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BERKELEY, Calif. -
The video board inside Maryland's Gossett Football Team House flashed "Cal Week" and "21" all week as the Terps prepared to play California tonight in a season opener that is a rematch of one of last season's most compelling Maryland games.
The "21" was a reference to the Terrapins being three-touchdown underdogs to the No. 12 Golden Bears.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was asked during the week whether the unwieldy point spread angered his players. "I hope so," replied Friedgen, who has been using the lack of respect for Maryland to motivate his young team. The Terrapins are picked last or next to last in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division by most pundits.
"We feel this is a statement game for the whole nation to prove who we are," said Nolan Carroll, a fifth-year Maryland cornerback.
The opening-game spread might seem excessive, but, truth be told, Maryland coaches know why the Terps have been cast in the role of prohibitive underdogs against a team they beat last season.
Scoring on its first three possessions, Maryland jumped in front of Cal, 28-6, in College Park. The slow-starting Golden Bears seemed fatigued by the humidity and the noon start, which felt like 9 a.m. to their Pacific Time-oriented body clocks. Cal made it interesting at the end before losing, 35-27.
Here are some reasons Cal poses a bigger challenge this year:
•The Golden Bears have 17 starters back compared with Maryland's 10. The Bears, who play defending Pacific-10 champion Southern California at home this season Oct. 3, believe they have a legitimate shot to win the conference. The team has been ranked higher in the preseason only once since Jeff Tedford became coach in 2002.
Eager to begin the season, Cal is asking fans to stage a "Blue Out" for the Maryland game by wearing the team color.
•Cal's returning players include running back Jahvid Best, who rushed for 1,580 yards last season, and quarterback Kevin Riley, who threw for 423 against a soft Maryland defense. Maryland will debut a new defense under coordinator Don Brown on Saturday night that emphasizes multiple blitz packages and pressing, man-to-man defense on the receivers.
•The revenge factor. Best had a subpar game against the Terps last season. He will long be remembered, at least by Maryland fans, for lying on the turf and throwing up after a fierce hit by Kevin Barnes.
It's not exactly the image that Best, a Heisman Trophy candidate, wants to define him.
"I'm sure he's going to have something to prove," Brown said. "I'm sure this is a game he's circled on the calendar. He's a Heisman candidate, and I'm sure we're going to get his best shot."
•Home field and time-zone advantage. Was the time-zone factor overrated last season? It sure didn't help Cal to be beginning a game when it would normally be finishing breakfast. This year, it's Maryland that must switch time zones. Friedgen and the team intentionally planned a flight Thursday that would arrive in the evening. He wanted the players tired so that they would sleep through their first night here.
Cal has been steady at Memorial Stadium (71,799 capacity) under Tedford, going unbeaten there in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
So can Maryland win?
The Terps, with a young offensive line, might have trouble outgaining Cal, which averaged 376 yards and 32.6 points per game last season.
The outcome will depend heavily on Brown's defense, which was the talk of training camp. Friedgen said the defense, which relies on constantly shifting personnel, recorded 50 interceptions during intrasquad competition. Quite often, Maryland's offense looked baffled against it, unable to respond to well-disguised pressure.
Tedford has seen Maryland quarterback Chris Turner and running back Da'Rel Scott, who rushed for two touchdowns in last season's game but suffered a shoulder injury that bothered him the rest of the regular season.
But Maryland's defense is a mystery to the Golden Bears, as it is to nearly everybody else. Brown's defense at Massachusetts - where he was head coach - finished among the top 20 in three of his five seasons.
"I know there's going to be an element of surprise there," Tedford said. "There is no background. As far as us playing them last year, they're not the same team."
The "21" was a reference to the Terrapins being three-touchdown underdogs to the No. 12 Golden Bears.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was asked during the week whether the unwieldy point spread angered his players. "I hope so," replied Friedgen, who has been using the lack of respect for Maryland to motivate his young team. The Terrapins are picked last or next to last in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division by most pundits.
"We feel this is a statement game for the whole nation to prove who we are," said Nolan Carroll, a fifth-year Maryland cornerback.
The opening-game spread might seem excessive, but, truth be told, Maryland coaches know why the Terps have been cast in the role of prohibitive underdogs against a team they beat last season.
Scoring on its first three possessions, Maryland jumped in front of Cal, 28-6, in College Park. The slow-starting Golden Bears seemed fatigued by the humidity and the noon start, which felt like 9 a.m. to their Pacific Time-oriented body clocks. Cal made it interesting at the end before losing, 35-27.
Here are some reasons Cal poses a bigger challenge this year:
•The Golden Bears have 17 starters back compared with Maryland's 10. The Bears, who play defending Pacific-10 champion Southern California at home this season Oct. 3, believe they have a legitimate shot to win the conference. The team has been ranked higher in the preseason only once since Jeff Tedford became coach in 2002.
Eager to begin the season, Cal is asking fans to stage a "Blue Out" for the Maryland game by wearing the team color.
•Cal's returning players include running back Jahvid Best, who rushed for 1,580 yards last season, and quarterback Kevin Riley, who threw for 423 against a soft Maryland defense. Maryland will debut a new defense under coordinator Don Brown on Saturday night that emphasizes multiple blitz packages and pressing, man-to-man defense on the receivers.
•The revenge factor. Best had a subpar game against the Terps last season. He will long be remembered, at least by Maryland fans, for lying on the turf and throwing up after a fierce hit by Kevin Barnes.
It's not exactly the image that Best, a Heisman Trophy candidate, wants to define him.
"I'm sure he's going to have something to prove," Brown said. "I'm sure this is a game he's circled on the calendar. He's a Heisman candidate, and I'm sure we're going to get his best shot."
•Home field and time-zone advantage. Was the time-zone factor overrated last season? It sure didn't help Cal to be beginning a game when it would normally be finishing breakfast. This year, it's Maryland that must switch time zones. Friedgen and the team intentionally planned a flight Thursday that would arrive in the evening. He wanted the players tired so that they would sleep through their first night here.
Cal has been steady at Memorial Stadium (71,799 capacity) under Tedford, going unbeaten there in 2004, 2006 and 2008.
So can Maryland win?
The Terps, with a young offensive line, might have trouble outgaining Cal, which averaged 376 yards and 32.6 points per game last season.
The outcome will depend heavily on Brown's defense, which was the talk of training camp. Friedgen said the defense, which relies on constantly shifting personnel, recorded 50 interceptions during intrasquad competition. Quite often, Maryland's offense looked baffled against it, unable to respond to well-disguised pressure.
Tedford has seen Maryland quarterback Chris Turner and running back Da'Rel Scott, who rushed for two touchdowns in last season's game but suffered a shoulder injury that bothered him the rest of the regular season.
But Maryland's defense is a mystery to the Golden Bears, as it is to nearly everybody else. Brown's defense at Massachusetts - where he was head coach - finished among the top 20 in three of his five seasons.
"I know there's going to be an element of surprise there," Tedford said. "There is no background. As far as us playing them last year, they're not the same team."
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From San Diego California - from the beach, to the sports clubs, the race tracks, dirt bike riders, surfers, artists, fitness centers, and golfers throughout California and even horse barns and farms ......
CALIFORNIA is wearing RED and CALIFORNIA says "GO TERPS" "GO LLBB #10"
Auntiekellysd (09/05/2009, 1:28 PM )