Saturday, the Terps travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to take on Middle Tennessee State (MTS) in the first road game of the season for the Terps. Junior quarterback Chris Turner will be behind center for the Terps as Jordan Steffy is out at least 3 weeks with a thumb injury that he suffered during the Delaware game last Saturday.

Maryland last faced MTS back in 2006, when they beat the Blue Raiders 24-10 at Byrd Stadium. All time, Maryland is 2-0 against MTS and 4-0-1 against the Sun Belt Conference. 

Last week, MTS lost to Troy at home 31-17.  MTS was dominated by Troy for most of the game, down 24-3 going into the 4th quarter. MTS then scored 2 quick TDs pulling to 24-17 with just over 6.5 minutes left.  Troy finally answered with a 4 minute TD drive that put the game out of reach for MTS. It's hard to gauge what to expect out of MTS this Saturday as the majority of their points were scored when Troy was likely playing a prevent D, so I think the Terps D to dominate MTS in the same way they did Delaware. But I also fully expect MTS' offense to be clicking a little better this Saturday then they were against Troy. If MTS is going to put up points against the Terps, I think they're going to have to do it through the air.  Against Troy, the Blue Raiders rushed the ball 50 times,  gained 84 net yards. Part of that low yardage total is due to the fact that a few ball carriers for MTS gained negative yardage, so when you look at their two starting running backs, Philip Tanner and Desmond Gee, they combined for 121 rushing yards on 34 carries, for a 3.5/carry average. Not bad, but I expect the Terps to get on the board early and often, hopefully forcing MTS into a one dimensional offense that won't be able to run the ball a lot.

In the air, MTS'  senior QB Joe Craddock will be leading the Blue Raiders offense. Last week Craddock completed 20 of 32 passes for 200 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown pass to true freshman wide receiver Malcolm Beyah. In his press conference before traveling to MTS, head coach Ralph Friedgen said that he was worried about MTS' speed and was worried about this game in general. 

QB Joe Craddock will be testing the Terps secondary this Saturday.  media.2theadvocate.com

I expect the Terps to come out running, helping to ease QB Chris Turner into the offense.  Look for Heyward-Bey to be involved early and often, with the Raiders likely having no way to stop him. Also, expect a big day again for Scott on the ground, with the chance of him again having a 150+ yardage game.

Maryland running back Da'Rel Scott should have another big day on the ground for the Terps (via www.baltimoresun.com)

I don't think the Terps are going to be guilty of looking past this game and thinking about the Cal game next week, as Fridge has done a lot to maintain the team's focus on the task at hand this week. This game has the possibility of being a let down/trap game for the Terps, but I think they'll come through and win 27-10.

Sorry for my disappearing act as I was the Best Man in a wedding this weekend and was tied up with those responsibilities from Friday-Monday. 

Some thoughts from the UD game on Saturday...

- The game against DE should be a game Maryland plays on a yearly basis.  Although Delaware is in 1AA, it's a good tune up game for Maryland as the first game and because of Delaware's close proximity to UMD, it would draw a large away crowd to Byrd and help fill the stadium during a cupcake game.

- Any fears that Maryland will have a hard time replacing Lattimore and Ball should now be erased.  Scott did a fantastic job Saturday, hitting open holes, getting outside, and showing his breakaway speed. There were several plays in which he almost took it to the house, but was tripped up by a shoe string tackle. He finished with 198 yards on 26 carries. The last Terp to gain that much yardage on the ground was Bruuuce Perry back in 2003, when he racked up 237 yards against Wake.  Freshman Davin Meggett also contributed greatly, rushing 7 times, gaining 54 yards. Meggett also scored the game deciding TD in the 3rd quarter, on a 14 yard run.

- Don't Boo Steffy.  For one thing, Fridge will come and hunt you down, as a previous story on Testudo Times details. I also think it's stupid and classless to boo Jordan. First off, he didn't make the decision to start, Fridge did.  Therefore, if you're pissed at Ralph, write a letter to him and type "Booo" a thousand times or cut off your support to the Maryland Gridiron Network. But don't boo Steffy. He's doing his best in the situation that Ralph put him in.  So if you disagree with Ralph, don't take it out on Jordan. Granted, i know by "booing" when Steffy came out onto the field you might be booing Ralph's decision and not directing your displeasure at Steffy, but down on the field, you can't differentiate boos for Ralph from boos from Jordan.  Can you imagine coming out in front of your home crowd on the first game of the season and the first thing you hear is "booooo?"  Good job Terp Nation. Grow up and show some class. 

- Is James Franklin really a Fridge Robot?  Boy did we see some classic Ralph on Saturday in terms of the conservative play calling.  At times, it almost seemed like Ralph was still calling the plays.  Hopefully Franklin just didn't want to give away too many of our plays for the season, but only putting 14 on the board against DE (no offense UD fans), is pathetic.  Which brings me to my next point...

- Obi Egekeze was terrible Saturday.  If he makes those 3 field goals he missed, this game suddenly goes from 14-7 to 23-7, which is a huge difference.  It would also mean that DE's TD late in the 4th quarter would have been meaningless, rather than putting UD right back into the game.  Egekeze missed from 48, 44, and 41 yards.  Missing from 48 on your first kick of the season, just by a hair as the kick hit the crossbar, is understandable.  Missing wide left on the next kick from 44 yards? A little more concerning.  Missing from 41 yards after that? Hopefully his confidence was just shot.  My biggest problem with Egekeze isn't that he missed 3 field goals on Saturday, but rather that he appears to have no improvement over last season. In fact, it seems like he's regressed.  It's hard to tell after 1 game, but if he doesn't straighten up soon, we could be in trouble.  

- Chris Turner, although in quasi mop-up time and not with many attempts, looked like a back up quarterback and seemed to do more to reinforce Fridge and Franklin's decision to start Steffy than prove it was a mistake. 

The important thing is, Maryland won. Was it a frustrating win? Yes, probably as frustrating as I could imagine. They have things to work on this week going into the Middle Tennessee game.  This week will be a much better indication of what we can expect from Maryland this year and in showing who this football team is.  If Maryland struggles in this game, we could be in for a long season.  If they do well, our fears about the UD game should quickly and justifiably become a distant memory.

In case you didn't know, Ralph Friedgen held a press conference today, and he kind of pulled a bit of a Mike Gundy on us. The press conference really focused on Steffy. Here's everyone quote I could find:

If you want to boo me, boo me. Don't boo the kid. You know, there's a lot of things that bother me right now with this whole thing. I've got a kid that has done everything that I could possibly ask him to do. Would I like him to make some better decisions or throw some better passes? Sure. But this kid to me is the epitome of what we want in this football program. ... You know, I'm like the father. If you're booing my son I'm going to get upset. That's how I look at this kid. If he was a kid that didn't give effort, that didn't prepare, then that would be a different story. That's not the case with the kid. ... I can tell you this, regardless of who plays this week or next week or whatever, Jordan will come in and win the game for us before the season's over. ... I promise you that.some of those people that are booing him would love to have their children [be] like Jordan Steffy. The perseverance, the courage, the toughness that this kid is going through and keeps a smile on his face and a positive attitude, he has nothing but my admiration. And I personally don't think it's justified…I can't tell you how proud I am that he's in our program and how proud I would be if he was my son or anybody else's son…I want that guy in the foxhole with me, because that's the type of kid he is.

That's all for now. Working on finding a video feed, but I'll leave it up to you guys to draw your own (frightening, perhaps?) conclusions.

At a press conference today, an announcement that Under Armor will now supply all of UMD's athletic gear was made. Previously, it had only been football, soccer, and lacrosse. They now must make forays into all the other sports, including basketball, baseball, and anything else they have a line for.

Anyway, the change that most people will be interested about is likely the new basketball jerseys. Of course, there was a change just last year, so we're turning over another new leaf pretty quickly. Here's the only picture I could fine floating around. There'll be more pics later surely.

I'm not a huge fan. The shoulder piping seems to be too trendy - we've got a ton of tradition, and now the players will don this fad of a uni. I mean, it definitely could be worse, but I'd prefer the unis of the national championship. Unless they get this in gold - that'd be sweet.

So, what do you guys think of the new unis?

It appears there is now a reason for the poor play, other than him being Jordan Steffy. Steffy hurt his thumb in the 4th quarter after he was sacked, and played two possessions afterwards. Apparently, the pain was too much, so Ralph pulled him. He declined to comment on if Steffy would've been pulled had he not been hurt.

Honestly, it does explain a little. I thought Steffy played slightly worse in the 4th quarter than in the rest of the game. That said, he still played too poorly to start again. Again, Friedgen won't commit to a QB - at least, not yet - so we're left with another controversy. Steffy might end it officially if he's deemed unable to play; the thumb is being X-rayed today.

This game is scary. Can you imagine if this is the effort the team gave against Clemson or Florida State? Yikes. This may be a painful year.

Anyway, because every sports blog must somehow rate their team's performance, I'm doing a grading system. Off we go...

Quarterbacks – This game has raised quite a lot of fears at this position for me. Jordan Steffy confirmed, to me at least, that he’s not good enough to start for an ACC team at quarterback: two picks, a couple sacks that were his fault, a bunch of underthrown balls, etc. I think (well, hope) Fridge agrees with me; he did take out Steffy in the second half. But the scary thing is, Turner really didn’t fare much better. Now, people will say that Turner is a gamer and will turn it on when we play a “real” team, but Maryland almost lost this game, and a big reason was quarterback play. Josh Portis, shockingly, played the best of any QB, and he had only four or five plays out there. Unless one of the three (yes, Portis is now a legit contender) can separate themselves, it’ll be a very long year. Grade: D+

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This will serve as the official game thread for Maryland vs. Delaware. If there are any big developments during the game, they go here. That's not to say we're live-blogging or anything, but we may post something. Normally, this would have the starting lineups, but that's not really an option yet - we don't fully know who's going to start.

We've waited a very long time for this. Eight, nine months have passed since playing Oregon State, and I ready for some football. And great news for everyone without ESPNU - the game will be simulcast on ESPN. LSU moved up their kickoff to 10 am, so we get the time slot on the prime network. Moving up in the world...

Halftime Impressions: I'm not exactly confident about the rest of the year if this is the way we're going to play. Steffy's had some decent plays, but also had a few bad plays. I'd still be more comfortable with Turner in there. The running game has been hit and miss. The defense appears to be a "bend, don't break" type, which is a little scary. Really, if it wasn't for Heyward-Bey, this game would be tied right now.

This may be a Maryland blog, but anyone and everyone should be able to appreciate college football. Today, it finally starts. We finally are treated to the great feeling of young men running full speed into each other, freshly cut grass, and all day tailgating. We've got an NCST/South Carolina game, an Oregon State/Stanford game, and two ACC schools (Georgia Tech and Wake Forest) are also in action. Be prepared to be glued to your TV.

Of course, for all of you with Verizon FiOS, there's a new addition to your TV lineup that makes this deal even sweeter - ESPNUHD. Now, I know it's a long name, but the greatness of it isn't diminished because of it. ESPNU is probably 95% of what's right with ESPN. Throw in HD and it's just plain incredible. This of course brings up the possibility of seeing UMD in glorius high definition against Delaware, as the game is scheduled to be shown on ESPNUHD, but that doesn't always mean it'll be in HD. All we can do is hope, right?

As for you without FiOS, it's supposedly on its way to DirecTV in a few weeks. No word on Comcast.

Some quick thoughts on the schedule…

 The Terps open the season on November 14^th against Bucknell at 8:00 P.M. and then face Youngstown State on the 18^th. The Terps will get their first decent challenge against Vermont at home on the 21^st before their biggest test of the non-conference schedule in the Old Spice Classic, where Maryland will face a very good Michigan State team. After that game, Maryland will either face the winner or loser of Oklahoma State/Gonzaga, depending on what they do.  You can see the complete bracket here.

 Following the Old Spice Classic, where Maryland can hopefully win 1 or 2 games, the Terps take on Michigan at home, which should be an easy win for the Terps.  Maryland then faces GW in the BB&T Classic, where the Terps will probably lose, as they tend to do in this event every year. The Terps then finish out non-conference play against Delaware State, American, Bryant, UNC-Charlotte and Morgan State.

 The Terps don’t play their first true “road” game until January 14^th, when they travel to Miami. That could be something that really hurts their RPI, especially if the Terps don’t fair well in the Old Spice Classic. And this Terps team will likely need to do everything they can to improve their RPI situation this season.

 Also, for the first time in a long time, the Terps won’t be playing in a random ACC game in the middle of their non-conference schedule. Although I was always slightly annoyed with that random ACC game, I thought it was a good way for the Terps to measure themselves and see where they have to get before the “official” ACC schedule started.

 The Terps have a tough ACC schedule this year as they have to play UNC, Duke, Miami three times, which should be challenging, while also getting to play UVA and George Tech two times each.  Maryland gets BC, Va. Tech and Wake at home, while having to go to FSU, Clemson and NC State.

 One of the toughest part of the schedule appears to be from Jan. 24^th – Feb. 8^th, during which the Terps have to go to Duke, get BC and Miami at home, and then go to Carolina and Georgia Tech. 

Another rough patch hits from Feb. 17-25^th, which might be the hardest part of the schedule as over the course of a week, the Terps must go to Clemson and then play Carolina and Duke at home.

 It should be an interesting season for Terps basketball.  Tune back in later for more analysis on the schedule including predictions about the upcoming season.

 Good to see the ACC Tourney this year in a state that does end in Carolina.

 Maryland 2008-2009 Mens Basketball Schedule

11/14/08 Bucknell 8:00
11/18/08 Youngstown State 8:00
11/21/08 Vermont 8:00
11/27/08 Maryland in Old Spice Classic ESPN2 7:00
Orlando, Florida
11/29/08 Maryland in Old Spice Classic ESPN or ESPNU TBA
Orlando, Florida
11/30/08 Maryland in Old Spice Classic ESPN2 or ESPNU TBA
Orlando, Florida
12/3/08 Michigan ESPNU 7:30
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
12/7/08 vs. George Washington TBA
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
12/12/08 Delaware State CSN 8:00
12/22/08 American CSN 8:00
12/27/08 Bryant CSN 2:00
12/30/08 Elon 8:00
1/3/09 UNC-Charlotte CSN 12:00/1:00
1/7/09 Morgan State CSN 8:00
1/10/09 Georgia Tech Raycom 12:00
1/14/09 at Miami Raycom 9:00
1/17/09 at Florida State Raycom 12:00
1/20/09 Virginia Raycom 8:00
1/24/09 at Duke ESPN 12:00
1/27/09 Boston College ESPN2 7:30
1/31/09 Miami Raycom 8:00
2/3/09 at North Carolina Raycom/ESPN2 8:00
2/8/09 at Georgia Tech FSN 7:30
2/14/09 Virginia Tech Raycom 4:00
2/17/09 at Clemson ESPN2 7:30
2/21/09 North Carolina ABC 3:30
2/25/09 Duke ESPN 9:00
3/1/09 at NC State FSN 7:30
3/3/09 Wake Forest RSN 9:00
3/7/09 at Virginia ABC 3:30
3/12-15 56th Annual ACC Tournament TBA
Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Ga.

For those Terps fans who can't wait for basketball season, you'll get your first glimpse of what the Terps will be up against when the 2008-2009 basketball schedule is released later today.  As soon as it's out, tune into Testudotimes for the schedule and an analysis of the schedule.