The University of Maryland won an important game yesterday at Boston College, moving to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. (Tied for 2nd in the ACC Atlantic)

The 24-21 victory was a pretty important event for the Terps. Not only did they claim their first road victory since at Clemson in 2008, they won a game they were not expected to win. By doing so they are set-up pretty well for the rest of the year.

The remaining 5 games for the Terps are:

10/30: vs. Wake Forest
11/6: @ Miami
11/13: @ Virginia
11/20: Florida State
11/27: NCST

Wake has been struggling, but had a bye this week, so they will be healthy and prepared.
If the Terps beat the Demon Deacons like they should, things get somewhat intriguing.

You beat Wake, you are suddenly 6-2, 3-1 in the ACC. You would expect Maryland to lose at Miami, and against the Seminoles. With the game against FSU at-home, who knows though? UVA always plays the Terps tough, and winning that game on the road will not be easy for MD. Still the Cavs best game all-season is their close loss to Southern Cal. That is certainly a game the Terps should probably win.

On a neutral-field NCST would probably be favored against the Terps, but at Byrd this will basically be a pick’em type of game.

So the road map is there. Beat Wake, split with Miami and UVA, and split with FSU and NCST. That would have Maryland finishing 8-4 overall, and 5-3 in the ACC. They would probably be good enough to finish 3rd in the ACC Atlantic Division. After a 2 win season in 2009, that would be a pretty nice turnaround. You add a bowl win to that season, and you have had a successful year.

These last two-weeks for Maryland at Clemson and at Boston College have been interesting to watch. The box-score says the Terps lost by 24 vs. the Tigers, but if you watched that game Maryland certainly had their opportunities. The end-result was disappointing considering the Terps out-gained Clemson by 140 yards. O’Brien impressively threw for over 300 yards in Death Valley, but was picked off 3 times. MD was never able to get their running game going, but for the first time in 2010 established their TE’s as Furstenburgh, and Yeatman both had good games. Defensively USC transfer Antwine Perez was making his presence felt. The Terps were done-in by their a combination of their turnovers, their penalties (10 for 93 yards), Clemson kickoff and interception returns for TD’s, and just a complete inability to stop the Tigers’ DE Da’Quan Bowers.

Coming off that loss, the Terps could have easily seen their season go downhill with a loss at Boston College yesterday. BC has been struggling, but at-home and given their recent history against Maryland – had to be considered the favorite (Vegas had the Eagles as a 4.5 point favorite).

Terps DT AJ Francis stated this week this game was a must-win. I respected and agreed with his opinion, but if MD had lost yesterday, the rest of the season would have become increasingly difficult after having made such a public proclamation. Winning yesterday became a harder proposition during the week, when starting Offensive Tackle Pete DeSouza broke his legs driving his motor scooter. For the Terps to respond to those challenges, was good to see. You certainly have to be impressed with O’Brien’s outing yesterday. 39 pass-attempts, with zero picks is a big deal. The Terps would need every one of his 3 TD’s.

I believe in the skills of both Da’Rel Scott, and Davin Meggett and understand they are being limited by their offensive line, and defenses that are keying on the Maryland run game. While I understand their challenges, the production simply has to improve. A combined 24 carries for 58 yards is not acceptable. Franklin needs to either spread the field and make opposing defenses pay for stacking the box, or he needs to alter his offense to incorporate a jumbo package to help get the running game going.

The passing-attack had a good day as 6 different receivers caught at-least 2 passes from O’Brien. I really liked seeing Boykins and Dorsey get involved with the offense. One disappointment was that the TE’s did not catch a pass this week. For the second-straight week Perez had a big game at Safety, this week coming up with 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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