As this is my first post on BIC, I feel I should introduce myself. My name is Frank. I grew up in Catonsville, a Baltimore suburb, and have lived in the Baltimore area for most of my life. I went to school at the University of Maryland and graduated in 2002, so I got to see some great basketball teams there (and one season of great football which was preceded by some craptacular seasons). Presently, I live in the Locust Point community of Baltimore City. So, I have rooted for the Orioles and Terrapins my whole life, and for the Ravens since they came here in 1996.
OK, with that said, it is football season. The Orioles are basically done for the year, although I am planning on hitting up another game or two before they pack the balls, bats, and gloves away for the winter. So, the focus has turned to pigskin. My personal philosophy on football is that college is better watched live, and the NFL is better on TV. Bottom line there is college football has more of an atmosphere to it that is best captured when you are there. The NFL is rather sterile, so I think you get as much out of it live as you do on TV.
So, needless to say that I am a season ticket holder for Maryland football. I went to San Francisco to see Maryland get shellacked at Cal, and I was at the JMU game last week. I think most fans who watched both are probably thinking this team isn't going to be that good this year. I am a little bit more reluctant to write them off yet. One thing Terp fans need to remember is that Ralph Friedgen's teams tend to be better at the end of the season than they are at the start of it. As I was driving home after Saturday's game, one of the announcers stated that something like 58 of the 94 players on the roster have THREE OR MORE YEARS of eligibilty left. Holy young team alert, Batman!
This reminds me of something Gary Williams said a few years ago about his hoops squad that had 2-3 juniors and seniors on it after they played an inconsistent game: He said something to the effect that freshmen are doing what they do right now -- they are learning.
I have a feeling Fridge would say the exact same thing about this year's squad (heck, I bet Dave Trembley would say the same about the Orioles pitching staff).
So, right now, Fridge has to deal with bringing his young squad up to speed on the rigors, speed, and difficulty level of college football. Fridge should be proud that his team battled against JMU. That was a very fast squad, and I suspect they would give a handful of teams trouble in Div. I-A. Games like this are confidence builders for a young team. Plus, Fridge is still trying to work out what he has on his team. I am sure that by week 4 or 5, someone will emerge as the go to guy. This has been the pattern in years past, and I see no reason why that won't happen again as the team gains experience and builds up its confidence.
So, while the team might take its lumps early on, they very well could be better than advertised towards the end of the season. Don't write this young squad off yet. There is still a lot of football to be played.
(Frank's standard football disclaimer: Injuries can and will derail things that I feel about a football team at a given time. Nolan Carroll going down for the season, for example, absolutely hurts the team. I don't think it kills it, but it definitely makes them a lot more vulnerable).
Monday, September 14, 2009
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4 comments:
Great post, and I agree with pretty much everything.
I actually liked what I saw in the second half of the JMU game, at least compared to the previous game-and-a-half. The offense and defense seemed more aggressive, which generally allowed the team to make more plays and specifically seemed to take pressure off of the two lines, which are the weak points.
Friedgen's teams have started slow most of his tenure, with some pretty bad opening-night defeats, but they always look better throughout the season like you said.
It might look brutal now, but I doubt it will going forward.
J.D., thanks for the comment. I actually think Maryland's lines wore down JMU's lines by the 4th quarter. IMO, that's what allowed MD to pull the win out. Now, I don't know if their lines will be good enough down the road to do that, but this game had to be a confidence builder for them.
Sorry, I meant D.J. Temporary dyslexia sucks.
Meh, you're not the first :p
I think that's probably part of it, but I'm also looking for whatever I can get...
To be fair, a lot of people forget, I think, that I-AA schools have been getting much better athletes for a while now. They just can't get as many. So they can surprise a better team, but can also be worn down.
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