Presto's Picks: Terrapins tumble...

In front of a national television audience on ESPN-TV, Maryland met its match and… much more. Wow- West Virginia is loaded. I was impressed with the speed and precision of their spread option offense. There’s no shame in the Terps coming up short; in fact they were much closer to shocking the Mountaineers than the score would suggest. UPSIDE—Keon Lattimore was lighting it up in the first quarter—11 carries for 49 yards and a touchdown; in fact the entire Terrapin offense was executing very well in the first fifteen minutes—Jordan Steffy hit all 4 of his passes (one for a 33-yard strike to Derrius Heyward-Bey—nice to see Steffy stretching the secondary). Defensively, Erin Henderson makes plays all over the field, leading the team with 11 tackles. DOWNSIDE—The Terps defense could not get off the field. West Virginia had six situations of 3rd and 9 or longer—and converted five of them. The Mountaineers also notched 8 plays of 20+ yards—keep in mind this is West Virginia, the second best running team in the country. Offensively, the Terps went from running smoothly to running aground—115 yards in the first quarter, 66 in the second and third periods combined (of the seven possessions, six ended via three and out or interception). FINAL VERDICT—Maryland’s not in the league of the elite, but the Terps have shown enough potential to be a factor in the ACC race. They play in a very winnable division—the big test comes next weekend against Wake Forest. Looking to tomorrow-- #18 VIRGINIA TECH vs Ohio—if there ever was a time to hand you’re the keys of your top 20 football team to a true freshman, it’s right now. The Hokies play in succession a team from the MAC, a I-AA school and then rebuilding North Carolina before a trip to Clemson. Tyrod Taylor gives this team an added running threat; perhaps this opens things up for Brandon Ore (2.6 yards per carry)—perhaps this sets up a semi-rebuilding season for Tech. But at least they’re in the weaker of the two divisions—an average team could advance to Jacksonville for the ACC title game. HOKIES rout the Bobcats 38-14. VIRGINIA vs North Carolina—are the Cavaliers dream of being average this year; instead they’ve ranged from underwhelming (against Duke) to downright scary (against Wyoming). Coach Al Groh earlier this week in his media conference call said he’d substitute freshman quarterback Peter Lalich for sophomore Jameel Sewell as the situation warrants—thank goodness the schedule warrants UNC as well as October matchups against Middle Tennessee and Connecticut. CAVALIERS take advantage of a rebuilding Tar Heel program 17-15 (if this game was played in November, UVa loses). Elsewhere: NAVY beats Ball State, GEORGETOWN slips to Yale, HOWARD falls at Florida A&M. Last week (5-2), Season (9-4)