The Maryland Terrapins travel to Tallahassee Saturday night to face Florida State in the first ACC game of the year between two preseason favorites for the conference title.
Maryland (0-1, 0-0 ACC) enters the week reeling from an embarrassing 20-13 opening game loss at Northern Illinois in which they were flagged for nine penalties and 90 yards. The game ended in overtime on a crazy play that capped a wild game. Maryland quarterback Scott McBrien's heave bounced off a NIU defender's leg in the end zone, fluttered backwards in the air, and landed in the palms of Husky cornerback Randee Drew.
Maryland dropped out of the AP top-25 after entering the contest ranked No. 15 in the nation.
Awaiting the Terps is a Florida St. squad that demolished North Carolina in Chapel Hill in its season opener last week. The No. 11 Seminoles (1-0, 1-0 ACC) are coming off the worst two seasons in legendary head coach Bobby Bowden's tenure at FSU.
Showing no ill effects of their recent history, the Seminoles amassed an incredible 553 total yards in the 37-0 rout of the Tar Heels. Perhaps more important than the final score was the play of junior quarterback Chris Rix, who completed 17-of-26 passes for 232 yards. Rix has struggled in the two seasons he has spent in Tallahassee, enduring poor performances and a benching in lieu of erstwhile Florida athletic wonderboy Adrian McPherson last season.
McPherson is no longer enrolled in the university after a slew of NCAA violations -- including his involvement in stealing a blank check and an Internet gambling scandal -- forced him out the door.
The days of the tomahawk chop striking fear into opponents' hearts are long past, with the Seminoles suffering nine losses in the past two years. It has been a trying time for Bowden, who for the first time since joining the ACC in 1992 is having to answer questions regarding his ability to coach at a high level. At 73-years-old, many question his commitment to recruiting, a tiring and tedious off-season commitment for head coaches across the country.
"I think [the loss of fear] comes with losing games," Bowden said. "I think sometimes you got to get knocked around before you wake up."
Failing to knock FSU around in any of their meetings so far is Maryland, who has gone 0-13 against the perennial power Seminoles.
Maryland's tradition of losing reversed its course in 2001, when new head coach Ralph Friedgren ushered in a new era of Terp football. Since arriving in College Park, Friedgren's teams have gone a combined 19-7, with a sparkling 13-3 mark in conference play, including the only ACC title for any team other than Florida St. since their entry 11 years ago.
"You've got to knock [FSU] off," injured tailback Bruce Perry said. "Florida State is still king of the hill. They deserve it. They're coming out as defending ACC champions."
Virginia knocked the first chink off the Florida St. armor in 1995, handing the Seminoles their first ever conference loss en route to a split of the conference crown.
Maryland, who despite winning the outright title in '01, has never come closer than 14 points against the 'Noles. Turnovers have marred both attempts by Friedgren to stem the tide, with a combined 10 in their last two meetings. The Seminoles converted those 10 miscues into 42 points, 21 in each contest.
Both Maryland and Florida St., along with North Carolina State and Virginia, were among the four ACC teams ranked in the top 25 in the preseason AP poll. The outcome of Saturday night's contest will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the shape of the conference title race down the line. If the Terrapins are able to hand FSU only their sixth ACC loss in school history, many believe that there could be a non-Florida St. champion for the second time in three years, an unprecedented run of futility for the Seminoles.
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