Maryland-Virginia…always an interesting ACC affair, this used to be the northern rivalry in the league (with South Carolina-Clemson, UNC-NC St, Wake-Duke the other original “rivals”)—my how things have changed recently. First, Maryland and Virginia are in different divisions. And second, there’s a new school in the league much closer to Charlottesville than College Park—Virginia Tech has effectively replaced UVa as their main opponent on the field and in the recruiting battles.
Still, the Terrapin faithful view Virginia as their major football ACC rival—kind of like how the Redskin fans view the Cowboys, the feelings aren’t returned in full. But what are Terp fans to do? The next-nearest state school playing D-IA football is… West Virginia? Penn State? Rutgers? Navy plays D-I, but the two schools meet sporadically if ever on the gridiron.
What’s the future of this rivalry? As this is the automatic inter-divisional game for both schools they’ll be playing annually for some time; I see a different rivalry taking form—one of added Maryland recruiting interest in the Tidewater area. The past few years coach Ralph Friedgen’s staff has looked towards getting quality players from the Norfolk-Virginia Beach area ; the ramifications of Saturday night’s game won’t be felt as much on Sunday and Monday as in February on signing day.
VIRGINIA at MARYLAND—while Virginia Tech rests up for next Thursday's matchup with #2 Boston College, the I-495/I-66/VA-29 battle takes center stage with the two schools a combined 10-3. Somehow, some way the Cavaliers have won six straight since looking really bad against Wyoming. And some way, somehow the Terps have bounced back from blowing a 21 point second half lead at Wake Forest. This game has ACC implications as well—UVa currently leads the Coastal Division while Maryland still is in Atlantic Division contention.
Question is-how effectively will the Cavaliers move the football with Cedric Peerman sitting out again this week? In his absence they’ve been forced to make due with the tandem of Andrew Pearman and Keith Payne, and while the duo’s played well—the firm of Pearman and Payne can’t match what Peerman did all by himself.
Maryland’s big injury involves outside linebacker Erin Henderson; a bad knee has kept the junior on the sidelines since the Rutgers game. I was surprised the Terps were able to play as well as they did against Georgia Tech minus their sparkplug; they’ll need Henderson to contain Cavaliers quarterback Jameel Sewell-a phenomenal pass-run combo.
The Terps will go with Chris Turner at QB (Jordan Steffy still not medically cleared after his concussion September 29th)—the sophomore has played very well since stepping into the lineup, taking chances that stretch the defense for runningbacks Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore. Maryland has to protect Turner from the ACC’s best pass rusher Chris Long (8 sacks), a major challenge behind a banged up offensive line. Defensively they have to focus on getting off the field better on third down (the team’s had problems this fall, especially on 3rd and 10 or longer).
Home field advantage is huge in this series: Maryland’s victory in Charlottesville last year was their first since 1990 while Virginia hasn’t won in College Park since 1999.
TERPS top the CAVALIERS 27-24.
Elsewhere: NAVY falls to Wake Forest, HOWARD rips North Carolina A&T, GEORGETOWN falls to Bucknell, JAMES MADISON over RICHMOND.
Last week: 6-0…Overall: 37-12…
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