W. Virginia v. Maryland

Last year, Maryland played for the UCFC against Clemson (they lost 56-45 in a blazingly dramatic game.  On that occasion, we prepared an entry summarizing the history of the Maryland program and its role in the UCFC.  You can read that entry here.

It's a drive of 206 miles from the University of Maryland, in the DC suburb of College Park, to WVU's campus in Morgantown.  Culturally, however, the gap is harder to measure.  On the one hand, the city folk in  DC have long amused themselves by mocking their country cousins to the west.  On the other hand, both Maryland fans and WVU fans are notorious for their poor behavior -- and both groups are sneered at by the well-bred Georgetown and UVA types who play such a major role in DC's professional class.

So it makes sense that the Maryland/West Virginia game has long been a staple of early-season football drama in the Mid-Atlantic.  This will be the 49th meeting between the two rivals in what has generally been a very entertaining and competitive series.  They met every year from 1980 to 2007, took off 2008 and 2009, and are now in the midst of a series scheduled to last until at lest 2017.  Last year, West Virignia pulled out a wild 37-31 victory in College Park to pick up their sixth consecutive win over the Terps.  The Mountaineers now lead the series 25-21-2.

Maryland is going through a difficult transition with second-year coach Randy Edsall.  Despite playing close games with Clemson and West Virginia, the Terps were dreadful against almost everyone else, finishing with a record of 2-10.  They're off to a 2-1 start this year, with close wins over William & Mary (7-6) and Temple (36-27) and a close loss last week to UConn (21-24).  The UConn loss was embarrassing for Terp fans, as Edsall came to Maryland from UConn.  Nevertheless, through three games the Terps appear to be playing with more discipline and defense than they showed last year.

None of that is likely to do Maryland much good today, however.  This may be the best WVU team in that school's long history.  The Mountaineers are the number 8 team in the nation, and they are riding a streak of three crushing victories in UCFC games.  Vegas has WVU winning this game by 26 points, and that sounds about right to me.