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MD : 34                                              RU : 24

“Hmmm, now we got to find something we can steal.”  

By Bob W. 

Overall:  What a feeling.  There is nothing like walking out of an opposing stadium after an upset road win, NOTHING.  You don’t even have to say a word, everyone just leaves you alone, because afterall, what are they going to say?  This one was big and I am proud to have been there in person for it.  Not so much because we beat a vastly over rated, and yet to be exposed Rutgers team, but because I feel as though I was watching history.  Saturday September 29^th was Chris Turner’s coronation. 

Now I know, the starting job is still going to be up for grabs.  We still have Steffy and Portis, and for the rest of this week Freidgen is going to be saying all the right things, but lets be honest here.  Chris Turner did one hell of a job.  After the two TD’s to end the first half, the Terps could have folded, they should have folded, after all we were in a hostile stadium playing a team that was favored by over 17 points, no one would have thought anything if we packed it up, but they didn’t, and Turner is the reason why. 

When under center I had all the confidence in the world in him.  He looked like he knew what he was doing, he acted like he knew what he was doing, and I’ll be damned if the rest of the team didn’t follow his lead.  And what more do you want from a quarterback?  This isn’t USC or Michigan, we are not looking to become a QB factory, as anyone who’s watched Maryland football knows we only need a competent QB who doesn’t make mistakes.  I believe Turner gives us that, and I like Steffy, he seems like a hell of a guy who deserves to have success, but seriously, if the writing is on the wall we need to read it.  Having Turner lead our team for the next 2 and a half seasons would do wonders for our program.   Just the thought gives me warm feelings all over, feelings not unlike the ones I felt leaving the stadium on Saturday night! 

As for the game, well what can you say, there is never a dull moment when Maryland is playing.  Even when we had the lead, you just couldn’t relax.   I remember going into the 4^th quarter with the Terps up and thinking to myself “God if we can just somehow hold on for 15 more minutes” and I got to thinking, going to these football games isn’t fun.  It’s stressful, it’s emotional, and it’s draining, why do I get involved in this stuff?  But in the end you just can’t help it, because you never know when you are going to have a game like the 2007 Rutgers game, and then you realize why you do it. 

Though I could probably go on and on about Chris Turner, I think he was only the personification of the whole team in general.  Everyone stepped up.  Sure the pass defense was as solid as Rice’s Heisman chances, and Obi looked like he may not have cracked the top 5 at the D7 Punt Pass and Kick competition, but as for everyone else it was a total effort.   The LaQuan Williams catch was phenomenal, both Lattimore and Ball rushed like they were running down hill and the defense came up huge when the game was on the line.   

I was generally depressed going into half time, I was hoping that if we could just get the ball first and somehow go down and tie it back up, then maybe anything can happen.  I set the bar really low, and the Terps not being ones to settle exceeded my expectations.  During that 2nd quarter collapse I looked around and thought to myself, wow, it really doesn’t take much to get the Maryland fans out of the game.  Every RU catch, every yard gained everyone was more and more willing to accept the inevitable.  It appeared as though that Wake loss was going to hurt our fans for a long long time.  But unlike the fans, the Terps weren’t going to give up so fast.  I’ll think twice the next time, I start to lose faith in this squad.  I just hope Freidgen doesn’t think twice when it comes time to make out the Georgia Tech Line Up.  

What’s it all Mean:  Honestly I think this win means we’re bowling.  We now have 3 wins, and we need 3 more.  Though the ACC confuses me more and more each week, it looks as though with Ga Tech, UVA, Clemson, UNC, FSU, BC, and NC State, there is no reason to think we can’t win half of those.  Hell, after the way the team came together this weekend, there isn’t any reason to think we can’t win all of them.  Honestly, after this last weekend, do any of those schools really scare you?   

Game Highlights:  LaQuan Williams catch was easily the highlight.  What a crucial third down play, which lead to an even more crucial TD on the ensuing play.  I can’t say for sure, but I feel as though that moment Rutgers finally realized “Uh oh, this could really be happening.”.   

Game Lowlights:  To simulate the Rutgers game watching experience, I want you to read the rest of the recap as though a New Jersey state trooper was looking over your shoulder.  Sure you aren’t doing anything wrong, but still it gets annoying.  For either our protection or Rutgers (still not sure yet) there were cops located in all the Maryland sections.  In their defense there may have been cops in some of the Rutgers sections as well, but from our perch 800 feet up I couldn’t see them.   

On the field the lowlight proved to once again be our 2 minute defense.  This week it seemed as though we still continued to apply pressure as opposed to the sit back and wait Wake stategy, but I’ll tell you this, as good as we like to think we are after this win, we will only go as far as that 2 minute drill defense takes us. 

MVP:  You have to give it to Turner.  Here’s a little rule I have about picking an MVP.  If the guy gets carried off the field, he’s probably your MVP.  If the other players try to douse him with Gatorade, he’s probably your MVP.  Turner sweeps both those categories making my job a lot easier.     

For honorable mention, I could go a lot of ways, but I’m sticking with Ball and Lattimore.  Hey they shared carries, they can certainly share the honorable mention.  Ball ran for 90 yards on 12 carries with 2 TD’s.  Lattimore rushed for 124 yards on 34 carries with 1 TD.  Anytime you can do that, good things usually happen.   

Random Thought-  Of course my Eagles lost this week, but does anyone else think it’s funny that Eli Manning doesn’t have any lines in the commercial with him and Peyton coming home?  I mean how bad can you be to not have a line in a Peyton Manning commercial.  It isn’t exactly Gone With the Wind. 

Around the ACC: 

Game of the Week 

Georgia Tech 13  Clemson 3- Just when Tommy Bowden starting thinking that the temperature of his chair was getting cooler, Clemson responds with this offensive clunker.  Tashard Choice rushed for 145 yards in this game.  I don’t know what to make of this, but with GT beating Clemson, and UVA beating GT, it is looking like it is going to be an extremely interesting October in College Park.   

Virgina 44  Pittsburg 14- UVA is hot.  Sure they couldn’t beat Wyoming in week 1, but they have been on fire since.  The opponents continue to be suspect, with the exception of GT, but the results have been anything but.  Jameel Sewell threw 3 first quarter TD’s as the Wahoo’s rolled over this over matched Big East opponent.  

Virginia Tech 17  UNC 10- Has anyone seen VT’s offense?  If found could you please return to Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech, attention “Offense”.  VT get’s it’s first conference win, but it was anything but decisive.  The Defense continues to be the spark for the Hokies who have to be wondering who is going to start rising to the occasion on offense. 

Miami 24  Duke 14-  The Hurricanes put away a pesky Blue Devils squad for a much needed Coastal Division win.  However, Miami couldn’t let out a sigh of relief until Kyle Wright threw a TD to DajLeon with 2:14 left on the clock.  But on a day that saw numerous upsets Miami will take any win it can get.  Yes Hurricane fans, this is what it has come to, being happy with a 10 point win over Duke.   

Boston College 24  UMass 14– Not sure which is more shocking, the fact that UMass has a football team, or the fact that BC only beat said football team by 10 points.  Andre Callender ran for 114 yards and 2 TD’s while Matt Ryan also had a TD pass.  BC is now off to their best start in 50 years.  Poor…Poor…Tom O’Brien.  

Louisville 29  NC State 10- For 4 ACC schools it was a banner out of conference day, and then there’s NC State.  NC State was able to keep this one close early, and by early I mean kick off.  But the team that couldn’t beat Syracuse at home, had little trouble with the Pack.  NC State turned the ball over 5 times in this gem. 

 Florida State 21  Alabama 14-  I can’t say for sure, but I hear there is a pretty big FSU following in south Florida, if that is indeed the case, a lot of those fans who cheer for both the Noles’ and the Dolphins had a pretty good day.  Nick $aban, the greatest thing since Bear Bryant, has now dropped 2 in a row.  It may take some time to totally turn Bama around, but unfortunately $aban will probably have left for a better gig by then.