When a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division 1A) plays a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division 1AA) team, there are not a lot of good alternatives for the FBS/1A team.

If the 1A team wins as expected, people will commentate that this is what should have happened.
If the 1A team loses (see Virginia Tech, and Mississippi), it is apocalypse now.

The only chance for the 1A team to leave the field feeling good, is to dominate the action from beginning to end. In that regard, the University of Maryland can feel good about what they accomplished in their 62-3 demolishing of Morgan State. The Terrapins did everything they wanted to against the Bears, and moved to 2-0 overall with their second win in 5 days.

Also have to keep in-mind that in terms of eventual bowl-eligibility, 1A teams need to have at-least 6 wins in a standard 12 game season. Under current rules, 1 of those 6 wins can come against FCS / 1AA wins.

Some takeaways:

1) O’Brien and Robinson were able to combine for 5 throwing TD’s, getting their offensive weapons an opportunity to make plays. This team knows they have some play-makers, but they lost 10 games last year. When you come off a season like 2009, you are realistically (and understandably) dealing with a loss of confidence. Getting multiple players the chance to make plays and put some points on the board, was important.

2) One of the players who stepped-up to make some plays was TE Matt Furstenburg. 3 catches, 48 yards, and a TD. Seeing some production here was particularly nice to see prior to heading to WVU.

3) Another nice development was the Field Goal kicking of Punter Travis Baltz. With PK Nick Ferrera still not ready, Baltz had to handle all of the kicking duties. After nailing both of his Field Goal attempts (including a 47 yarder), the Terps can feel good about Baltz if needed in Morgantown.

4) Morgan State had 56 plays, and gained a total of 85 yards. I do not care who you are playing, if you hold a team to 85 yards; you have accomplished something on the defensive-end.

5) Easy day for MD’s top-two RB’s Da’Rel Scott, and Davin Meggett. With the game quickly out of hand, their day was able to be ended early. D.J. Adams was the primary benefactor, having 11 carries for 70 yards and 2 TD’s.

6) Tough break for 3rd-string QB CJ Brown, who broke his collarbone and will miss two months.

Next week:

The Terrapins will head to Morgantown, to face the Mountaineers of West Virginia. After a brief hiatus, the series is scheduled to resume through the 2013 season. All-time these teams have played 46 previous times, with WVU leading the series 23-21-2. After earning their 4th consecutive win over WVU at the 2004 Gator Bowl; WVU has turned the tables beating MD 4 straight times. The 2006 and 2007 match-ups were particularly uncompetitive as the Terps had no answer for Rich Rodriguez’s spread-offense and their rushing attack.

West Virginia is still a Top 25 team, and a formidable foe under their current Head Coach Bill Stewart. Noel Devine is an outstanding College RB, who rushed for nearly 1,500 yards last year as a Junior. Another familiar name is Baltimore’s (Dunbar) Tavon Austin who had 9 catches for 85 yards in WVU’s OT win over in-state rival Marshall Friday.

If Maryland can pull the upset, the Terps would likely enter the Top 25. With games against Florida International, and Duke the following two-weeks at home; MD would have a tremendous opportunity to start 5-0 with a bye week to prepare for their game at Clemson.

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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