Villanova
Forecast:
Homer: Who’s going to win?
Team: The Wildcats!!
Homer: Who are we going to beat?
Team: The Wildcats!!
THE INTRO:
Wow, I can’t believe it is finally time to do a game day forecast for the 2007 season. Where does the time go? This September 1st Maryland will be coming off a shockingly successful 9-4 season which at times looked as though it would undoubtedly be year number 3 without a Bowl Game. I mean honestly, remember the UVA game before Erin Henderson had that pick? Who wasn’t using a brown paper bag to breathe before then?
Luckily though from that play on, something seemed to click with the 2006 team and the end result was a victory in the Champs Sports Bowl, and just missing a chance to play for the ACC title. I would certainly take that type of season again.
This year however is a little different. Maryland should again threaten to make the post season, and should also contend most of the year for an Atlantic Title, but unfortunately a black cloud is hovering. And that black clouds name is “Quarterback Controversy”. The key for the Terps to succeed this year is to find the main man to run the offense, and that could be tricky. It seems as though whenever someone has had a chance to step up and lay claim to the number 1 spot, they don’t seem to hold on to it. Regardless it looks as though right now that Jordan Steffy will be the man. And that fact right there is what makes this game so crucial.
I know, I know. How can Villanova at Maryland ever be called crucial? Well for the sake of establishing stability, this game is exactly that. Whoever emerges from the QB competition is going to need this game to get his feet wet. Regardless of who that player is, they are going to be inexperienced in running the Friedgen offense verse live competition so we are going to need a blow out just to get everyone feeling good. If we can blow out Villanova, come back the next week and blow out FIU in Florida (a team we just squeaked by last year in CP) then our starting QB may have some confidence and come out hard in the huge WVU match up on September 13. If our offense flounders the first two weeks, well then the WVU game will be a disaster of biblical proportions.
However, the point of the article is to set up the game day weather, or at least what could be the game day weather. I often get caught up on the match up itself, but the point is to look ahead and focus on the weather. So let’s move on.
THE HISTORY:
The average high in College Park, MD for September 1st is 84 F° and the average low is 50 F°. The record high for this date in College Park is 99 F° which occurred in 1980. Keep in mind, summer doesn’t officially end until September 23rd so be ready for some heat. The record low is 50 F° which occurred in 1890 which happens to be the inverse year of the record high, neat..right. Well regardless of what you think, I find it neat.
THE FORECAST:
According to the Almanac the weather for September 1 is looking at some scattered showers with an additional chance of thunderstorms. And you know what? If that offer was on the table right now, I think I’d take it. The early September games are usually so friggin hot that you’re miserable, a little rain wouldn’t be a bad thing. But I may be in the minority with that opinion, plus rain isn’t good for a game where we are looking to build up the offenses confidence. The fact that the Almanac is calling for rain really doesn’t bode well for me in making my first forecast. I mean to go out on a limb on the first game and be wrong, well that would not be the way to start off the 2007 weather campaign. But after doing some more research, September 1 is traditionally a rainy day in DC, so I’m going to make that leap.
The forecast for the September 1 “Terps vs. One of the Most Boring Nicknames in Sports” is for showers and scattered storms. Take heed though because this will keep the temperatures somewhat in check. We have a 6 pm kickoff for this one so around noon we should be seeing temperatures in the low 80’s, that should be the worst of it and it should remain in the low 80’s for most of the day. As we approach kick off things will start cooling down and we should see a kick off temperature around 78 or so. Because of the game time we really won’t be affected by the low which ironically won’t really be that low at all since the clouds will have an insulating affect, so for the low it looks as though it will be around 71. All through out the day there will be a mix of mostly clouds with an occasional peak in from Mr. Sun, and the chance of showers will be prevalent throughout.
There is a code yellow poncho alert for this game. I think mostly the rain won’t be much of a bother, but if you want to bring the old hooded trashbag, you may find it useful at some point. As of now there is no sun burn alert, but as this forecast falls apart as game day approaches, that could change rapidly.
The game day sunrise in College Park, MD on September 1st is for 6:36 am. If you see it, you will have to tell me about it. Since we have a 6pm kickoff I thankfully won’t have to wake up to an alarm clock. The sunset is scheduled for 7:38 pm which should be around half time. As for the moon, it will set just before our tailgate begins at 11:34 am, and then rise as we are leaving the stadium around 9:51 pm. The weather site I use for these forecasts have FINALLY stopped using Greenwich Mean Time and have gone to the Eastern Standard Time Zone. Further proof that we American’s only care about what we are familiar with (isn’t that right Mr. Metric System?).
THE SNOW REPORT:
Let me go out on a limb here, there is no chance of snow for the Maryland Villanova game. None, nothing even close. This picture shouldn’t even be on this page, but then I would forget to do this section as we move closer to winter. Though looking at our schedule since our November games have us in North Carolina twice, and Tallahassee once, and the only College Park game being in the beginning of the month. The “Snow Report” may get the year off. That is if I wasn’t so afraid of change.
Look here for further updates, as we get closer to game day.
THE CHARITY PLEA:
I’m not going to be modest
here. The 2006 Charity Campaign for the Save the Terrapins was widely
successful (see the recap if you haven’t already), but as of now D7 Tailgate is
without a charity. We could always do the Terrapins again, which I would not
object to since it is hard to find something everyone agrees on (Chris and J are
actually against the eradication of scoliosis in third world countries), or we
can come up with something new. I’ll bring the jar on September 1st
and if anyone has any suggestions I’m all ears. Of course we don’t have to
raise any money at all, but I feel this gives our whole D-7 group some feeling
of legitimacy.
Just a reminder our total raised last year was $300.
THE X-FACTOR:
Just to show you some extremes that could happen and have happened on this particular date in weather history.
- 1894 - A forest fire driven by high winds burned down the town of Hinkley, MN, killing 418 persons. (David Ludlum)
- 1897 - Hailstone drifts six feet deep were reported in Washington County, IA. (The Weather Channel)
- 1914 - The town of Bloomington, MI, was deluged with 9.78 inches of rain in 24 hours to establish a state record. (31st-1st) (The Weather Channel)
- 1955 - The temperature at Los Angeles, CA, soared to an all-time high of 110 degrees during an eight day string of 100 degree weather. (David Ludlum)
- 1979 - A home in Centerville TN was hit by lightning and totally destroyed. It marked the third time that the house had been hit by lightning since being built in 1970. (The Weather Channel)
- 1987 - Cool Canadian air invaded the Midwest. Six cities reported record low temperatures for the date, including Indianapolis IN with a reading of 44 degrees. Hot weather continued in the northwestern U.S. Five cities reported record high temperatures for the date, including Hanover WA, where the mercury soared to 106 degrees. (The National Weather Summary)
- 1988 - Thunderstorms produced heavy rain in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Ely, MN, was drenched with three inches of rain in two hours, and pelted with one inch hail. The heavy rain flooded streets and basements, and the high water pressure which resulted blew the covers off manholes. (The National Weather Summary)(Storm Data)
- 1989 - Thunderstorms developing ahead of a cold front produced severe weather in Oklahoma during the late afternoon and evening hours. Thunderstorms produced hail two inches in diameter west of Arapahoe, and wind gusts to 70 mph at Luther and south of Harrah. Early morning thunderstorms over Indiana drenched Kokomo with five to eight inches of rain, and spawned a tornado which injured three persons at Bruce Lake. (The National Weather Summary) (Storm Data)
***This is a disclaimer to remove all responsibility on myself if this forecast is wrong. Being that it is very difficult to predict the weather greater than 48 hours in advance, the odds of needing this disclaimer are about 100%. However I do believe this forecast will be pretty close to what we can actually look to expect.
