Maryland Preview
September 14, 2005 02:09 PM | General
September 14, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU coach Rich Rodriguez says turnovers were the difference between West Virginia’s 19-16 overtime win over Maryland last year in Morgantown and its prior three meetings when the Terps beat the Mountaineers by an average score of 46-10.
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| West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez is very impressed with Maryland tight end Vernon Davis and linebacker D'Qwell Jackson.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
“Physically they were about the same,” said Rodriguez.
The West Virginia coach admitted Monday night that beating Maryland last year removed a giant gorilla off his program’s back. In what had been a fairly even series up until the point Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen and Rodriguez took over their respective programs in 2001, Maryland has since turned the table.
The Terps beat WVU 32-20 in a turnover-plagued game at College Park in 2001, and then put it on the Mountaineers in three successive games by scores of 48-17, 34-7 and 41-7.
“We played bad – that was the thing that was so disheartening,” said Rodriguez. “The worst game we played in each of the last three years was against Maryland in all three phases. Last year was good to just not play a bad game. We didn’t play a great game but we played well enough to win. Now we can try and move on.”
Doing so at College Park is obviously much easier said than done. West Virginia’s last win at Maryland came eight years ago in 1997 when guys like Marc Bulger, Amos Zereoue and Jerry Porter where in the lineup for the Mountaineers.
It remains to be seen if West Virginia has those type players on its roster this year, but Rodriguez is convinced Maryland does. The two that catch his immediate attention are 6-foot-3-inch, 253-pound junior tight end Vernon Davis and 6-foot-1-inch, 231-pound senior linebacker D’Qwell Jackson.
Davis, who shows 40 career receptions for 666 yards and four touchdowns, is an automatic double team.
“You’re talking about a 250 pounder that can bench press the building and runs a 4-something forty. You’ve got match-up problems with DBs let alone linebackers. He’s bigger and stronger than the DBs and he’s faster than the linebackers. One guy can’t cover him,” said Rodriguez.
“He was one of the top recruits on our board and we tried hard to get him to come,” the coach added. “I knew as soon as they signed him that he was going to be in the NFL. We’ve got to make sure we know where he’s at. When it’s crunch time they’re going to go to Vernon Davis.”
On the other side of the ball, Rodriguez is concerned about Jackson, a 350-pound bench-press guy with a 35 ½-inch vertical jump.
“D’Qwell Jackson is the best defensive player I’ve seen in the last two or three years,” Rodriguez said. “You’ve got to make sure both linebackers are blocked but the thing that he does is he backdoors you. In other words, you’ll go and get him cut off and all of the sudden he’ll go behind you and get back in front and make a lot of plays. A few special linebackers can do that.”
Rodriguez says Jackson is able to do all this within the structure of the defense; there is no freelancing on his part.
“He’s a very disciplined player,” said Rodriguez. “You just watch a quarter of their tape and you’re saying this guy is making every tackle sideline to sideline. He’s the best linebacker since (former Maryland standout) E.J. Henderson that I’ve seen. If we weren’t playing him he’d be fun to watch.”
Rodriguez is also impressed with Maryland’s junior quarterback Sam Hollenbach, who was 18 of 28 for 288 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s loss to Clemson.
“Hollenbach from what I’ve seen has played very well. He’s been a calming influence for their offense,” Rodriguez said. “They moved the ball well against Clemson. I think they found their guy.”
Looking for the right guys in the Washington, D.C. metro area has always been a priority for Rodriguez, who has assigned assistant coach Bill Stewart that recruiting territory. Rodriguez admits playing well against Maryland always helps give the Mountaineers a better shot at going up against the Terps for recruits.
“Maryland is a big recruiting rival for us,” he said. “Some of the guys on their roster we’ve tried to recruit and maybe a couple of guys on our roster they’ve tried to recruit. I don’t think whoever wins the game wins the recruiting battle but it’s important in that regard to at least be in the same ballpark with them because there are a lot of good players in that region. It’s big game for Coach Stewart who recruits that area.”
Rodriguez likens the Maryland rivalry to West Virginia’s two other big rivals Pitt and Virginia Tech.
“I played here in the early 1980s and it was a rivalry then. It’s been a rivalry before that. For me, when people talk about rivalries and they talk about the Marshall game being a rivalry, our rival has always been Pitt, Maryland and Virginia Tech,” he said.
Saturday’s game is scheduled to kick off at noon. The contest will be televised by Jefferson Pilot as the ACC “Game of the Week.” Stations in West Virginia markets carrying the telecast include: WCHS (Charleston), WVFX (Clarksburg), WVNS (Bluefield), WTAE (Pittsburgh), WHAG (Hagerstown, Md.).
Briefly:
“I don’t have to do a lot as far as motivation goes.”
“I promise you Maryland has a lot more players than both of the teams we’ve faced so far. They present more of a challenge at the skill position and more of a challenge up front,” he said. “They’re well coached; we’ve had problems with their schemes in the past. It’s going to be a very physical game and it will be played with a lot of emotion.”
“We don’t have a lot of NFL experience on our staff but we’re not playing the New England Patriots either,” Rodriguez said. “I think it helps you. Had I had some NFL coaching experience it probably would have been beneficial to me but we’re playing in a college game in a college environment with college players. I’m not too concerned about that.”
“It’s going to be a lot harder running the ball against Maryland. Last year was the only time we had any success at all rushing against them. Kay-Jay (Harris) had some success running against them and I think that’s one of the reasons why we won the game,” Rodriguez said.
“They were dead in the water with six minutes to go in the game and he said they just hung in there and got a couple of plays at the end and won,” Rodriguez said. “They struggled offensively against them for a couple of years. (Maryland) is still as stout as ever on defense.”
“Don’t remind me,” Rodriguez groaned.
Maryland managed just 56 yards rushing on 38 carries in last weekend’s loss to Clemson.
The Terps have four true freshmen listed as backups on offense: wide receiver Isaiah Williams, left tackle Jared Gaither, wide receiver Darris Heyward-Bey and slot receiver Danny Oquendo. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Gaither is getting closer to being ready to become a full-time starter ahead of converted tight end Derek Miller at left tackle.
