19 31
Almost Hell
My take on the game:
Overall:
Losing to Clemson in the 4th quarter is one thing, but failing to even lead the team we used to treat as a practice squad is just horrible. Losing to WVU in Byrd Stadium is probably the low point of the Ralph Friedgen era. But instead of crying over it and talking of how we used to play WVU, the Terps really have to take a step back and re-evaluate how this season is going to go. At the current rate I can see us winning 2 more games, and those are coming up soon. If things don’t turn around we are going to have a miserable November.
Game Highlights:
In this stinker of a game, there were actually a few brief moments when I thought to myself, maybe we can still pull this one out. Of course that moment revolved around Vernon Davis, the only Terp with a pulse these days (with apologizes to Dan “Picture Perfect” Ennis). Davis took a Hollenbach pass 72 yards for a TD that finally brought Byrd Stadium to life. The momentum carried over into the ensuing kick off where Maryland forced a fumble and again got excellent field position. The Terps went on to convert that TO into a TD, but failed on the two point conversion to tie it up. But for 5 minutes the stadium felt like the 2001 Clemson game.
Game Lowlights:
This section is going to be long. There are so many to pull from. I think the overall biggest low light was the ensuing WV drive after we cut the lead to 2. The stadium was rocking, the momentum had shifted our way and then WVU marched down the field almost at will to score the decisive TD. The Maryland defense of 2001-3 would never have allowed that to happen. It was very discouraging, and if you looked hard enough you could actually see the life getting sucked out of the fans who were still in their seats. Though that took the cake there certainly were other issues I would like to point out. For example, another huge disappointment was the offsides penalty during WVU’s punt. WVU went on to score a touchdown on the suddenly resurrected drive (like we didn’t see that coming) and that proved to be more than enough. To round out the ranting I just want to add that our running game is a complete and utter disgrace. It is one thing for our linemen to toss aside middies, but against other BCS schools we are not getting it done. There are currently so many things wrong with this team I can’t even begin to dissect them all. So we are just going to leave it as is for now.
Game MVP:
For the second straight week the D-7 MVP award goes to Vernon Davis. That’s the good news, the bad news is that everytime he wins the award we are coming off an “L”.
Vernon had 5 catches on the day for 158 yards (over half our total passing yards). He also drew a nice pass interference call, and had a great TD catch. So Vernon takes home his second straight award. Good job VD, now if you could only play defense too.
Around the ACC:
Miami 36 Clemson 30- Wow this is what college football is all about. Clemson down was down 10 as late as the 3:00 mark, and again managed to battle back. After 3 OT’s however a Whitehurst INT finally sealed the deal dropping the Tigers to 2-1 and keeping Miami from going 0-2 for the first time since 1978.
Virginia 27 Syracuse 24- In a game that was almost a conference match up, UVA escaped the Carrier Dome on a Connor Hughes FG as time expired. Could a kid by that name really get into any other school than UVA, it’s like Jad Dean at Clemson, they were both destined to play for their school as soon as they were named.
Virginia Tech 45 Ohio 0- VT has another tough match up and once again wins 45-0 on Marcus Vicks 3 Touchdowns. VT improves to 3-0, however their record against teams with talent and/or discipline is still 0-0.
NC State 54 Eastern Kentucky 10- NC State jumped out to a 31-0 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Toney Baker ran for two TD’s and caught another which was enough for the Wolfpack who held on despite have 10 personal fouls (OK, I made that up, but it I wouldn’t doubt if it were true).
Florida State 28 BC 17- FSU scores 14 unanswered in the 4th quarter to put this one out of reach of the Eagles. BC begins ACC play by imitating every other ACC school in the 1990’s and loses to the Seminoles. AJ Nicholson had 2 interceptions to help move FSU to 3-0.
Wake Forest 44 ECU 34- Despite an epic battle with Maryland coming up for last place in the Atlantic Division, the Deacons were able to stay focused long enough to take care of instate rival East Carolina. Chris Barclay ran for over 200 yards and tied a school record with 4 TD’s.
Ga Tech 28 UConn 13- The Huskies kept the Tech faithful worried for a while, but in the end those pesky Jackets were able to put them away. Bob W’s man crush Reggie Ball threw for 320 yards (ahhhh…dreamy) and had 3 TD’s. If only he were ours!
Wisonsin 14 UNC 5- In baseball this week the Badgers of Wisconsin scored 7 runs in the 3rd to….What?...Are you sure?....OK, in football this week the Badgers of Wisconsin downed the UNC Tarheels 14-5. The Heels did their best Wolfpack impression and managed to rack up 115 yards in pentalies. They also achieved the rare 5 point total.
Duke 40 VMI 14- The streets of Durham must have been empty during this highly anticipated match up with the VMI Keydets. In the end though the Div II Keydets were no match for the mighty Blue Devils. Justin Boyle ran for a career high 113 yards, or as I like to say he had .4” for every fan in attendance (10,126).
ACC Standings:
Atlantic
FSU 2-0 2-0
Clemson 2-1 2-1
BC 0-1 2-1
NC St 0-0 1-1
Wake 0-0 1-2
Maryland 0-1 1-2
Coastal
VT 2-0 3-0
GT 1-0 3-0
Virginia 0-0 2-0
Miami 1-1 1-1
Duke 0-1 1-2
UNC 0-1 0-2