If the college football season were to end today, the unofficial Bowl Championship Series standings would cite two Pac-10 teams — Oregon and UCLA — in their top five, yet neither is in first place in its conference. Also, if the season ended today, Florida State would finish fourth in the ACC and would be obligated to play in either the newly introduced Seattle Bowl or Tangerine Bowl. (How about that?)
OK, relax, there is still a whole lot of football to be played, but let’s be honest about something: Maryland sits atop the ACC and is in the driver’s seat to play on New Year’s Day. If that’s not enough, Washington State is right above the “Joey Heisman’s” Ducks, as well the real Heisman candidate Deshaun Foster and the Bruins for the top spot in the Pac-10.
So how in the world did Maryland, a school known for its basketball prowess, break the top 20 in football? Moreover, how did a school that is known more for producing one of the biggest busts in the NFL in recent years (Ryan Leaf) trounce Sports Illustrated’s preseason No. 1, Oregon State?
Going into the 2001 college football season, when thinking about Maryland performing well enough to win the ACC, people thought, “We’ll believe it when we see it.” Well, start believing it.
In his first season as head coach of the Terrapins, Ralph Friedgen has assured the school of only its third winning season since 1985 and likely its first bowl game since the 1985 Independence Bowl.
Friedgen, who was an offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech for nine years, has found Bruce Perry, a worthy replacement for former Terp and current New York Jets tailback LaMont Jordan. Perry has stepped in admirably for Jordan, who put Maryland on the football map, but had a sub-par senior season. Perry is fifth in the nation with 870 yards racked up, while Jordan had only 920 as a senior.
Maryland faced its first true test of the year a week ago against Freidgen’s former mates at Georgia Tech.
“The Georgia Tech game was very exciting for us,” Freidgen said. “We were very happy that we were able to come out of there with a win.”
One of the reasons Friedgen is happy about moving on is due to his leading tackler, linebacker E.J. Henderson, who was honored as National Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Yellow Jackets (15 tackles, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a sack). While Georgia Tech was the only top-25 opponent the Terps have faced, the rest of the way will be a challenge for Friedgen and company. They have to play in Tallahassee, where they have never won, and they have a contest at home against No. 15 Clemson. The Terps will no longer be able to come up and surprise anyone with their unblemished 6-0 record. There is one major obstacle the University of Maryland has not been able to hurdle, and that is the Georgia Tech fans.
After the 20-17 overtime victory down in Atlanta, the Jackets fans came onto the field and started throwing glass bottles at the Terrapins marching band. The university is currently pressing charges.
Washington State’s special teams ace Josh Moen just captured Pac-10 special teams player of the week. The senior was strongly considering not returning to Washington State for his senior year, but thanks to a nice gift from an aunt in Nebraska, his tuition was completely paid.
Another special teamer, former walk-on kicker Drew Dunning, has hit 11 of his 13 field goal attempts, with a long of 49. In practice earlier in the week Dunning was offered a deal by head coach Mike Price to remove the walk-on tag from his name and make him a full scholarship player. The deal? He had one chance to knock in a 42-yard field goal. If he connected, the scholarship was his.
As he approached the tee he barked out to Price, “Show me the money.”
He backed up his talk by making the field goal, and he walked away with a full ride.
As a team, the Cougars have been able to back up their talk as well. With a 6-0 record and wins against an overrated Oregon State team and a previously No. 22-ranked Stanford team, a school WSU had not beaten since 1988, the spirits are rising for Washington State. Next up for the Cougars is Big Sky Conference power Montana State.
“We want to do everything we can to win the game as soon as possible,” Price said, “[Quarterback Jason] Gesser will stay in there as long as it takes for us to win.”
Price sounds mighty confident for a guy whose starting tailback, Dave Minnich, will be sidelined for up to four weeks after having knee surgery.
The real story this year has been their junior college transfer at wide receiver, Nakoa Mcelrath, who ranks 19th nationally with his 39 receptions and ninth in yards receiving per game, with 105.5. Due credit does belong to Gesser who has already surpassed 1,000 yards and has thrown 16 touchdowns.
Even though Washington State does score points, they also let them up (22.3 a game).
Still, Washington State does have to prove itself, as their upcoming contests include Oregon, UCLA and Washington. Its previous six wins have come against opponents with a combined record of 11-21.
