Category Archives: Sports
Halfway Point in College Football
Most teams have played six games which would put them halfway through their seasons and at least a few games into their conference schedules. The SEC, Big 12 and Big 10 appear to be in the running for the championship with Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas the class of the Big 12, Penn State leading the Big 10, and Alabama and LSU in control of the SEC. The ACC, PAC 10, and Big East all appear to be out of the running, but there are plenty of games to be played to widdle down the list and possibly bring back some of those one-loss teams from those conferences back into the picture. There are also some Non-BCS teams that could finish undefeated like BYU, Utah and Boise State, but the question is if they’ll be ranked high enough to be in consideration for the championship game.
Terps Spanked By Cavs 31-0
The Terps took their show on the road in the ACC with high expectations for the season and were promptly routed by the Virginia Cavaliers 31-0 in Charlottesville, VA. Worries before the game were that the Terps were going into the classic trap game against the rival Cavs, because the Terps were 4-1 coming off a stunning win against the Clemson Tigers in Death Valley and the Cavs were 1-3 coming off an equally stunning loss at Duke. Give credit to the Cavs for coming to play against a regional and conference rival, exploiting the same issues that have dogged the Terps defense all season, and shutting down the Terps powerful offense which had been bailing them out. The Terps have a week off to prepare for Wake Forest at home, and who knows which Terps team will show up for that pivotal game.
Ravens Lose Heartbreaker To Steelers
The Ravens lost in overtime to the Steelers 23-20 on Monday Night Football at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The Ravens played tough for the first 40 minutes of the game opening a 10 point lead with the score 13-3. With about five minutes left in the 3rd quarter, the Steelers were the beneficiary of a unsportsmanlike penalty call on Jarrett Johnson that helped setup their first touchdown. Only a few seconds later, the Steelers sacked Joe Flacco causing a fumble that was returned for a TD which made the score 20-13. The Ravens did eventually tie the game at 20 with a clutch drive in the 4th quarter, but were unable to do anything with the ball in regulation or overtime to win the game.
Ravens Prepare For Rival Steelers on MNF
The Ravens take on their bitter Rival Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh tonight at 8:30 on ESPN. It’s typically an entertaining week of banter between the players and articles in the local papers that also fuel the rivalry. This year the players on the both sides have been conspiculously quiet, probably on orders from their young coaches who are still new to the rivalry. There was a small incident where rookie running back Rashard Mendenhall sent a text message to his buddy and Ravens rookie running back Ray Rice saying that he thought he’d would have a big game in his first start against the Ravens top ranked defense. Rice passed on the message to some of his fellow defensive teammates which only adds to the fun expected tonight.
The four most recent games of the rivalry have ended with three blowouts, but the games over the past eight or nine years have typically been close physical games decided towards the end of the game regardless of each teams individual records. In Las Vegas the linesmakers opened the lines at -8 Pittsburgh, but that line has moved to -5 Pittsburgh probably due to the injuries on the Steelers side. I expect the game will be closer than that with neither team winning by more than a field goal. My official prediction is 23-20, Ravens win.
Terps Outlook Brighter In The ACC
A few weeks ago the Terps shocking loss to Middle Tennessee made competing in the ACC and going to another bowl seem like an impossible dream, but after wins against two of the tougher opponents on their schedule in Cal and Clemson they have drastically changed their chances for a positive outcome this season. It’s hard to predict what the Terps final record would be at this point having only played one ACC game thus far, but thanks to the wins against Cal and Clemson the Terps now have a shot at finishing 8-4 and going to a nice bowl game if they can beat who they should beat the rest of the way (or better if they knock off someone else). Hopefully the Terps shocking wins reinforce to the players and coaches what they need to do to win so that there is no need for another wake up call like the Middle Tennessee loss. The good news is that it seems that the Terps are back on track because they took care of business against Eastern Michigan last week, but the Terps have another one of those “trap” type games coming up next week against conference rival Virginia on the road (who lost to Duke this week 31-3). If the Terps can beat Virginia they would go into the showdown with Wake Forest with a 5-1 record and a favorable remaining schedule featuring four home games.
Terps Stun #20 Clemson in Death Valley
The Terps went on the road this week and shocked the Clemson Tigers 20-17. The Terps were eager to prove that they had made the necessary changes since their last road game which ended in an embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee, and also prove that their upset of Cal two weeks earlier was no fluke. Things did not start off well for the the Terps as Clemson seemingly had the game well in hand going into halftime with a 17-6 lead. Things turned around in the second half for the Terps when speedy wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey took a reverse 76 yards to setup the Terps first touchdown in the second half. The Terps defense also stepped up in the second half by shutting down Clemson’s powerful offense by keeping them out of the endzone while the offense rallied.
Terps Upset #23 Cal 35-27
Victims of an upset on the road last week, the Terps rose the occasion this week at home by knocking off 23rd ranked Cal 35-27. The final score was actually much closer than the game really was. The Terps were winning 35-13 late in the forth quarter and switched to a prevent defense to bleed the clock allowing Cal to move the ball. Except for late in the 4th quarter, the Terps played inspired on defense shutting down the high powered Cal Bears who beat Washington State 66-3 the week before. The Teprs offense also chipped in with a well balanced attack that converted scoring opportunities into touchdowns. Chris Turner was 15/19 with 156 yards and 2 TD’s (0 INTs) which showed vast improvement from his rusty performance the week before against Middle Tennessee. Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett each rushed for over 80 yards pacing the rushing attack that produced 3 TD’s.
Ravens Texans Rescheduled Again
The Ravens and Texans game originally scheduled for Sunday September 14th in Houston will be moved to Sunday November 9th in Houston. The NFL could have planned ahead of time having the Texans practice in another city before Hurricane Ike made landfall, but having not taken action earlier the NFL chose to rearrange the schedules of the Ravens, Texans and Bengals which was probably all they could do on short notice.
It feels like from a football standpoint that the Ravens are getting the short end of the stick on this bye swapping deal. They now have a 5 out of 6 game stretch on the road during weeks 6-11, they lose out on being able to prepare for a team for two weeks, and the swap gave one of their division rivals a better bye week. On the bright side the Ravens had a ton of injuries coming out of camp meaning that a week off now will make the Ravens full strength sooner and if the Ravens manage to stay at or around .500 by week 11 they could be in a pretty good situation to make a push with 4 out of 6 games at home to close the season.
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