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MD : 35                                                                              California : 27

"Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you.”

By Bob W.

Overall: Lucky for us, this Saturday, we got the bear!  Anyway, after the debacle that was Middle Tennessee State, it was nice to bounce back with the big win on National TV over a ranked opponent.  It was also pretty un-expected.  I think we were all in agreement that the 15 point spread that Vegas gave for this game was probably not high enough, but we also agreed that we wouldn’t be completely surprised if we came out and won this thing.  Luckily the optimists prevailed.

Maryland put together it’s finest game of the season, though all things considered the bar had been set pretty low.  In fact our seats weren’t even warm by the time we had as many points had we had scored in the entire Delaware game.  The Terps came out hungry and they came out with something to prove and for one day on one field, the ACC got a nice win to put on their resume.  Normally I say screw the conference, we only care about one of those teams anyway, but this season things have gotten so bad, that it is starting to be an embarrassment.  But enough about that.

This game was huge because we finally got competent Quarterback play.  I don’t know what happened last Saturday, but vs. Cal, Turner looked the kind of QB we all hoped he would develop into.  Gone were the forced passes that ended up as interceptions, gone was the general confusion of the offense and the play calling.  Now I’m not saying some of those things won’t have to be addressed at some point this year, but at least we all know how this team can look when things go right.  Something we have not seen up to this point in the year.

The running game was solid and allowed us to set up the passing game which overall resulted in a nice balanced attack.  Da’Rel Scott continues to be a beast and is proving to be the engine that drives the offense.  And as long as we have a QB in there who can pass the ball things should remain open for Scott allowing him to put up a monster of a season.  That is if he can remain healthy.  It seems like every game there is some concern about his status, so far every report has been grossly exaggerated, but it would only take one of these incidents to be correct, for our season to take a tailspin.

What’s it all Mean:  Well it means were back.  And boy isn’t it nice to be able to write that sentence.  The ACC is wide open this year and if we can play like we did this Saturday we may have a chance to compete for the Conference Championship, and even if we fall short of that goal, we could still find ourselves in a pretty decent Bowl game, you know one that would allow us to pack shorts!

Game Highlights:  The highlight of the game was Kevin Barnes hitting Jahvid Best right before half time.  The Terps were looking pretty good up to that point but that kind of symbolized the game and the frustrations Best had all day.  Not only did this send a message to Best, but also fired up the rest of the Terps.  Here is what Dave Philistin had to say based on the article in Sunday’s Baltimore Sun:

"Oh man, that killed the momentum that they had.  As soon as 4 [Best] took that hit - boom! - it just changed the pace of the game." 

So that by definition is a game changing moment. 

Game Lowlights:  Well I certainly don’t like the fact that our defense gave up 3 TD’s in the last 7 minutes, but I never really believed we were going to cough this one up, so the game lowlight for me had to be Obi “One” Egekeze.  Obi is struggling.  We can’t continue on this path.  It is time to give someone else a look.  Hitting the upright on a 48 yard attempt, I can forgive.  Missing from 35 last week and 27 this week, is just not going to cut it.  This is a serious problem that could really bite us in the ass later.  I hope it gets addressed ASAP.

MVP:  Let there be no mistake about it.  Da’Rel Scott is the man and our main offensive weapon, but I can’t give him the MVP EVERY week.  So this week I’m going with Kevin Barnes.  The Game Highlight section is one reason, but I also thought his first quarter interception and return to the 17 really swung the game in our direction.  Not to mention Kevin Barnes is an Old Mill Grad and as required by my wife, and former Old Mill Patriot, he must be the MVP at least once every year.

For honorable mention, I don’t see why that wouldn’t go to Chris Turner.  The way Turner handled himself and the offense was vital to our success.  He shook off last weeks sub par performance and bounced back.  You could make a case that he was the MVP, but I’m sticking by my pick of Barnes.  

Random Thought-  How is it that every single Maryland Home game falls on the hottest day of the week?  I don’t know of much more of this J can take!

Around the ACC:

As bad as the last few weeks have been, this week was pretty good for the Conference with UNC and Maryland scoring big out of Conference wins to help bolster the leagues reputation.  Though we aren’t the toughest of conferences, we aren’t the Big East either!

North Carolina 41  Rutgers 12- Hmmm maybe Ray Rice WAS that good all along, but Rutgers seems to be lost without him.  UNC embarrassed RU and scored their first win outside the state of North Carolina since 2002.  Yikes.  I don’t know who should be more embarrassed by that factoid, UNC or Rutgers. 

Clemson 27  NC State  9- The Tigers score their first conference win as they hope to keep their BCS hopes alive.  Cullen Harper was an efficient 20-28 with 262 yards and 2 TD’s.  NC State falls to the bottom of the Atlantic Division where they will hopefully remain.    

Duke 41  Navy 31- In the “Brainiac Bowl” the Middies couldn’t out geek the Dukies who pulled ahead late for the 10 point victory.  Thad Lewis had 3 TD’s to lead the Blue Devils to a 2-1 record which is better than BC, Miami, or UVA can claim.    

Virginia Tech 20  Georgia Tech 17-  This one was a pretty big early season division match up with both teams looking to establish themselves in the Coastal Division.  However Paul Johnson’s triple option was not enough to over come VT’s tenacious defense, who forced 3 big turnovers. 

Florida State 46  Chattanooga 7-  Sure it’s against Chattanooga, but FSU is starting to put up scores on the out of town scoreboard reminiscent to their hayday in the 90’s.  Of course they can’t dine on cupcakes forever, and will eventually have to play a real opponent so I’m reserving my judgment for that day. 

Connecticut 45 UVA 10-  Oops.  I forgot about this one when I was writing the ACC intro.  UVA is just terrible.  That’s about all I can say as the Wahoos fall to 1-2 which isn’t nearly as indicative of how they have been playing.