Maryland and Maria lose

Reggie Merriweather's 2-yard touchdown run with 23 seconds left lifted Clemson to a 10-7 victory Saturday that handed Maryland its first three-game losing streak under coach Ralph Friedgen. Until the final moments, the Tigers (3-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) had little success against Maryland's defense, which put up five sacks and held Clemson to a field goal over the first 59 minutes. Maryland held Clemson to 36 yards rushing and forced the Tigers to go three-and-out on its first four possessions of the second half.

The winning touchdown was helped by a controversial pass interference call on cornerback Gerrick McPhearson on a third and goal from the seven yard line. After the score, Maryland (3-4, 1-3) had one last possession, but sophomore Joel Statham was picked off by Justin Miller and Clemson ran out the clock on its first win over the Terps since 2000.

For the longest time, the Terps' defense controlled the game and covered the continued offensive problems for Friedgen's team. The fourth-year coach and offensive whiz had watched his team manage just 172 yards combined in home losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. The Terps got 194 against the Tigers, but could not get things going on offense. Maryland punted nine times and twice tried -- and failed -- on fourth down. Statham, who was pulled in favor of freshman Jordan Steffy the past two losses, stayed in all the way this time. He was 14 of 31 for 111 yards and two interceptions.

And in tennis, Maria Sharapova saw her hopes of a third consecutive WTA title dashed Sunday in a surprise defeat by unseeded Australian Alicia Molik  in the final of the Zurich Challenge. The Russian world number seven had looked in total control during the early stages of the final, out-powering and out-running Molik with a barrage of fine ground-strokes. After winning the first set 6-4, Maria lost her composure and the next two sets 2-6 and 3-6.

The only good sports news is that the Red Sox won to go up 2-0 on the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Go Sox!!!!(And the Redskins didn't lose because they had a bye week)