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.