I kinda like Maryland.

At least they used to give richrod fits at wvu.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

However, most people have the Terps slotted as last or next to last in the Atlantic Division. Then we have the interesting fact that Maryland placed a whopping zero positional pre-season 1st-stringers on the just released all-ACC football team. That is a hint and a half for you regarding Maryland’s chances in 2009.

Hate to say it, but getting to a Bowl this year would be Coach of the Year worthy for Coach Friedgen who I do like. Just busting .5oo would be no bad thing in fact. Though, the Terps do have a couple of stars and 2007 speaks eloquently to how well coach Friedgen manages close games. But can Maryland even manage to hang around this year? Read on to find out.

11.14 @ Maryland
Offense=5 back, Defense=4 back, ST’s=1 back
Maryland Pros:

1. Best Lb and best Rb in the ACC? Some would say “yes Sir” on that; and not all of that nebulous some are Terrapin fans. Numerous pre-season publications have Rb Da’Rel Scott as 1st-team all-ACC and MLb Alex “say my name twice fast when drunk” Wujciak likewise earmarked as the leading Lb in the ACC. Wujciak (#33) is a tackling savant; all he did was amass a staggering 133 tackles last year for Maryland. This ranks Mr. Wujciak as the leading returning tackler for 2009 in the entire ACC. Not bad for a kid who blew his ACL all the way out in 2007. Rb Da’Rel Scott averaged 5.4 yards per carry last year on his way to 1,133 rushing in 2008. Again; not bad for a guy beat all to hell all year long last season. Da’Rel enjoys 4.29 speed and put up a stellar 178 rushing in just one half of play in the Humanitarian bowl last season; which showcases just how game-changing Da’Rel can be when he is 100% healthy. Needless to say; keeping both of these to stud players on the field and locked and loaded for 2009 is of paramount importance to Maryland’s chances.
2. Field Position: Most pundits agree (including this one) that Maryland has hands down the best Kick-Off returner in the ACC in one Torrey Smith. 26 per return and one TD is no bad thing. A school and conference all-time record of 1,089 in KO return yards is a great thing. Some pundits agree that Maryland has the best Punter in the ACC in one Travis Baltz. Baltz is a fine directional kicker who could stand just a little more leg before I will anoint him as first-best. If Maryland can just synthesize a fair to middling Punt-returner, the Terps should enjoy quality starting field position all year. That would be extremely important for a team that needs frontline help (see below).
3. What can Brown do for you?: Though it remains to be see if all this hoopla translates into results; the Terrapin stop-unit defenders are very high on new Defensive Coordinator Don Brown. Coach Brown was a D-1aa defensive wizard at UMass. He lead Massachusetts to the 2006 D-1aa title game with just such a stifling stop-unit in fact. Look for a much more aggressive defensive scheme from the Terps this season folks. No more sit back and read and react thank you very much. Blitzing and press-coverages will be the order of the X’s and O’s day. Think Bud Foster late 1999’s to very early 2000’s. That enthusiasm said; the all Senior-year Maryland secondary may be willing, but the body of the Font-7 not named “Wujciak” is wanting. I do applaud this switch; but I am unsteady it will cause anything other than a Terrapin shellacking in 2009. Give Coach Brown until 2011 and ask me up again at that time.

Maryland Cons:

1. Inexperience. This is a very raw, extra rare Terrapin football team folks. I’m not even sure if one side of 2009 Maryland has yet kissed the seasoning fire in fact. The Terps have the least returning starters in the whole ACC (9), and the least returning lettermen percentage for a non-Service Academy (56%) in all of college football. Only 6 D-1 football programs are less experienced heading into 2009. Gone are 3 of Maryland’s top-4 Wr’s from 2008, 4 of the Top-5 Terrapin tacklers from last year, both Guards on offense and all but one starting Linebacker; (recall Maryland runs a quasi 3-4 defensive set). To further illustrate just how green-wood the Terps are in 2009, the team that returns the most offensive line starts is Colorado State with a phenomenal 125 individual accumulated starts returning. Whereas the Terps departed a staggering and perhaps backbreaking 116 Oline starts from last season. The Maryland Dline is nearly as unseasoned as it only returns one guy with 4 starts, one guy with 2 starts and one guy with 1 start. Both frontline back-ups by and large have never experience a grass stain on their uniform. Making the 2009 Terps one of the most untried teams I’ve ever studied.
2. OLine: The Terps only return one 2008 starter at his 2008 position for 2009. That would be Bruce Campbell at blindside-Ot. Bruce is pretty solid, very physically gifted and maybe even an all-conference guy by next year. How does a 494 lb. Bench and a sub-4.8 forty taste? The rest? Not so much. Though the rest are nothing if not big. Nobody on the Terps offensive front-line stands south of 6`3“ and nobody tips the Toldeo’s (weighs-in) at less than 3o5 lbs. The bad news is that this OLine will have to start 3 different rookie underclassmen. The good news is that Maryland should have a nice OLine in 2011 for it. But that’s not much consolation for 2009. (see above)
3. Dline: Do you see a pattern here? If “no” ask point number two in this section. The Maryland OLine is not good, and the Maryland DLine ain’t any better. In fact, most of the preseason prognostoscenti have the Terps ranked last in either OLine, or DLine, or both for the entire ACC. The Terrapin Dline only has one stater back (Travis Ivey at Dt); but he could not light your world on fire with all the world’s matches. Pretty much the same as above, as the Terps will start 2 rookie underclassmen that should be pretty nice by 2011. In fact the 3-deep on the 2009 Maryland DLine only has one guy beyond his r-sophomore year. This bunch is very callowed even by novice standards, and being weak upfront on both sides of the LOS strikes me as a recipe for trouble in 2009.

Maryland Overall:  In our last four games head-to-head, our Hokies have inflicted a beatdown on Maryland that is seldom seen in a major B.C.S. conference. If these were Softball games, our games vs. the Terrapins would be called off courtesy of the 10-run rule. Since 2005 Frank has taken his good friend Coach Friedgen to the woodshed to the tune of a 40-14 butt kicking on average. That said the one thing that has saved the Terrapins shell is the fact that Maryland has had five different 6-1 or better seasons at home under Coach Friedgen. The Terps have been a tough out up in College Park most of the time; on the road, not so much. Another telling factoid on the Terps is their recent post-season record. The Terps have won 4 of their last 5 bowl games by an average of 30-14, including three bowling beatdowns of at least 21 points. That is a surefire sign of a coach taking full advantage of extra prep time and coaching what could be defined as lesser players up.

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Conclusions: I like Coach Friedgen. So does Frank. You have to like anybody who makes his ballers memorize the school Alma Mater and dance to it in practice. Coach Friedgen had chalked up 10, 11, and another 10 win season from 2001 to 2003. But then things leveled off.

What changed? He was then forced to scrimmage with his boys, not Vanderlinden’s any more. Since Coach Friedgen switched to fielding his boys, he has not won more than 9 games, and has had two years below .5oo. On top of that I’ve never been sold on Maryland Qb Chris Turner. Who has always had a Passing Ratio right at 1:1 (TD’s to INT’s) and has been sacked more times than Paris Hilton. Case in point, Chris is on pace to finish close to -35o in rushing on his career. Now mix in a very unsettled Kicker spot for close games, then mix in an underwhelming Wr corps for Chris to throw to.

After looking at the Terps schedule, I can foresee only 2-3 wins as being surefire. After that anything could happen, and anything typically does. when you have a negative Turnover Margin in 4 of your last 5 years. 4-7 here Maryland comes.

Point Spread: Maryland+16.5
Odds on VT winning=78%
Prediction Virginia Tech=33 Maryland= 7

“LETS GO!”

“HOKIES!”

b’street

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