Kenny Tate

There is only one way Randy Edsall wants the Maryland football program to be run: his. "I'm not worried about pleasing everybody," the first-year Terps coach said Monday. "If I think I got to please everybody, then we're not going to be as good as we need to be, and we can't develop the way I want to develop. " It's Edsall's way or no way. And that, sophomore quarterback Danny O'Brien said, is perfectly fine. "It's been his way from Day 1, which is good, and we respect him because he's a man of his word and he shares the same qualities we have," O'Brien said.

First-year Maryland football coach Randy Edsall , whose team has lost six of seven games, said he remains as confident as ever that his methods are working and that his players are firmly on board. "No question," Edsall said at his weekly media availability when asked if players trusted in his system. Edsall said players' work habits were on display at practices, which are closed to the media. Asked if he could provide assurances to fans about the ultimate success of his program, Edsall, who has a six-year contract, replied: "The only thing I can tell you is that each and every day we're just going to go out and continue to work.

Perhaps Joe Vellano said it best. Clemson is not a team you can afford to get into a "shootout" with. But that's what happened to the Terps, who collected two big turnovers en route to an 18-point, third quarter lead. Give Maryland credit for that. Particularly since the Terps -- minus injured Demetrius Hartsfield and Kenny Tate et al -- were playing a handful of freshmen on defense. Maryland has had six different defensive starting lineups in six games. But there was an  air of inevitability about the Clemson Tigers and big plays, right?

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.   Running it back: All eyes will be on the Ravens on Monday night as they have a chance to show that they are the AFC's best team. ... The Ravens ruled out Lee Evans and Ben Grubbs against the Jaguars after they failed to practice this week.

Neither Maryland fans nor the team's next opponent — No. 8 Clemson — are likely to learn who will start at quarterback for the Terps until just before Saturday's game. "We're just going to evaluate the quarterback position just like we do every other position," Maryland coach Randy Edsall said Tuesday. "Come Saturday night we'll make a determination of who's going to be our quarterback this week. You play the guy that you think gives you the best opportunity to win. " It appears increasingly likely that Clemson starting quarterback Tajh Boyd will play.

A week into training camp, Maryland coach Randy Edsall is ready to tinker with the depth chart. "There will be some changes," the coach said Tuesday during Media Day at the football complex. Edsall is more secretive about player moves than his predecessor, Ralph Friedgen . He declined to speculate on who may be moving up or down. But Edsall, hired from Connecticut in January, did say that freshman running backs Justus Pickett and Brandon Ross were making a "push" for playing time.

When the season began, Torrey Smith was not only Maryland's top kickoff returner, but among the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But Smith — who entered the season with a school-record three career kickoff-return touchdowns — has been hampered by a nagging ankle injury. Coach Ralph Friedgen said Sunday that he is considering experimenting with using different returners, at least until Smith gets healthy. The coach said the list includes Tony Logan, who entered Saturday's 31-7 loss at Clemson with the nation's best punt-return average (27.7)

I have been critical of many things Maryland football coach Randy Edsallhas said and done over the course of his first season in College Park, but the moves he made in replacing his team's offensive and defensive coordinators are to be applauded -- on a number of fronts. First, new offensive coordinator Mike Lockley is a huge upgrade over any assistant Edsall has brought on when it comes to recruiting. Locksley, too, consistently raised the performance of his offense in the four years he held the coordinator's position at Illinois under Ron Zook.

As midnight approached, C.J. Brown sat slumped in a chair inside Maryland's football complex after Maryland's 56-45 loss to Clemson on Saturday. A reporter asked Brown how he felt. "I'm tired," Maryland's new starting quarterback replied. And why not? Brown had just rushed for 162 yards. It was easily the most by a quarterback in school history, besting the 139 yards by Dennis O'Hara against Wake Forest in 1969. Brown had rushed for 124 yards a week earlier in a loss to Georgia Tech.

With Maryland opening at Byrd Stadium Monday night against Miami, here is a game-by-game look at the Terps ' season: • Miami, Monday night: Maryland has eyed a rematch since dropping a 26-20 game to Hurricanes in which Terps DBs Dexter McDougle and Kenny Tate got embarrassed by a late TD pass last season. That was before Miami's program was engulfed by news of a booster bearing gifts. • West Virginia (Sept. 17): It will be Maryland's second game in a row against a team with a new coach (Dana Holgorsen)