COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF
September 17, 2011 08:30 AM | General
West Virginia takes on Maryland Saturday in a noon non-conference game at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium Saturday in College Park, Md. ESPNU (Rob Stone and Danny Kannell) will televise the contest nationally.
The Mountaineers renewed its annual border rivalry with the Terps last year in Morgantown after taking a two-year hiatus in 2008-09, West Virginia jumping out to a 28-0 first half lead before securing a 31-17 victory. West Virginia and Maryland have played a total of 47 times since 1919, making the Mountaineers the most frequent non-conference opponent on Maryland’s grid schedule. West Virginia owns a 24-21-2 overall advantage.
The two teams will continue the series every year until at least 2017.
West Virginia is facing a familiar face on the other side of the field as well in first-year coach Randy Edsall, who captured his first victory against the Mountaineers last year while coaching at Connecticut. West Virginia is 6-1 in games Edsall has coached against WVU.
Dana Holgorsen is coaching his third game for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineer Sports Network (Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace, Jed Drenning and Hoppy Kercheval) will deliver the game statewide and nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 94).
Here is Saturday’s Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia’s offense has already produced seven scoring drives of TEN plays or longer this year; half the entire season’s total of 14 recorded last year.
9 – The average margin of victory for the winning team the last NINE times these two teams have faced each other is 14.9 points per game. Maryland’s biggest margin of victory was 31 points (48-17) in 2002, and West Virginia’s biggest margin of victory was 17 points in 2006 (45-28) and 2007 (31-14).
8 – Maryland has registered EIGHT defensive touchdowns in the last 17 games, including a pair of defensive TDs in the season opener against Miami.
7 – SEVEN true freshmen have now seen action for the Mountaineers this season: Connor Adila, Jared Barber, Andrew Buie, Dustin Garrison, Paul Millard, Vernard Roberts and Shaq Petteway.
6 – West Virginia’s defense ranks SIXTH in the country this week in third down conversion percentage, allowing opponents to convert just 19 percent of their third-down tries.
5 – West Virginia has won FIVE straight games against the Terps dating back to the 2004 season, an overtime win in Morgantown under former coach Rich Rodriguez. Maryland’s last victory over West Virginia came in the 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
4 – Quarterback Geno Smith fired a career-best FOUR touchdown passes in last year’s 31-17 victory over Maryland in Morgantown. Smith matched his career-high in TD passes last week against Norfolk State.
3 – Maryland has had just THREE punters and THREE long snappers in the last 10 seasons. The Terps have now gone 138 straight games without having a punt blocked.
2 – Maryland punt returner Tony Logan has TWO of the three longest punt returns in Maryland history – both performed last season. Logan ran one back 85 yards against Florida International and returned another one 84 yards to the house against Duke.
1 – West Virginia now has 34 players with at least ONE game’s worth of starting experience heading into the Maryland game. Don Barclay and Keith Tandy lead the way with 29 career starts.
Enjoy the game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
The Mountaineers renewed its annual border rivalry with the Terps last year in Morgantown after taking a two-year hiatus in 2008-09, West Virginia jumping out to a 28-0 first half lead before securing a 31-17 victory. West Virginia and Maryland have played a total of 47 times since 1919, making the Mountaineers the most frequent non-conference opponent on Maryland’s grid schedule. West Virginia owns a 24-21-2 overall advantage.
The two teams will continue the series every year until at least 2017.
West Virginia is facing a familiar face on the other side of the field as well in first-year coach Randy Edsall, who captured his first victory against the Mountaineers last year while coaching at Connecticut. West Virginia is 6-1 in games Edsall has coached against WVU.
Dana Holgorsen is coaching his third game for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineer Sports Network (Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace, Jed Drenning and Hoppy Kercheval) will deliver the game statewide and nationally on Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 94).
Here is Saturday’s Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – West Virginia’s offense has already produced seven scoring drives of TEN plays or longer this year; half the entire season’s total of 14 recorded last year.
9 – The average margin of victory for the winning team the last NINE times these two teams have faced each other is 14.9 points per game. Maryland’s biggest margin of victory was 31 points (48-17) in 2002, and West Virginia’s biggest margin of victory was 17 points in 2006 (45-28) and 2007 (31-14).
8 – Maryland has registered EIGHT defensive touchdowns in the last 17 games, including a pair of defensive TDs in the season opener against Miami.
7 – SEVEN true freshmen have now seen action for the Mountaineers this season: Connor Adila, Jared Barber, Andrew Buie, Dustin Garrison, Paul Millard, Vernard Roberts and Shaq Petteway.
6 – West Virginia’s defense ranks SIXTH in the country this week in third down conversion percentage, allowing opponents to convert just 19 percent of their third-down tries.
5 – West Virginia has won FIVE straight games against the Terps dating back to the 2004 season, an overtime win in Morgantown under former coach Rich Rodriguez. Maryland’s last victory over West Virginia came in the 2004 Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
4 – Quarterback Geno Smith fired a career-best FOUR touchdown passes in last year’s 31-17 victory over Maryland in Morgantown. Smith matched his career-high in TD passes last week against Norfolk State.
3 – Maryland has had just THREE punters and THREE long snappers in the last 10 seasons. The Terps have now gone 138 straight games without having a punt blocked.
2 – Maryland punt returner Tony Logan has TWO of the three longest punt returns in Maryland history – both performed last season. Logan ran one back 85 yards against Florida International and returned another one 84 yards to the house against Duke.
1 – West Virginia now has 34 players with at least ONE game’s worth of starting experience heading into the Maryland game. Don Barclay and Keith Tandy lead the way with 29 career starts.
Enjoy the game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
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