I know it’s Wednesday, but I think I’m still feeling the effects of a college football-induced high over Labor Day Weekend. It was billed on ESPN as THE BEST OPENING COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEKEND EVEREVEREVER and it delivered. Big game after big game from Thursday all the way until way past my weeknight bedtime on Monday, it was basically like dropping a junkie who’d been clean for nine-months in the middle of an opioid field. It was heavenly and at the end of it all I passed out on Monday night only to wake up Tuesday morning pining for more football.
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And even though the Maryland Terrapins’ 52-13 victory over Howard was hardly a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things, it was exciting to finally kick off the DJ Durkin era with and see what the new coaching staff has to offer. And on a weekend where a lot of high profile teams lost, Maryland was able to secure a W – and right now we need to cherish it.
Before getting into the details of the game, it should be noted that Howard was completely overmatched. The Bison held an open tryout for the team only a few days before the season started, so everything we saw on Saturday should be viewed from that lens.
With that being said, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot to like. Walt Bell’s fast, run heavy attack was on full display right out of the gate with the Terps marching down the field and scoring touchdowns on four of their five first half drives. Ty Johnson and Trey Edmunds were the most impressive runners of five deployed backs, setting the tone early by gashing Howard’s defense for several big gains. Outside of their consistency running the ball, both also came up big on special teams with Johnson blocking a punt and Edmunds scooping up the ball and scoring. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.
One of the bigger surprises in the run-up to the game was Will Likely’s appearance on the depth chart at wide receiver. How involved in the offense he’ll be going forward remains to be seen as he only had one carry, but Bell threw him onto the field during the first series. And even though he didn’t get didn’t touch the ball until the third quarter, just having Likely on the field and making the defense account for him is an advantage in itself.
Perry Hills had a nice outing – He didn’t throw any interceptions and didn’t miss on a pass until nearly five minutes into the second quarter. He also didn’t throw down field and he didn’t throw any touchdowns, so all that can really be gleaned from this performance is that a Maryland quarterback didn’t do their best to lose the game. And just because Perry Hills had a quiet, inoffensive afternoon, doesn’t mean quarterback questions don’t continue to swirl.
Tyrrell Pigrome made his College Park debut in the second half of the game breaking off a few nice runs, including a 25 yarder, and looking competent in the passing game. You could see Pigrome going through his reads and connected with DeAndre Lane on two downfield strikes. That’s all it takes to stir grumblings about “letting the kid play.”
Outside of how the offense looked, the biggest looming story surrounding Maryland at the moment has to be JC Jackson. The former four-star recruit and junior college transfer was a late scratch for Saturday’s game and did not appear on this week’s depth chart for FIU. It appears to be an eligibility issue in regards to his credits transferring from his previous institution, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of concrete information going around on this. Durkin has spoken to the media three times since Saturday and hasn’t offered much of an explanation. He still could play this week and it doesn’t seem like we should panic yet, but losing him would be a massive blow for this team. We saw a lot of young blood in the secondary on Saturday and especially in the second half when there were some struggles. And the passing attacks aren’t going to get any easier as the season moves along.
An effective counterweight to a bad secondary, though, is a good pass rush. Jesse Aniebonam and Melvin Keihn are looking like potential terrors on the ends as they gobbled up Howard’s offensive line. Again, it’s Howard, but it was fun to watch them barge Godzilla-style into the backfield.
Tailgate Report
Our master of tailgating is a gentleman who goes by the moniker of Barbecue Ben. He’s the guy in our tailgating crew that brings the tables, tent, grill – He does it all and we’re lucky to have him.
For the first tailgate of the year, Barbecue Ben decided to really embrace the spirit of the season and brought not only a keg of Heavy Seas Pounder Pils, but a CO2 tank to power the tap and, what I’ve now learned is, a jockey box to keep our pours nice and chilly. He even had a special spout on it to eliminate foam. Pure genius.
This was the clear-cut highlight of the afternoon, perhaps even superseding Maryland’s victory.
On the food front, we kept things on the simple side with Dunkin Donuts for the early birds, a breakfast casserole for some more substance and jerk chicken as we neared kick off.
It’s about a month until the next tailgate and I don’t know how I’m going to survive. At least the next time we roll out to the parking lots on a Saturday morning it will be for homecoming AND the Big Ten opener against Purdue. Homecoming tailgates generally don’t disappoint.
Looking Ahead To FIU
I kind of dig the Friday night game. It helps clear out Saturday with the chance to watch other college football or do something that doesn’t involved melting into the couch. The time between games feels a bit more accelerated too coming off Labor Day and the work week starting up on a Tuesday, which I certainly don’t mind. Terrapin football is flying at your face and (at least at this early juncture of the season) it feels so good.
Aside from the Friday night kick, the game showing up on the obscure CBS Sports Network really gives it that weird, “where the hell is the game?” ACC vibe. Fortunately, I have that channel in my cable package and am opening my doors to those less fortunate (Re: My friends) for a small viewing party. Because of the keg at the tailgate, I unfortunately neglected several bottles of Andre that will now be the drink of choice come Friday at 7:30.
The Terps are a 10-point favorite going down to Miami. I actually thought that was a little low, but the Panthers hung with Indiana last week for a majority of the game. Whatever the final result, it will be a good spot to apply the transitive property to see how Maryland stacks up in comparison to a Big Ten East foe in the Hoosiers early on in the season.
CT Schwink lives in Washington, D.C., and is the digital media strategist for a non-profit organization. He hosted a Maryland Terrapins podcast for 5 years, previously known as Red Shell Radio, and later Talking Terps here at BSL. Additionally, Schwink hosts the weekly Washington Wizards podcast ZardCast and he assists behind the scenes with The Solid Verbal, internet’s most downloaded independent college football podcast.