The process of watching Maryland’s loss last weekend at California struck me as very similar to seeing the Terps get eviscerated at West Virginia three years ago.
I wasn’t the only one who saw the common bond, as written about for an e-edition story that will be posted tomorrow morning.
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But how about a head-to-head comparison of the two debacles —- the ‘06 one, it should be noted, preceded a successful (but also highly fortunate) season.
Here’s a stat check of West Virginia’s 45-24 rout of Maryland in 2006 and California’s 52-13 drubbing last weekend:
| Category |
‘06 West Virginia
|
‘09 California
|
| Halftime |
WVU 38-10
|
Cal 31-6
|
Opp. total yards
|
383 |
542 |
| Opp. yards/play |
7.4 |
8.5 |
Md. TO margin
|
-4 |
-2 |
Opp. pts off TO
|
14 |
14 |
Sacks allowed
|
0 |
6 |
Third down conv.
|
8/17 |
4/17 |
First-half offense
|
136 |
146 |
Total offense
|
333 |
303 |
| Penalties |
3-40 |
7-60 |
Opp. avg. field pos.
|
Own 36
|
Own 37
|
Md. 5 play+ drives
|
7 |
9 |
Opp. 5 play+ drives
|
4 |
8 |
Star power
|
Slaton: 21-195-2
|
Best: 10-137-2
|
Obviously, some things are similar, others less so. The most common thing would be the ugliness of the final result.
Actually, this would be the most common thing: “A lot of the kids were starstruck between the hype and the national television. It happens. They need to get over that.”
That’s a Ralph Friedgen quote —- or at least one provided on a post-game stat sheet, which have a way of being rushed (fully understandable) and sanitized (not quite as nice). And it was stapled into the stat book for that 2006 game in Morgantown.
In any case, the ‘06 Terps did get over that and wound going 7-3 the rest of the way. As Friedgen said yesterday, it remains to be seen if this year’s bunch can fare anywhere near as well over the next 12 weeks.
—- Patrick Stevens
