Emerald Bowl Preview- Maryland Vs. Oregon State

It is almost here. After a month off, the season concludes for the Terps this Friday night when they face the Oregon State Beavers in the Emerald Bowl out in San Francisco, California. Many people have their own opinions as to what may happen in this game. If you are reading this, you are probably curious as to what I expect, so here is my breakdown of the game and how I think the Terps will fare…

Note: Check back to my entry titles, “Oregon State…Who are They” for a brief synopsis of their schedule and their season

When Oregon State has the ball:

Oregon State opened the season with sophomore Sean Canfield running the offense as the beavers quarterback, but throughout the season, sophomore Lyle Moevao had been inserted into games. Well, it was a good thing, because Canfield got hurt, and Moevao lead the Beavers as the starting quarterback in the final three games and did a great job. His numbers are not overly impressive, but as a backup quarterback, your first job is to not lose the game, and he has succeeded at this. From what I have heard this week, Canfield may be healthy enough to serve as the backup, but the Emerald Bowl gig is all Moevao’s. If you talk to any Oregon State fan though, they don’t really care about the quarterback situation; they are excited about getting their star senior running back Yvenson Bernard back. The kid had knee surgery on Nov.20th, but is expected to play. He is a three year starter and looking at his stat sheet is impressive. In each of his three years, he averaged 4.4 yards per carry, 12 rushing TD’s every year besides the 13 he had his sophomore year, and 1 receiving TD each year. Talk about consistency. He is a very solid back and provides the balance needed to have a successful running game, and open up a passing game.

I do think Maryland will give up points, but I don’t think they are in over their heads when it comes to stopping the Beavers offense. Maryland’s defense is much improved from what we saw against Clemson, and even Virginia. I feel they match up better against teams that have balanced offenses, like OSU has, compared to teams that simply pound it up front all day, or pass it all day. The Beavers do not have any receivers that scare me, so I think the first focus should be on stopping Bernard. You take care of him, and I then take my chances with Moevao passing. Bernard is the ‘star’ offensive player of the team. If you let OSU beat you, make them do it through the air where they are less polished. Overall, I like this matchup and expect the Terps to do fairly well.

When Maryland has the ball:

Oregon State gives up 74.9 yards on the ground per game. That’s good. It’s actually so good, that according the Fox Sports, they rank #3 in the country in rush defense including all of those FCS teams. That is impressive. However, the terps have faced situations like this before. The best example is the Boston College game. Boston College came into that game with a top 30 rush defense. Maryland had relied on the run all year, and although Turner had some games where he passed over 200 yards, a heavy passing attack was never in the gameplan. Then came the Boston College game, where Fridge let loose, and we passed for 337 yards and 3 TD’s. So we are playing a great rushing defense, so same game plan, right? No. Well, kind of. Maryland will need to pass to win this game, but I don’t think it will come as easy as it did against Boston College. You see, Oregon State knows we can pass now, Boston College did not, and probably did not gameplan for it. Oregon State will. So how can the Terps beat OSU when they have the ball?

A balanced attack, favoring the pass over the run, but not neglecting the run. If I was Friedgen, I would line up in shot gun a lot against OSU, with two running backs. That way, you can run options, short flare passes to the running backs, but can also go deep. I think running from an I formation will fail miserably against a team like OSU, but running from strange formations may work. I can guarantee you this, you will probably see a wide reciever reverse at least once on Friday. Why am I so sure? Well, we saw it work against Wake Forest who has the 26th best rush defense, and it worked against Boston College. Friedgen knows how to counter these tough rush defenses. We also know that Friedgen is not afraid to pass anymore now that he has a quarterback in Chris turner who can throw, and we even saw him throw in the option when we played N.C. State. Will Maryland thrown down 6 touchdowns and 500 yards on OSU? I highly doubt it(although that would be awesome). But i think they will have sucess, and if they play smart, can move the ball on this tough OSU defense.

So what’s going to happen?

Maryland will be able to move the ball on OSU. I am afraid they may stall out in the redzone a few times, but I still expect them to be able to move the ball. On the other side, Bernard will probably has a decent game as long as he knee isn’t bothering him, but if we can somewhat contain him while keeping Moevao under control, the Terps won’t give up too much. Lets face it, as much as we like to complain about Chris Cosh and his defense, they have done pretty well this year against some tough competition, and only in the West Virginia, and Virginia games did they really look over matched (and don’t forget that they only gave up 18 points to UVA, and we all remember that BS 4th down conversion by UVA at the end of that game). The Terps defense will step up to the plate in this game like they have done most of the season. If the offense produces how they should, I see a close victory for the Terps. Now, of course I am going to pick the Terps, but this game could go either way. This truly is a great matchup and should be a very entertaining game to watch. Oregon State and Maryland are very similar teams, and are pretty even in the talent category. This will be a close game, but the Terps will get their 4th straight bowl victory. Prediction: Oregon State 17 Maryland 20

Lastly, I would like to thank all of the Oregon State fans who have been checking out my blog. WordPress allows me to see where people click on my site from, and the folks at Beaver Sports News have found my blog and have put some of my entries up there. I have read almost all of the other articles put up on BSN(is it ok if I call is that?) and I must say I think you have some of the best fans in the country. From what I have read, you all love your football team and know a lot about it, but are not arrogant, and do not think you are God’s gift to the world (*cough* West Virginia / UNC fans). You seem like nice people and I wish you well. I am sure you will never read this blog again after the bowl game, but thanks for stopping by.

To my Terps fans…I promise to get around to that basketball team sooner or later, but did you ever think that through 12 games, the men’s basketball team and the football team would have the same record, and it would be 6-6?