Maryland is looking for another tombstone for its graveyard.
No. 4 West Virginia visits Maryland tonight before an expected 51,500 sellout. Revenge isn’t the Terrapins’ only motivator after a humiliating 45-24 loss last year to the Mountaineers. Terps coach Ralph Friedgen sees an opportunity to return to the national rankings.
Friedgen never, ever discussed rankings until season’s end during his early years at Maryland. Then again, the Terps were in the polls regularly so being a national team was a given. But after three seasons largely outside the Top 25, Friedgen began lobbying for attention on Tuesday.
Last year’s nationally-televised loss at West Virginia was an early stain the Terps never lifted during a 9-4 season with a bowl victory. After consecutive 5-6 years, the early-season thumping left voters skeptical nationwide that Maryland deserved respect.
The Terps’ 2-0 start, albeit versus weak teams, didn’t even merit one vote in Sunday’s Associated Press poll. Appalachian State received 19votes as the first Division I-AA team to be considered in the rankings. Beating No. 4 West Virginia before an ESPN audience would jump the Terps into the top 20, though.
“We have a chance to change people’s perspective about us,” he said. “That [West Virginia loss] hurt us quite a bit at the end of last year because I really felt, at the end, we deserved to be at least in the Top 25. We beat a lot of good teams last year not to have that ranking.”
Friedgen once downplayed the series because the teams aren’t in the same conference. However, neither school having a major in-state foe while recruiting the same players leaves the teams seemingly closer than the three-hour drive that separates them. West Virginia’s 22-21-2 overall lead after three straight victories shows how close the rivalry has been.
“If we played three times a week they’d probably sell the games out,” Friedgen said. “It’s always been a rivalry. We’re very comparable over a long period of time. There has been some ups and downs, but over a 45-year span it’s pretty even. It’s a game I would like to continue playing.”
Ironically, the series ends tonight with no firm rematch set. Maryland traded the date for two years with California to stretch its national exposure. Navy might grab the open date with the Terps in 2010.
If this is goodbye, Maryland is itching to earn its first home victory over a top 10 team since beating No. 5 Florida State in 2004. One more tombstone for the cemetary looming near the visiting lockerroom.
“Big game, national television — it doesn’t get more high profile than this,” guard Andrew Crummey said. “You only [play] a top five team once a a year if you’re lucky.”
Maryland vs.No. 4 West Virginia
When » Tonight, 7:30
Where » Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.
TV » ESPN
Radio» 106.7 FM
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
