Conference Calls: Let's Go Bowling
DCist's (hardly) comprehensive recap of the Saturday that was in college football, across the country and in our own backyard.
The Slipper-y Slope: Is Maryland really talking Orange Bowl after their win against North Carolina State? A 27-24 squeaker decided in the last 6 seconds of the game against a team that has no wins against other Atlantic Coast Conference rivals this season hardly makes the slam-dunk case. Especially considering that NC State held the ball longer (36 minutes to 24 minutes) and scored more yards passing and overall — all on Maryland turf, following an ultimate-nullifying three straight consecutive losses — enthusiasm in Maryland ought to be curbed at best.
Say this much: Maryland finally proved that they can win games against terrible, terrible teams. September and October losses against Middle Tennessee State and Virginia have surely been stuck in their craw since. Still, Saturday's win — which boosts the Terps to 6-2 (3-1 in conference play) — is a far sight from a compelling bid for the ACC's slot in the Orange Bowl. The numbers say it all: Quarterback Chris Turner completed just 9 of 20 for 126 yards, while running backs Da'Rel Scott and Davin Meggett ran for a combined 50 yards. On Saturday, Maryland merely managed to not lose first.
Nevertheless, the Terps are bowl bound after their homecoming victory on Saturday and coach Ralph Friedgen can taste the Orange. He might ask: Why not Maryland? On November 22, the team plays #25 Florida State, the only team leading them in the conference; and if Maryland can't beat them then, you can rest assured that #8 Florida will do the job on November 29. And those contests notwithstanding, Florida State has the harder road to the end of the season.
Between today and Florida State, Maryland plays a ranked team (North Carolina) who should beat them and an unranked team (Virginia Tech) they should beat. So far this season, Maryland's had a hard time adhering to expectations. Given the sorry state of the ACC, it would be a bit much to call the Terps a candidate for this year's Cinderella story. But a plausible homely stepsister?
Photo by jbhaber
Around Town-ish: There's nothing Virginia can do to erase the memory of back-to-back losses against Connecticut and Duke. (I'll grant the loss in an ambitious game against #3 USC.) But a hardy away-game victory against #18 Georgia Tech, making for four wins in a row, can help to take the pain way. In fact, it's helped the Cavs straight to the top of the ACC's Coastal division, an improbable perch that seems all the more reasonable as Marc Verica continues to shine.
Despite losing quarterback Tyrod Taylor on the first play of the game to an ankle injury, Virginia Tech's offense managed to put 10 points on the board while their defense held Florida State to -18 yards in the first quarter. Helmed by backup quarterback Sean Glennon, Virginia Tech dominated the first half with 205 total yards. But Glennon was knocked out on another ankle injury in the third quarter, leaving the team to wide receiver Cory Holt and the victory to the Seminoles.
Howard University has the ignominious distinction of handing North Carolina A&T their first conference victory since 2005 in a hard-fought 21-20 loss. For answers, look to Howard quarterback Floyd Haigler's interception throw in the first quarter to Aggie Ihsan Shaheed, who returned for an easy touchdown. But lay blame with the Howard defense, who couldn't find a way to stop the Aggies running game even though North Carolina's Herbert Miller attempted just nine passes.
How Texas Did: Just fine, thank you kindly! Pat Forde is plain wrong when he says that Texas underestimated Oklahoma State. Longhorns fans looks to the Cowboys every year for a spoiler against the Oklahoma Sooners. It just so happens that the Longhorns didn't need the favor this year — but the team knew what they were looking forward to. Oklahoma State played well, but Texas played better. Better than the scoreboard reflected by the end. Texas quarterback made gains in his campaign for the Heisman Trophy, throwing a Texas Tech–ian 38 of 45 passes for 391 yards.
Across the Country: The #8 Florida Gators shamed Kentucky in a 63-5 blowout, a rarity this late in the season. But mum's the word on Florida's upcoming game against #6 Georgia. But everyone else played boringly good football, with #2 Alabama, #4 Oklahoma, #5 USC, #6 Georgia, and #7 Texas Tech all establishing leads early and keeping them until the end. The Big 10 saw some excitement, though, as #3 Penn State saw quarterback Daryll Clark injured in the fourth and replaced by Pat Devlin — who led two scoring drives in the come-back victory against #9 Ohio State.
Photo by SummerTX, used with permission under a Creative Commons license