Adding injury to insult, punter Travis Baltz is out at least two weeks after a late hit during Saturday’s loss to Rutgers. The best player on our special teams is said to have a “very swollen” ankle.

Great. Thanks so much for that, Rutgers special teams player Steve Beauharnais. Nice surname.  What is that, some kind of foo foo breakfast sauce?  Guess who’s getting a flaming bag of dog poop punted against his dorm room window this week.  If you said “Steve Beauharnais,” you are correct.

But on the field, where do we go from here?  If Baltz misses extended time, what chance will he have of meeting Ray Guy?  How will the offense function without its safety net?  They can’t fumble on EVERY possession. For those times when a turnover didn’t happen, backup Ted Townsley and place kicker Nick Ferrara combined for a 32-yard average and one bobbled snap. Powerhouse.  By comparison, Baltz was averaging about 40 yards and — if you can believe it — has ZERO turnovers on the season. Not exactly filling the shoes there, backups. What would Ray Guy think?  We need to get you all one of those inspirational message bracelets.  WWRGT.  So that you may never forget.

With the Terps needing to reassess the goals of their season, Baltz and his run for the Ray Guy Award could have taken on a role similar to that of Zach Greinke and his bid for the Cy Young Award, which is currently the only thing keeping Kansas City Royals players and fans coming to the ballpark. Baltz ranks 63rd in the nation in punting and fifth out of nine guys on the watch list. Perhaps not Ray Guy material, but he could have rebounded. We could start taking a knee for the first three downs. Heck, punt on first down. Would it change things THAT much? See, this is outside-the-box thinking. Are you reading, Fridge? You can’t put a price on this stuff.

(Photo credit: Some woman named Anne)