Testudo Times

Hawkins Opening Commitment, Terps Leading for Nunez?

2009-01-05T21:15:18Z

Travis Hawkins, Maryland's highly touted CB recruit, made an appearance the other day at the Under Armor High School All-American Game, and did pretty well. Many Terp fans who saw the game were probably drooling at the prospect of getting him in College Park. But they might not.

A few weeks ago, a rumor started up that Hawkins was looking around, maybe taking an extra visit or two, possibly opening up his commitment. The rumor was quickly squashed, with those knowledgable in the matter stating he was perfectly happy at Maryland.

The rumor, as many often do, has risen from the grave. Jeff Ermann, a consistently reliable reporter who runs Terp Center, has an article on the front page titled: Hawkins Re-Opening His Commitment? Though it's a pay link to a site I'm not subscribed to, all signs do seem to point to that. This rumor seems to imply that he'll take a few vists while still technically committed to Maryland. If true, odds are his "commitment" is pretty useless. I have a feeling Penn State might be the "other school" in this situation.

Remember, this is a rumor, completely unconfirmed. Hopefully, it's not true. Just know that it is a possibility.

On a more positive note, Maryland appears to be in the lead for New Jersey DE/LB Bernardo Nunez, per Allen Wallace at Scout:

Bernardo Nunez, the 6-foot-3, 235-pound three-star defensive end/outside linebacker from Hoboken, N.J., is getting close to making a final decision.

"Maryland is number one right now," Nunez says. "I’ve been there a lot and I feet really comfortable with all the coaches and players already. There’s probably about an 80-90 percent chance I’ll go there."

Great news; Nunez is a very promising prospect.

Another, quasi-related note - Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina's top receiver, just declared for the draft today. It could work two different ways on Hey-Bey - 1) there's another talented receiver in the field, so the draft looks a little worse, or 2) "If he can go, I can probably go, too". I don't think it'll have any real impact on DHB's decision (I think he's gone no matter what), but it's something to keep in the back of your mind.

ACC Basketball Notes

2009-01-05T14:08:56Z

To echo what Ben said, the lack of posts is also my fault, as I've been in the process of moving into a new house and didn't post nearly enough content while Ben was MIA, so a lot of that blame should go to me....

But onto ACC Basketball...

The main portion of the ACC regular season got underway over the weekend and there were a few surprises along the way.

First and foremost, UNC was defeated at home by Boston College, 85-78. This ends some of the ridiculous talk of UNC possibly going undefeated this season. Rice and Sanders had 25 and 22 points, respectively for BC, and Tyler Hansbrough had 21 to lead UNC. Remember, the early season polls (which, by the way, I think are quite possibly the stupidest things in the world) had BC finishing 11th in the 12 team ACC. Looks like the ACC could be similar to football in that every game is going to be a bloodbath, although basketball does seem to have 3 dominant teams in Duke, UNC, and Wake, something football lacked this season. But BC proved Sunday night that UNC isn't unbeatable. And Duke, as always, lives and dies by the 3. When Maryland faces UNC and Duke, I think they could win. We just need a big game out of Vasquez and one other player. We'll see what happens though...

In other ACC news, Duke downed Va. Tech, 69-44 at Cameron Indoor. The game was close in the first half, with Duke only leading by 8. But in the second half, Duke's defense clamped down on the Hookies, allowing them to only score 13 points.

UVA was expected by most to have a down year, but I don't think a lot of people expected UVA to be 6-5 after just 11 games into the season. Even more surprising is that UVA has a win in the ACC already, on the road against Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech has been up and down all season, losing to University of Illinois - Chicago and to UVA, but defeating good Vanderbilt team.

Clemson has yet to lose, going 14-0 thus far.

NC State has quietly gone 9-3 thus far this season.

Miami is 10-3, with one of those loses coming against Clemson. The Hurricanes take on the Terps in just over a week.

Florida State has gone 13-2 so far this season, a surprise to a lot of people who didn't put too much stock in the Seminoles at the start of the season. FSU has won a lot of close games so far, which caught up to them in their losses to Northwestern and Pitt.

8 of the 12 ACC teams have at least 10 wins, so it will be interesting to see if 20 wins and 8-8 in the conference is good enough to punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament this year.

Who do you think will win the ACC this year? Could a team surprise Duke, Wake or UNC?

Terps Football Next Year: Offensive Backfield

2009-01-04T22:20:54Z

In what can only be described as an absurdly early look at UMD football next year, Testudo Times will take a look at what the 2009 football season might look like for the Terps. And we start in the backfield.

Quarterback is a rather locked down position for Maryland, with two-year starter Chris Turner entering his senior year. Behind him will be fellow senior Josh Portis, and behind him is redshirt sophomore Jamaar Robinson. This'll be the first year in - what, six? - that we don't have to worry about Jordan Steffy possibly being inserted into the lineup at a random moment. I've said it before: He was a great Terp, and he's extremely likable, but he's a mediocre QB.

There's some rumors that Portis may end up transferring to a DIA or DII school (James Madison is one name that's popped up), especially because his playing time dropped significantly in the latter stages of the season. I don't think so, though - I see him staying at Maryland for his final year. I have no reasoning for this - just a hunch. I can also see him getting quite a bit more playing time; he's obviously talented enough to help the offense.

Check out the rest after the jump.

Running back is the team's strongest position, and will be for awhile. All-ACC running back Da'Rel Scott will return for his junior year, fully healthy (finally). The #2 back will be a battle between sophomore Davin Meggett, who was absolutely outstanding as a true freshman this year, and junior Morgan Green, who's supposedly starting to impress coaches in practices. Don't forget about redshirt freshman Gary Douglas, though - he's pretty talented, I could see him playing in at least one package. Expect to see a lot of run plays with the running backs as skilled as they are.

Maryland does also have a few talented running backs on their way in, namely Caleb Porzel and DJ Adams, but with the depth at the position, one would expect they'd have to redshirted.

Fullback is yet another strength for Maryland. Three-year starter Corey Jackson will return for his senior season, and he's one of the better fullbacks in the ACC. He's a great lead blocker, and he's a good enough runner and receiver out of the backfield to not be a liability. Haroon Brown and Taylor Watson are also there behind him, and both are servicable backups.

The backfield is shaping up to be the strength of the team next year. Three strong RBs, a senior QB, a great FB - the backfield is strong enough for a great year. Is the rest of the team?

Maryland-Charlotte GameThread

2009-01-03T15:45:05Z

Next Game

Charlotte 49ers
@ Maryland Terrapins

Saturday, Jan 3, 2009, 4:00 PM EST
Comcast Center

Complete Coverage >

Team Leaders

Stat	Player	AVG
Scoring	Lamont Mack	12.2
Rebounds	Charlie Coley	6.7
Assists	Dijuan Harris	5.9
FG%	Phil Jones	60.0
FT%	Ian Andersen	90.0
3PT%	Dijuan Harris	50.0
Blocks	Phil Jones	2.1
Steals	Charlie Coley	2.0

Posts have been low the past week after my computer broke down, and thanks to Dell's absolutely great customer service (sarcasm), not much progress has been made up to this point. I have found a replacement, though, so expect posting to resume at a relatively high rate.

The past few weeks for Maryland have been pretty good, so I'm fully expecting a letdown here. It's just something that seems to happen. Charlotte's not great, but they're not terrible, meaning this is the perfect game for Maryland to lose.

I see this as a game similar to Vermont. Maryland hasn't been truly challenged in awhile, and if Charlotte comes out aggressive enough, I could see some big problems early on. Fortunately, this team is better than they were last year (obviously); I think they can bounce back from a poor start to win it, but not by a lot.

My guess is Terps 77, Charlotte 65. The game is closer than the score.

Terps Win, Finish Season 8-5

2008-12-31T06:17:06Z

Wow, where do we start? How about with Scott and others who thought they could sneak out past curfew and not get caught. As Head Coach Ralph Friedgen said "This ain't my first rodeo." Scott, Oquendo, and 5 others were caught and suspended for part of the game. Fortunately for the Terps, Ralph put Scott in and he ran with a purpose, racking up over 170 yards.

There is a lot to talk about with this game and I just got home after covering the basketball game against Elon. We'll have more post-game analysis tomorrow, so for now, just go soak in both Terp victories tonight.

Terps vs. Nevada Game Thread

2008-12-30T21:30:05Z

I'm opening up the ol' game thread for the Humanitarian Bowl. Hope the Terps can pull off a nice win to end the season.

LETS GO TERPS!!!

8-5 Looks a lot Better Then 7-6

2008-12-30T17:47:47Z

Can the Terps get to 8-5? That is largely up to Coach Friedgen and his large senior class. Can Ralph motivate his kids to do well on the Blue Turf? Maybe he should just tell the team Nevada is ranked in the latest Coaches Poll...

The game out it Boise is going to be a cold one (around 30-35) with a chance for snow, which could play into the Terps advantage since they're more accustomed to playing in colder temps then Nevada probably is. I think the result of this game will say a lot about this team and what we can look forward to next year. Here are some tough questions that will hopefully be answered tonight...

Will this team fight their way to 8-5 or, as has happened several times this year, will they come out flat and let Nevada push them around?

How will the defense respond to Al Seamonson, now that Chris Cosh has left for K-State?

Will this be the last time we see Darrius Heyward-Bey wearing his Terps #8?

Will Chris Turner be able to exploit Nevada's poor passing defense?

Can the Terps run on Nevada's excellent Run-D?

What do you think about all of this? Do you think the Terps will win?

Poll

Who will win the Humanitarian Bowl?

Terps!

10 votes

Sadly, Nevada.

2 votes

12 votes | Poll has closed

Will Yeatman Coming to CP

2008-12-30T14:32:12Z

Notre Dame Football/Lacrosse player Will Yeatman is transferring from Notre Dame to the Terps, according to ESPN.com. Yeatman had originally looked at Maryland, but finally settled on Notre Dame.

It's unclear whether or not Yeatman will play football or lacrosse for the Terps. There is a chance he could play this season if he plays Lacrosse, which would add a lot of depth to Maryland's attack, especially since the Terps are already ranked #3 in preseason polls. If Yeatman does play football, he'd have to wait until 2010, per NCAA transfer rules. It is also unclear whether Yeatman would be allowed to play both football and lacrosse for the Terps.

What is clear, however, is that Yeatman has had some off the field issues, including drinking under age, resisting arrest and giving the police false information. Hopefully he'll shape up because Maryland won't tolerate that kind of behavior.

Big Day for Terps Fans

2008-12-30T13:43:50Z

Today should be an action-packed day for Terp Nation. Kickoff of the Humanitarian Bowl is set for 4:30 P.M. from Boise and following the conclusion of that game, the Men's basketball team will tip off at home against Elon. That's about 5 solid hours of Terps sports for the day. Not bad. Are you going to be watching both? Did you make the trip out to Boise or are you heading out to Comcast tonight? We'll have a preview of both games shortly, but we want to hear what Terp Nation thinks about both games today. Leave some comments or create a fan post.

Weekly Top 5

2008-12-24T21:43:32Z

Merry Christmas, one and all! (Or Happy Hannukah. Or Season's Greetings. Or whatever.)

1. Maryland Picks Up VA DB Committ >> Recruiting Report

Maryland went into Virginia for its most recent verbal commitment.

Falmouth, Va., defensive back Dexter McDougle, 5 feet 11, 180 pounds, pledged to the Terps on Saturday, according to Rivals.com.

Toldja.

2. How Dean Muhtadi Saved the Cal Game >> Washington Times

For the moment, Muhtadi was as quiet as everyone else, his headphones snugly delivering one of his preferred intense tunes. As the song grew louder, Muhtadi became more agitated. Finally, the defensive lineman began screaming, pounding his locker - anything to generate an inkling of excitement an hour before a game against a ranked team.

"I don't know if it was because of the loss to Middle Tennessee or if guys didn't believe we could win that game," Muhtadi said of the moments before the Terps' 35-27 upset of the Golden Bears. "I didn't like what I was seeing, and I had my headphones on, and I was all amped and ready to go and just went crazy."

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't think I would've joined him. I think I would've reported him for psychiatric testing. I mean, he's just standing there screaming.

3. Caleb Porzel Wins Crab Bowl MVP >> Terp Center

What people aren’t so familiar with is Porzel’s power. Sure, he doesn’t look like a between-the-tackles back and his game is built around speed, but today the future Maryland running back put in a workman-like effort. He rushed 15 times for 56 yards--many coming up the middle--and scored three times to lead the Washington, D.C., team to a 32-21 win in the inaugural Maryland Crab Bowl.

Power? He's like 5-8, 180. He either has the strongest strength index in the world or this is an exaggeration. And I still can't wait for him to suit up for Maryland.

4. How to Handle a Blowout (The Good Kind) >> Terrapins Insider

Heck, American just lost by double-digits to George Washington, so perhaps Maryland will find themselves in such a situation as soon as Monday night.

Point being, it's hard for individual players, much less an entire team, to maintain focus for a full 40 minutes when the opponent is so clearly inferior its almost laughable.

To be honest, I don't think Maryland will ever have this problem, unfortunately.

5. Impressions on the Year >> Tracking the Terps

On the offense: There's no doubt that Maryland scared rival defensive coordinators with its veteran offensive line and the speed of receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey and running back Da'Rel Scott.

It's a shame we never used him them (DHB, that is).

Season Ending Terperlatives

2008-12-23T20:21:22Z

It was quite a year for Maryland football. It was about as up-and-down as you could get, but then again, that's Ralph Friedgen for you. The year saw a loss to Middle Tennessee State (who ended up 5-7 in the Sun Belt), then a win against a California who had just blown out a Pac-10 opponent by 63 points (who ended up 8-4); it saw an incredible second half against Clemson in Death Valley, followed by one of the most embarrassing losses I can remember – a shutout against UVA – followed by a bounce-back shutout win against Wake Forest; it saw a 3 point win over North Carolina State on homecoming, a loss against Virginia Tech in which the defense gave up over 200 rushing yards; an emotional win over North Carolina in which the defense was impeccable, then an incredibly embarrassing loss to Florida State in prime time in a must-win game, and a disappointing loss to Boston College to round out the season. But this is Ralph Friedgen. His teams do this year in and year out. I'm not saying it's good or bad – just an observation.

For as many weird games there were, the players were just as memorable. The team relied on Chris Turner every game – some days he was great, some days he was terrible. The team leaned on Da'Rel Scott, maybe too much – he ended up getting hurt mid-way through the year. The defense was just about as inconsistent as possible. Darrius Heyward-Bey, despite having a huge amount of natural talent, was seemingly ignored. James Franklin did not bring about the awesome offensive changes we were all expecting.

But I still loved every minute of it (well, maybe not every minute). After a few votes via comment and few votes via email, here's the Terperlatives:

Offensive MVP

Voter's Choice: Da'Rel Scott

My Choice: Chris Turner

This was one of the harder choices for me to make. Da'Rel Scott certainly had times where I wouldn't dream of putting anyone else in this position, but I had trouble naming him MVP: it's most valuable, not best. And though I like Da'Rel, I can't help but think that every game hinged more on Chris Turner's performance than Da'Rel Scott's. For as many games as he lost, he won back more. The offensive MVP goes to Chris Turner.

Defensive MVP

Voter's Choice: Moise Fokou

My Choice: Terrell Skinner

This one was almost harder than Offensive MVP, mainly because no player stood out on the defense. Moise Fokou made a few big plays, and might've been the most consistent player. Then there's Alex Wujciak, who had the second most tackles in the ACC. Then there's Dave Philistin, a senior leader at linebacker. I ended up choosing Terrell Skinner, though. The secondary (especially after the injury to Kevin Barnes) was pretty weak. Skinner, though, rarely missed an assignment, and kept the passing game from running over Maryland's defense every week. Most other players did their job admirably, but none as well as Skinner did.

Special Teams MVP

Voter's Choice: Travis Baltz

My Choice: Travis Baltz

This one was an easy choice – there were only two candidates, really. Baltz was the first option, and Torrey Smith the second. Torrey Smith did a lot to deserve consideration, but Baltz was phenomenal all year long. He actually earned a lot of consideration for overall MVP. I shudder to think of what would've happened to the team if Baltz wasn't there to bail them out of the field position war every single possession.

Overall MVP

Voter's Choice: Offensive Line

My Choice: Chris Turner

The voter's choice was confusing here, seeing how abysmal the offensive line was at times this year (see: Florida State). But I guess my choice is equally confusing, seeing how bad Turner could be at times, too. I suppose my line of thinking is the same as the one for Offensive MVP: no player had a bigger impact on whether Maryland won or lost a game.

Best Freshman

Voter's Choice: Davin Meggett

My Choice: Davin Meggett

Really, this choice was pretty easy. Torrey Smith came in second, but Meggett was simply phenomenal when given the chance to be. I look forward to the next three years of Maryland football if Davin Meggett is a part of it. He reminds me a lot of Ray Rice – small, tough, doesn't go down easy. He did wonders as a freshman – I can't wait to see him as a sophomore, junior, and senior.

Best Coach

Voter's Choice: Lee Hull

My Choice: Lee Hull

I have no idea how much Lee Hull actually had to do with the performance of the wide receivers this year. I assume it's a decent amount, seeing as how he's the wide receiver coach, though he is a first year coach. Bo position stood out more this year than wide receiver. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Danny Oquendo, the emergence of Torrey Smith and Ronnie Tyler – there were some serious players at WR, and it's a shame they weren't utilized more.

Senior Who'll Be Most Missed:

Voter's Choice: Kevin Barnes

My Choice: Edwin Williams

Kevin Barnes' departure is huge, don't get me wrong. But I have trouble picking him as the senior most missed when the team's already missed him for half a year. No, instead, I'm picking Edwin Williams. He's a team leader, and the anchor of (and only consistent player on) an offensive line that was inconsistent at best and bad at worst. Someone's going to have to step up to fill his size 14 shoes.

Biggest Disappointment

Voter's Choice: James Franklin

My Choice: James Franklin

I think everyone had big expectations for the new offense that was supposed to be installed by former Marylander James Franklin. Franklin was coming in as the offensive coordinator after serving there at Kansas State and leading them to relatively good offensive statistics. No one could really grasp why KSU fans were happy at his departure, but I think we found out – he's not exactly an offensive genius. It's not like he's on a Cosh level of bad play calling, but he's certainly not what anyone expected. His playcalls were often head-scratchers, especially relative to when he took chances on big plays.

Best Incoming Freshman

Voter's Choice: Travis Hawkins

My Choice: Caleb Porzel

A lot of people say think Travis Hawkins is the next big thing, and I agree to an extent – he should be starting for Maryland next year at CB. But Maryland's class is absolutely loaded this year, and I could've gone any one way of several. DJ Adams? DeOnte Arnett? Hawkins? Even Darrin Drakeford? All were possibilities. But I can't stop thinking about Caleb Porzel. Besides having an awesome name (doesn't it just sound cool?) he's absolutely blown away my expectations. I was expecting a 3 star, undersized running back. What Maryland's getting is something else entirely – he scored three TDs in the Crab Bowl, while Tavon Austin, a similar, more coveted back, only had one TD from scrimmage (he also had a KR TD). Running back is loaded the next few years.

Injury Which Hurt the Team Most

Voter's Choice: Kevin Barnes

My Choice: Kevin Barnes

The injury to Barnes was a big one, as he was really the only All-ACC caliber player on Maryland's defense. I think Nolan Carroll filled in valiantly, but Barnes is very talented and would've been a huge boon to stopping the passing game late in the year.

Voter's Choice

Voter's Choice: Danny Oquendo

My Choice: Torrey Smith

Regular readers know how much I like Torrey Smith. Besides being from my hometown, he plays football the way it's supposed to be played. He hustles on every play. He was one of the best kick returners in the nation, and was able to consistently give Maryland great field position. He fought to get open, and was fearless on punts – both blocking and tackling. I expect him to take over the punt return job next year, and I'm excited to see what he can do with it.

There you have it – those are the best players of the year. Let me know what you think in the comments or with a fanpost.

Maryland Contacted Navy DC About Job

2008-12-23T15:44:24Z

Maryland's been looking for a replacement for Chris Cosh recently, and one option they were looking at was Navy defensive coordinator, Buddy Green. He turned them down.

Green also confirmed that he was contacted by Maryland with regard to its vacant defensive coordinator position. Head coach Ralph Friedgen called Green following the Army-Navy game to see whether he would be interested in replacing Chris Cosh, who left Maryland to become assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Kansas State.

"I have the utmost respect for Ralph and I appreciate his interest, but I decided to turn down that opportunity because I have a great situation here at the Naval Academy," Green said.

Ouch.

Anyway, Navy's defense last year was about on Maryland's level. Navy was 53rd in the nation in total defense; Maryland was 59. Maryland was slightly better against the pass, Navy was better against the run.

Here's what this tells me about how Maryland will go about this search: they're going to interview. Perhaps you remember my plea that they do that; I'm happy at this indication. (Again, no knock on Seamo, I just think the search should be pretty extensive.) Calling up coaches just to gauge interest indicates, at least to me, that the process - barring a completely unexpected shut down of Nevada in the bowl game - will be carried out properly. That sounds a little strange, but consider the last time Maryland went through this - not exactly the best result. Early signs indicate they've learned their lesson, and maybe they'll get a better coach this time around.

Tuesday Morning Links

2008-12-23T15:32:42Z

Last night felt very, very good if you're a Maryland fan. Hopefully the next few games will feel just as good, though my bet is that they'll lose at least one game between now and ACC play. There were some other things that felt pretty good recently, too.

Maryland Picks Up New VA WR Commit

Maryland went into Virginia for its most recent verbal commitment.

Falmouth, Va., defensive back Dexter McDougle, 5 feet 11, 180 pounds, pledged to the Terps on Saturday, according to Rivals.com.

"It was my first official visit and I went to Maryland," he said. "They showed me around, showed me the educational opportunities which are real important to me. They aren’t just worried about me as a football player, but also as a person. They care about me and it’s a family thing there. I figure I could help the program out. Plus, it’s not too far from home. That’s why I committed."

Barack Obama + Steve Goins

That's right, Goins, who has played nine minutes this season, is in January's Special Inauguration Issue of Washingtonian, a monthly magazine about all things D.C.-metro area. It rarely delves into sports, but Goins' mugshot appears on page 12 as part of president-elect Barack Obama's 2009 Dream Team. The subhead reads:

Basketball junkie Barack Obama has to assemble a new gang for pickup games. Here's a dream team--good players who'd also be good company.

Under Goins' picture it reads: "The University of Maryland freshman played high-school ball not far from Obama's home in Chicago."

Facing Nevada's Pistol Offense (Okay, maybe this one didn't feel so good.)

In the pistol, the quarterback lines up in shotgun formation, but closer to the line. A running back is set directly behind.

The pistol is designed to give the quarterback the shotgun formation’s advantage of reading the defense. But it puts added pressure on the defense because the quarterback can also hand off or run.

Nevada coach Chris Ault said the offense suits quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Ault had seen Kaepernick at a football camp while the quarterback was in high school and wanted an offense to capitalize on his multi-dimensional skills.

In case you care, yes, one of these will likely be in tomorrow's top 5.

Can Maryland Make the NCAA Tourney with an 8-8 Conference Record?

2008-12-23T13:58:14Z

Maryland's win last night against American puts the team at 8-2, with 4 more non-conference games remaining before ACC play begins. Assuming the Terps win all 4 of those home games, that puts the team at 12-2 going into ACC play. At 12-2, I wouldn't be surprised if the Terps were ranked, or at least close to being ranked (the Terps are receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches polls this week). That means if the Terps go .500 in ACC play, they'll be 20-10 with big out of conference wins over Michigan State and Michigan and their only non-conference losses would be against two of the top teams in the country in Gonzaga and Georgetown.

Last year's team went 8-8 in conference play and missed the Big Dance, but last year's team also lost to Ohio and American at home, while also losing several ACC games they should have won. Although Maryland's team this year doesn't feature the same front court talent that last team of Boooom Osby and James Gist possessed, this year's team has been able to defeat lesser opponents and has done a much better job of rebounding and free throw shooting, The Terps hit 16 of 18 attempts last night and continue to lead the ACC in free throw shooting. Don't underestimate the importance of free throw shooting. With this guard-dominated team, it could easily be the difference between a win and a loss, especially in ACC play.

Maryland's remaining schedule is below. I've indicated a W for a game I think they'll win and an L for a game I think they'll lose.

W - December 27	Bryant University	2:00 PM ET
W - December 30	Elon	8:00 PM ET
W - January 3	Charlotte	4:00 PM ET
W - January 7	Morgan State	8:00 PM ET
W - January 10	Georgia Tech	12:00 PM ET
W - January 14	at Miami (FL)	9:00 PM ET
L - January 17	at Florida State	12:00 PM ET
W - January 20	Virginia	8:00 PM ET
L - January 24	at No. 5 Duke	12:00 PM ET
w - January 27	Boston College	7:30 PM ET
w - January 31	Miami (FL)	8:00 PM ET
L - February 3	at No. 1 North Carolina	8:00 PM ET
W - February 8	at Georgia Tech	7:30 PM ET
W - February 14	Virginia Tech	4:00 PM ET
L - February 17	at No. 20 Clemson	7:30 PM ET
L - February 21	No. 1 North Carolina	3:30 PM ET
W - February 25	No. 5 Duke	9:00 PM ET
W - March 1	at North Carolina State	7:30 PM ET
W - March 3	No. 6 Wake Forest	9:00 PM ET
W - March 7	at Virginia

That puts the Terps at 11-5 in Conference play. Can the Terps go 11-5? I think it's possible, but that all depends on the continued development of Dino Gregory in the front court and of Milbourne continuing to grow in the power forward position.

So even if the Terps lose 3 more games then I indicated above, they'll still be 8-8 in the conference and likely make the dance, so long as one of those losses isn't at home to a team like UVA. 11-5 in conference (assuming they win the rest of the non-conference schedule) would put the Terps at 23-7, which would be a pretty darn good year for a team that some, including The Sporting News, predicted would be the bottom feeders in the ACC this year. I think if we're in the 20-10 to better range, we're in. It would help if we could go 1-3 in the 4 games against UNC and Duke. But don't think this team can't beat UNC, Duke or Wake. I think Maryland matches up very well against Duke, since they basically run the same guard dominated offense as the Terps are this season. UNC is going to be a problem because Hansbrough is good and we're going to have a hard time slowing him down, in much the same way that we had problems against Gonzaga and Georgetown.

How many ACC wins do you think the Terps will get this season? Vote in the poll below!

Poll

How many ACC wins do you think the Terps will have this year?

Maryland-American GameThread

2008-12-22T19:30:06Z

American University Eagles vs. Maryland Terrapins

Game Time: 7:30 pm

Venue: Comcast Center

All-Time Series: Maryland leads 11-1

It's been quite a week for me (computer crashed, installed Linux...very busy) but hopefully all that will be forgetten now that Maryland basketball has returned. I'm extremely excited, because the more I think about it, the more I like this team. But more on that later: here's the stats for American:

			FG			3PT			FT			Rebounds			Misc
	G	M	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	M	A	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Ast	TO	Stl	Blk	PF	PPG
Garrison Carr	10	36.0	6.1	16.4	37.2	3.3	10.0	33.0	2.7	3.1	87.1	0.5	2.4	2.9	1.2	3.0	1.3	0.0	2.2	18.2
Brian Gilmore	10	33.0	4.4	8.9	49.4	1.5	4.4	34.1	2.2	3.0	73.3	2.1	4.2	6.3	2.5	2.6	0.7	0.0	2.9	12.5
Derrick Mercer	10	34.8	2.9	7.6	38.2	0.6	1.8	33.3	2.3	3.2	71.9	0.7	3.3	4.0	2.7	2.8	1.2	0.3	2.8	8.7
Nick Hendra	10	22.8	2.3	5.2	44.2	0.7	1.9	36.8	1.0	1.4	71.4	0.6	2.9	3.5	2.0	1.8	0.7	0.1	1.8	6.3
Jordan Nichols	10	25.7	1.9	3.1	61.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	33.3	1.8	3.2	5.0	0.9	1.4	0.7	0.3	3.1	3.9
Stephen Lumpkins	10	10.3	1.6	3.2	50.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.6	1.3	46.2	1.2	1.2	2.4	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.3	1.6	3.8
Frane Markusovic	9	11.2	1.4	1.8	81.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.8	1.3	58.3	0.4	1.3	1.8	0.3	0.4	0.2	0.1	1.6	3.7
Frank Borden	10	20.2	1.0	3.5	28.6	0.2	1.4	14.3	0.8	1.0	80.0	0.7	1.1	1.8	1.3	1.2	0.7	0.6	3.3	3.0
Bryce Simon	1	7.0	1.0	1.0	100.0	1.0	1.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	3.0
Riley Grafft	1	1.0	1.0	1.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0
Steve Luptak	8	4.8	0.5	1.1	44.4	0.1	0.4	33.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.6	0.8	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.2	1.1
Matthew Wilson	7	3.4	0.1	0.4	33.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.3	100.0	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.7	0.6
Joe Hill	1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
	9	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.1	0.7	2.8	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

I don't need to remind you about last year's disappointment. But I did look at the rosters between the two, and what's changed. For American, 3 of last year's starting 5 return this year. Unfortunately, the three returning starters (Garrison Carr, Bryce Simon, and Derrick Mercer) were the three best players from last year's team, and a fourth player (Brian Gilmore), who came off the bench last year but actually played more than the other two starters, is also back. This American team is better than they were last year, so they're obviously capable of beating Maryland.

While American got better on paper, Maryland has seemingly gotten worse. They have no post presence, and made no significant additions. But there's two things there: 1) every single player improved significantly on Maryland 2) the two players Maryland lost (Gist and Osby) contributed a whopping three (that's 3) whole points against American last year. Try as they might, I don't think this year's post players could do much worse.

Let's face it, last year was an aberration. Maryland was, and still is, a better team than American. Unless there's some shocking development or the team comes out as flat as they did last year, I expect a (somewhat) easy for Maryland today - 76-60.

Basketball's Right Around the Corner

2008-12-20T15:43:35Z

That's right, after a murderously long 10 days without any sports, Terp basketball is making a comeback. On Monday, Maryland will take on American at the Comcast Center, marking a long awaited return from finals.

Perhaps you remember (I do) last year's game against American. Not very good, was it? In fact, you could mark that as the worst loss the team suffered last year, though I wouldn't say the Ohio loss was a shining moment in the season. I have confidence that this game, though, will be much, much better than last year. First, the team is a better team than they were last year, a conclusion many didn't expect to come to. Second, I imagine they would like some payback from last year.

Unfortunately, after that game, we have another five day break before a game against Bryant University. After that, the season picks back up again, with Maryland's bowl game against Nevada on the 30th and a game every three or four days for basketball. That busyness (I don't know how that's spelled. It probably should be "business" but then you'd pronounce it wrong) will be welcome after the lack of excitement the past few days.

Photo via UMTerps.com/AP

Weekly Top 5

2008-12-18T20:21:30Z

Okay, so it came a day late. Cut me some slack.

1. MD Commit Isaiah Ross Interviews Other MD Commits >> Terp Center

It's actually a video, not an article. The Crab Bowl has been something I've been following closely, due to them flooding my inbox with press releases.

2. Crab Bowl Media Gallery >> Terp Center

They're actually pictures. This entire Top 5 is pretty screwed up - a day late, one's a video, one's some pictures, two from one place...I'm sorry. They'll be better in the future.

3. Is Prince George's County the Nation's Hoops Hotbed? >> ESPN

What's the hoops hotbed of the US right now? Chicago? No. LA? Nope. NYC? Sorry. Welcome to Prince George's County, MD.

They're still around 2500 best in the nation in everything else, unfortunately.

4. Gary Williams on the Evils of Exams >> Terrapins Insider

"It's tough from a couple areas," Williams said last week. "The obvious thing is you'd like your team to focus on basketball all the way through final exams, but that's impossible. It's hard to get all your players here at the same time because of the exam schedule. And then the other thing is you worry about conditioning. We're in pretty good shape, and a lot of times there's different hours, players stay up late, whatever. And it kind of bothers you."

I agree Gary. We should just outlaw this things right now. I'm serious.

5. Season Recap: Caleb Porzel >> Recruiting Report

It took Good Counsel head coach Bob Milloy a matter of seconds to name the highlight of Maryland running back commitment Caleb Porzel's senior season.

“Well he scored three touchdowns in the first quarter of the DeMatha game on ESPN national TV,” Milloy said.

Maybe we didn't need to get Tavon Austin...

Gary's 2nd Job - President of the United Auto Workers?

2008-12-17T13:20:51Z

A mix up over at the Washington Post led to this story about the United Auto Workers hating on the GOP to be accompanied by a picture of Gary Williams, rather than Ron Gettelfinger. Was it a simple mistake? Yes. But it was comical in how long it took the Post to learn about their error.

Another Tuesday Link to Check Out

2008-12-16T18:13:14Z

In Testudo Times' weekly "Tuesday Morning Links" post, we directed you to a story Patrick Stevens had on the votes the Terps were receiving in the AP Poll.

Patrick directs folks to a website in the post that is very interesting - a run down of how each of the pollsters voted.

You can check out the site here. It's very interesting to see who places which team where. If Maryland continues to do well and becomes ranked, I'd be curious to see where some pollsters are placing the Terps, especially some writers who I view as Terp haters.

Tuesday Morning Links

2008-12-16T15:40:25Z

As I said it would be earlier, this week has been incredibly boring from a Terp standpoint. Very little interesting going on at present moment. There are a few links worthy to read, though.

Maryland received ten votes in the AP Poll this week, a jump from their six votes last week. (Movin' on up...) Strangely enough, all ten votes, and the six last week, came from the same guy. Maybe Maryland's not getting as much respect as we thought...Patrick Stevens has the story over at D1scourse.
Not Maryland-related, but still cool: Syracuse lost on an improbable 3/4 court buzzer-beater last night, against Cleveland State.
We've officially switched from football to basketball season, so when you click on those links up there (Roster, Schedule, Stats, etc.) you'll get the basketball ones now, not football.
Don't forget to vote in the Terperlatives. We've gotten a couple of votes via email, which is surprising, but we need more. Make your voice heard.
Not a link, but I'm wondering if anyone has plans for the holidays. I've already mentioned I got my tree, and just decorated it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll snow this Christmas, which makes it like 3,414 in a row. I'm not really going anywhere, just a quiet Christmas at home. Anyone else have any plans?