COLLEGE PARK - Maryland can take nothing for granted tonight at Clemson, where the Terrapins haven't won since 1985.
With talent that Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen raved about earlier this week, the Tigers (6-4, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) nearly beat No. 7 Georgia, played a respectable first half at No. 15 Florida State and come into tonight's 7:45 game on a two-game winning streak.
Moreover, the 19th-ranked Terps (8-2, 4-1) will play in front of a mostly hostile crowd of around 70,000 at Clemson Memorial Stadium, trying to follow their 24-21 win over North Carolina State and maintain their hopes of a second straight ACC title.
"We approach each team as if they're the best team in the country, as if they can beat us if we make just one mistake," offensive guard Lamar Bryant said. "Death Valley is a tough place. We just need to keep focused."
This wariness apparently helps in consistently winning games like this one. Maryland has seemingly perfected the art of beating teams it has a reasonable expectation of beating, taking its yearly licking from Florida State (7-3, 6-0) but going 11-0 against everyone else in the league the past two years.
Since the 37-10 loss to Florida State on Sept. 14, the Terps have won seven games in a row, the peril from opponents ranging from high, like N.C. State, to laughable, like Eastern Michigan. But through the streak, the team's approach has been the same.
"It's like a business atmosphere," defensive end Durrand Roundtree said, describing the mind-set. "We come to work, and you get paid in the end."
With three games left in the season, Maryland is in the hunt for a Bowl Championship Series bid if it wins out and if the Seminoles suffer a loss. For now, the Terps are in line for a bid to the Gator Bowl - played Jan. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla. It would put them into a January bowl in consecutive years for the first time.
"But in order to do that, we have to win this game," Friedgen said. "It's not exactly a pep talk, but I try to say what the significance is. ... It's hard to get up each and every week. That is part of my responsibility, to get those guys ready to play."
Friedgen was at Maryland as an assistant the last time the school won in Death Valley. Since that 34-31 win it has been 0-for-8 for the Terps, losing by an average of 25.5 points.
Maryland recently ended similar droughts against Virginia and North Carolina, losing nine straight to the Cavaliers before last year's 41-21 win and dropping seven in a row in Chapel Hill, N.C., before winning, 59-7, two weeks ago.
"Everywhere we go, there's one of those records that we have to beat," Friedgen said. "I'll mention it, then we'll get to business and do what we're doing."
Clemson's two-game winning streak was against Duke and North Carolina, and won't inspire awe in anyone, but Friedgen is impressed with the wide receivers his defensive backs will contend with.
J.J. McKelvey, Kevin Youngblood and Derrick Hamilton - all speedy and all taller than 6 feet 4 - each had seven catches or more in the 34-31 win over Duke on Nov. 2, combining for 265 yards and three touchdowns.
Hamilton, a sophomore, is the most dangerous. He had 256 all-purpose yards against Georgia Tech earlier this year, and leads the ACC with 154.8 yards a game in conference matchups.
"They're going to spread you out and make our guys work to make some plays," Friedgen said, hoping that the defense can put heat on freshman quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. "The best defense is keeping the quarterback in a prone position."
But Clemson, coming off a 42-12 victory over North Carolina, has become efficient since Whitehurst replaced Willie Simmons as the starter. He has completed 64 of 102 passes for 874 yards, with nine touchdowns against one interception.
"You know you're old when you've coached against the quarterback's father when he played," said Friedgen, who coached at The Citadel when eventual pro David Whitehurst played for Furman in the 1970s. "He's played well. There's a lot of poise for a freshman. He's not turning the ball over, and the other guy was."