right now. I’m just concerned about our offense coming together as one,” wide receiver Levern Jacobs said. “We struggled a little bit last game, but I think we’ll get it together this game.” Coming together tomorrow could be difficult, though. The team announced yesterday that starting running back Wes Brown and playmaker Stefon Diggs will both miss the team’s game against

Clemson (8-1, 5-1 ACC) with ankle injuries, leaving the Terps (4-5, 2-3) without two of their top offensive weapons. The team’s defense might also be without one of its most crucial pieces. Defensive end Joe Vellano is listed as questionable with an ankle injury, potentially hindering a unit coming off its worst performance of the season. The Terps allowed a season-high 33 points and 370 rushing yards last week. On Saturday, they face a Tigers offense that ranks near the top of the ACC in most categories. Running back Andre Ellington is second in the league with 780 rushing yards, DeAndre Hopkins and Sammy Watkins make up one of the most fearsome wide receiver duos in the nation and quarterback Tajh Boyd’s 2,680 passing yards top the conference. “He’s the one that runs that whole thing,” defensive end A.J. Francis said of Boyd. “If we make him uncomfortable, we have a great chance to win the game. If he’s back there comfortable, he’ll throw for 1,900 yards in the first half.” It’s clear the Terps aren’t entering tomorrow’s contest with the same confidence they had earlier in the season. And with the players and games they’ve lost over the past three weeks, who can blame them? sportsdbk@gmail.com

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WILDCATS From PAGE 8 class that ranks No. 18 nationally, a much-improved Alex Len and a long-range threat — something they haven’t had since Eric Hayes graduated in 2010 — in Albany transfer Logan Aronhalt. And even with all of those assets, the Terps figured to be a fringe tournament team two days ago. They were picked to finish sixth in the ACC and were absent from most early NCAA tournament projections. That changed, though, when the NCA A g ra nted X av ier transfer Dez Wells immediate eligibility on Wednesday. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound swingman averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for a Sweet 16-bound Musketeers squad last season, starting 32 games and gracing multiple SportsCenter Top 10’s with

VITALE From PAGE 8 the Terps face the Wildcats at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., in each team’s season opener — a nationally televised, prime-time matchup in a brand new arena. It’s a big night for the Terps.

awe-inspiring dunks. Wells, a sophomore, should bring instant f lexibility to an untested starting lineup tonight. The Terps now have a likely backcourt rotation of six players, and Turgeon can use Wells as an anchor when he chooses to go big or small. “I think the [expectations] have changed,” Turgeon said Wednesday. “We have experience and depth now. We were excited about the year anyway. We thought we had the chance to be pretty good. We thought we were a team that was going to get better and better. We expect to be good and be in some type of postseason.” Calipari knows all about raised expectations. The fasttalking Pennsylvanian has dealt with them in each of his three seasons in Lexington, Ky. And though this year’s squad scarcely resembles the group that captured the Wildcats’ eighth national champion-

ship in April, this season is no different. Calipari lost his top six scorers to June’s NBA Draft, forcing him to rebuild around yet another loaded freshman class. Kentucky could start as many as four rookies tonight, all of whom possess one-anddone talent. But talent doesn’t always translate to championships, and Calipari has spent recent months warning fans and reporters about the struggles he expects the Wildcats to endure this season. Last year’s group was special, he reasoned. It had freshmen who needed little time to acclimate themselves to the college game. It had underclassmen who played like skilled veterans. And, perhaps most importantly, the Wildcats were united. This year, Calipari anticipates more headaches and more teaching. The errant passes and defensive lapses that were absent during much

of last year’s 38-2 run should arrive in abundance during Kentucky’s fi rst few games. “Compa ri ng th is tea m to t h at te a m i n M a rc h i s not fair,” Calipari told CBS Sports. “They’re not going to be [that team]. We’re going to turn it over. We’re going to get pushed around.” Turgeon likely hopes that’ll be the case tonight. A primetime win over a top-3 opponent, after all, would be a significant boost for a program desperate to return to the national spotlight. But no matter how the Wildcats perform, Turgeon will be comfortable being the underdog. It’s a role he relishes. “We both knew that we were going to have young teams going in,” said Turgeon, who was a captain on Kansas’ 1986 Fi na l Fou r tea m. “We a re excited about the opportunity.”

Big enough that Dick Vitale will be on hand to witness the festivities. But the most significant outcome of the night won’t be how well the Terps play or who comes out on top. No, the significance of this game comes from the sheer magnitude of the stage. It’s a national spotlight, a chance for the Terps to showcase themselves to the rest of the country against the defending national champions. If they’re intent on raising their national profi le, tonight is the night to do it. “John [Calipari] could have

called anyone in the country, but he called me,” Turgeon said. “The publicity that we are going to get from playing in this game is big for our program, win or lose.” Unfortunately, it could very well be a loss. Kentucky has become an unquestioned national power under Calipari, and beating them will be no easy task, especially for a young and inexperienced Terps team. But, like Turgeon said, the results aren’t the most important aspect of the game. The Terps obviously want to win,

but a loss against a top-3 team to open the season would hardly be cause for disappointment. No, tonight is about getting the Terps’ name out there. The Wildcats are a team other programs strive to be compared to, and beating them on a national stage would go a long way to help Turgeon’s squad get to that level. And who knows? If everything goes well, maybe ESPN’s cameras will fi nd their way to College Park a little sooner than Turgeon expected.

Cirovski said he saw a refreshed team on the field. The fatigue he’d seen against Clemson and Wake Forest was absent, and the team was refocused. “I feel like it was kind of a wake-up call for everybody to say we have to take every game seriously and we stay concentrated on every play of every game,” forward Schillo Tshuma said. “It really helped us to get those kinds of games out of the way before the playoffs.” Tonight, the Terps will start their top backline for the fi rst time since Oct. 5, as they look to advance one step closer to the next goal on their checklist — the ACC tournament championship. And while Cirovski could direct his feelings, nega-

tive or not, toward Clemson and other opponents, he’s staying concentrated on his squad. “This is a team I believe in,” Cirovski said. “That’s the main thing.” TERPS NOTE: The ACC announced its postseason awards yesterday. Cirovski was named Coach of the Year and Mullins was named Offensive Player of the Year. Mullins and midfielder John Stertzer were named All-ACC First Team. Tshuma and defenders Mikey Ambrose, Taylor Kemp and London Woodberry were named All-ACC Second Team. Ambrose and Tshuma were named All-ACC Freshman Team.

ACC From PAGE 8 game (1.11) and sixth in goals against average (0.98). But Clemson poses certain challenges the Terps pick up on each time out. “I just think they’re a very tough team to play in general,” Mu l l i ns sa id. “T hey work very hard, probably one of the toughest teams that we’ve played against all year in terms of their work ethic.” T h roug h the d raw w ith Clemson and the Terps’ Nov. 1 loss at Wake Forest, the Terps faced the most adversity they had handled this season. But after defeating Virginia Tech on Tuesday,

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