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MD : 14                                                                                       Delaware : 7

“I think we created more questions than we answered.”

By Bob W.

Overall: A win is a win, but I don’t think anyone in College Park feels too good about this one.  Maryland looked to put away the Blue Hens early and for Jordan Steffy to put to bed any talk about him not being able to handle the job, but neither happened.  In fact Steffy’s hold on the QB position is weaker now than it was before kick off.  The only thing that could have made this one worse was if we did indeed cough it up and took an L to a Division I AA opponent.  Luckily we were at least able to avoid that.

Maryland came out strong enough and didn’t appear to have too much trouble moving the ball, but for whatever reason the offense just couldn’t seem to get it done inside the 30.  This put Obi One (“One” because he can only make the kicks worth one point!) at the edge of his range and the results showed.  Maryland did find the end zone twice, but with the total yardage they put up, this one easily could have been 24 or even 31-7.  That would have looked a lot better on the old out of town ticker. 

The main story of the day was the possible injury, or phantom injury of Jordan Steffy.  He allegedly hurt his thumb and is unable to properly hold the football as of Monday afternoon.   If this is indeed the case, well then obviously this game was a much larger turning point for the season than any of us could have imagined.

What’s it all Mean:  The good news is that we are 1-0.  I have seen plenty of good squads both Maryland and other schools come out flat during the opener only to end up putting together a solid season.  So it isn’t time to hit the panic button yet, but I think it is worth worrying about the QB situation.  If Turner is indeed going to take over the job which we are all anticipating, then he lost 3 valuable quarters in which he could have worked with the 1^st team offense under live game conditions.  As a fan, that bothers me.

Game Highlights:  Who knows how good Delaware really is, but the Defense seemed to hold it’s own.  No they did not dominate, but at the same time even when it was 14-7 and UD had the ball back with a chance to tie, I really didn’t believe that they would find the end zone, and normally at a Maryland game I’m in full panic mode in that situation. 

Game Lowlights:  Some people may say the Lowlight was Steffy throwing an INT on 4^th down, but I disagree, that might have been his best pass of the day.  That UD DB drops the ball and Delaware has the ball on their 33 yard line, but he caught it and thus put the Blue Hens on their own 2.  The game lowlight for me was seeing a streaking wide open Hey-Ward Bey cutting across the middle only to see a certain TD turn into an acrobatic catch.  Had Steffy hit him in stride, Hey-Bey would have been off to the races no doubt.  That play summed up our QB play and since the QB play was the story of the day, that makes this particular catch the lowlight. 

MVP:  Some games are harder than others to give this out to, but it was quite obvious that Da’Rel Scott was the best player on the field.  Scott had 26 carries for 198 yards.  He didn’t score a touchdown, but when you average over 7 yards a carry, I’ll let that fact slide.

For honorable mention, I don’t really see anyone else who stuck out.  So I am going with Davin Meggett for honorable mention.  Meggett had a TD and 7 carries for 54 yards.  I think we are good to go at the RB position once again.

Random Thought-  My wife is now hooked on this show called “Snapped” it is about women who..uh…snap…and kill their husband/boyfriends.  If I somehow were to die mysteriously, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHOW THIS PARAGRAPH TO THE COPS!!!

Around the ACC:

Ugh, I really don’t want to do this section, but I guess I have to.  The first weekend of the season was brutal for the conference, I mean just brutal. 

Georgia Tech 41  Jackson State 14- Anchors away.  Paul Johnson’s option offense gave Ga Tech a win the ACC can be proud of.  OK that may be a stretch, but it was a win that at least looks like a typical week 1 Big School-Little School final score.  And yes the bar has been set that low.  Jonathan Dwyer and Josh Nesbitt both rushed for two TD’s a piece for the Rambling Wreck.

Miami 52  Charleston Southern 7- Hey Miami, when we play division 1AA schools at least they are good DIAA schools.  Anyway, after the weekend the conference had, we’ll take this one.  Miami won it’s first home game outside of the Orange Bowl as Graig Cooper had 2 TDs.  One via punt return and one via the rush.    

South Carolina 34  NC State 0- When you look at the way NC State lost to us to end the season, and then look at the way NC State started the year, you almost have to feel sorry for them.  Anyway all I can say about this one was that at least I won 10$ on it.  Oh and for future notice, you can throw 4 interceptions against NC State and still win 34-0.  Look for Steffy to have a coming out party on October 25th. 

Wake 41  Baylor 13-  What do you know, an out of conference win verses the Big 12.  Wake looked pretty solid in this one.  Riley Skinnner threw for 3 TD’s as Wake looks to be perhaps the only ranked ACC school after the smoke clears from week 1. 

East Carolina 27 Virginia Tech 22-  TJ Lee blocked a punt and returned it 27 yards for a TD as the Hokies are humiliated in Charlotte.  Not only is it hard to believe VT lost this game, but to lose it on special teams makes it all the more unbelievable.    

Southern California 52  UVA 7-  Hey it wasn’t a shut out! 

North Carolina 35 McNeese State 27-  Just like Maryland, UNC gets a win that feels more like a loss.  Brandon Tate was the player of the game for the Tarheels as he returned a punt 82 yards and added a 57 yard reception.  

Duke 31 James Madison 7-  Clemson, Va Tech, UVA, just to name a few schools that have a worse record than Duke Football.  Thaddeus Lewis connected with Eron Riley twice to help give new coach David Cutcliffe his first win. 

Boston College 21  Kent State 0-  The Matt Ryan era is over.  Chris Cane is the new sheriff of Beantown after sitting on the bench for 4 years. Cane must have been paying attention because he scored 2 TD’s all by himself.  Still though not a final score I would be proud of.

Alabama 34  Clemson 10-  As hard as it is to imagine with this score deferential, the game was not as close as the score indicates.  Clemson had a lone kickoff return to make it exciting for a second or two in the 2^nd half, but this one was all Alabama.  The Bowden hot seat warms up early this year in South Carolina.