It has been 53 years since a West Coast team visited Byrd Stadium.
McDonald’s served its first burger in 1955, James Dean was killed in a car crash and UCLA lost 7-0 to then No. 1 Maryland back in the heyday of Terrapin football.
The Terps must have been bad hosts that day because even the Queen of England has been to College Park since a Pacific-based team crossed the country. However, No. 23 California visits Maryland on Saturday, and unfortunately for the Terps it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Maryland (1-1) comes off a miserable 24-14 loss to an undersized Middle Tennessee State that ranks among the worst losses of the Ralph Friedgen era. Meanwhile, Friedgen says Cal may be the best to come to College Park during his tenure that includes four Top 5 teams. Cal is a 14-point favorite over Maryland after beating Washington State 66-3.
If Terps fans were booing Maryland in the opening 14-7 victory over Delaware, they’re going to be even angrier following the Middle Tennessee loss and potential whipping by Cal. Good thing kickoff is noon. The tailgate drinking can’t have gone too long by then.
It’s a time of woe around Maryland. Football comes off three losing seasons in four years. Quarterback Jordan Steffy is hurt again. Backup Chris Turner went from crowd favorite to fresh meat against Middle Tennessee State. A veteran team that was supposed to maybe win eight games now looks shaky for 6-6.
Maybe playing somebody new will distract fans. Maryland and Cal have never met. It’s just the Terps’ fifth game versus the Pac-10 while the Golden Bears have only played two ACC teams.
Maryland took a two-year break from its West Virginia rivalry to play home-and-home against Cal. Byrd is expected to fill its 51,000 capacity and a national TV audience will see the noon kickoff that is a wee bit early for the Golden Bears. Maybe Maryland can jump Cal before it awakens.
“The ACC and TV love for one of the six major conferences to play each other,” said Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow. “We hadn’t done a lot of that outside of West Virginia. I wasn’t willing for us to play both West Virginia and a Cal-type team in the same year so we opted out of West Virginia for two years.”
Translation — Maryland wants at least a 3-1 non-conference mark in reaching the 6-6 minimum for bowl eligibility. (Indeed, look for the new bowl game announced today by the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission to more or less pit Navy versus Maryland on Dec. 20 at Nationals Park.) Losing two non-conference games, which looks likely this season, means Maryland must finish 4-4 in the ACC to reach the postseason.
Cal is a refreshing change from the annual diet of regional lightweights. Unfortunately, Maryland picked the wrong team in the wrong year to enjoy some variety.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
