Game Week--Maryland

First some WVU stats. WVU currently has the 2nd rushing offense in the nation and 4th highest scoring offense. Defensively WVU is 49th in total defense, 28th against the run, and 94th versus the pass. Both Slaton and White are in the top 30 for rushing in the country and White is 25th in total offense. Darius Reynaud has 14 catches for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns to rank 12th nationally and 3rd in the Big East. Reed Williams leads the Mountaineers with 3 solo and 20 assisted tackles, Mortty Ivy is tied for second with 6 solo and 9 assisted with Marc Magro (3 solo/12 assisted). Johnny Dingle has a solo sack and three assisted sacks to lead WVU with Mortty Ivy at 2 total apiece.

This week marks the final game between WVU and Maryland for at least 2 years and possibly longer. WVU travels to College Park for a Thursday game on ESPN at 7:30. Two of the Bastards will also be making the trip and I haven't been this excited since the announcement of Tron 2 because the first left so many unanswered questions. During my last trip to College Park I was able to watch the team walk to the stadium through the campus which is pretty cool and WVU would do it but it would mean walking through Sunnyside and losing players to fire, famine, Mutts, and all other sorts of ailments along the way. As the Terps reached the stadium and started the walk to the locker room the band played the fight song and everyone cheered, except for the equipment guys. Those poor bastards had to remove all the heavy AV equipment from one of the carts so that Fridge could ride down the hill to the lockerroom. I guess the previous attempts at rolling him were unsuccessful and putting him on a runaway sled would endanger too much life, even in College Park. The poor cart looked like the car at the beginning of the Flintstones when Fred orders the ribs. So as a tradition it is kind of a mixed bag since it is really the walk/ride/try not to flip over.

On to the teams. Maryland went 9-4 last year with almost every game played within a score or two no matter the opponent. That is except WVU. The Mountaineers jumped out to a 28-0 lead behind the running of Slaton, mistakes of the Terps, and smell of the guy next to Wolf. WVU then cruised to a 45-24 win to take a commanding series lead over Maryland 22-21-2. In that game Slaton ran for 195 yards and White only attempted 9 passes. For the Terps Sam Hollenbach was 24 for 45 for 211 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Maryland ran for 122 yards on 33 carries. The Maryland receivers were lead by Joey Haynos with 8 catches followed by Darrius Heyward-Bey with 5 catches. On the sidelines Keon Lattimore yelled at teammates, coaches, and fans on his way to making sure everyone knew he was related to Ray Lewis.

This year the Terrapins have started 2-0 with wins over Villanova and Florida International. Jordan Steffy has assumed the starting job and completed over 75% of his passes for over 300 yards in two games, but has yet to throw for a touchdown. Steffy was supposed to battle with Josh Portis for the starting job, but Portis decided to instead fight a losing battle with academic integrity. On the ground the Terps are running with Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball. Lattimore has over 200 yards and averages 5.7 ypc with 5 touchdowns with Ball has just under 100 yards thusfar. The big play guy is Heyward-Bey. He already has 10 catches for 129 yards. As a team Maryland is averaging 28.5 points per game and around 350 yards with passing and running being almost identical in yardage. On defense the Terps are giving up 175 yards per game and under 50 yards rushing and only allowing 12 points. The defense is led by Erin Henderson in a never ending family of Hendersons playing linebacker at UMD with 8 tackles and 13 assists and DB Christian Varner with 5 solo and 6 assists and corner Kevin Barnes with 2 interceptions.

The weather for Thursday is calling for mostly sunny with highs around 80 and lows around 63. There is a 0% chance of precipitation and a 100% chance of me calling Fridge a fatass.