Football Game Notes -- Terps host West Virginia

Sept. 12, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -

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The University of Maryland football team looks to rebound from a heartbreaking loss and get its first home win of 2005 as it plays host this Saturday to regional rival West Virginia. Kickoff from Byrd Stadium is set for 12:08 p.m., with the game being televised by JP Sports and broadcast on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network (radio pregame starts at 10:30 a.m.).

In the D.C./Baltimore area, the game will air on WDCA (Ch. 20 in Washington, D.C.) and WJZ (Ch. 13 (ABC) in Baltimore).

Week two for the Terrapins was another sign of the youth on this year's team as it outplayed No. 25 Clemson for much of the contest last weekend, but failed to hold a 10-point fourth quarter lead, falling 28-24. The Terps outgained the Tigers (344-292) and posted more passing yards than the league's preseason all-league quarterback Charlie Whitehurst (288-178), but gave up touchdowns of 51 and 38 yards in the game's final 7:35, the second being the game-winner.

West Virginia posted a less-than-dramatic but not less-than-impressive victory over Wofford, 35-7, in its last outing. The Mountaineers held the Terriers to just 154 yards of offense in the home-opening win while moving to 2-0 (1-0 Big East) on the season.

Neither team enters the game nationally-ranked.

Series Notes -- Terps & Mountaineers

This year's meeting marks the 44th between the Terrapins and Mountaineers, a series which began in 1919 and currently stands at 21-20-2 in Maryland's favor.

Maryland and WVU have met every year since 1980. The last 16 games of the series show the two teams knotted at 8-8, but the Terrapins have won four of the last five.

Ralph Friedgen and Rich Rodriguez each took the helm of their respective alma maters in 2001. Maryland is 4-1 against WVU in that time, with WVU getting its first win since `01 at home last year, a 19-16 overtime victory.

As the all-time record indicates, the series between the two Mid-Atlantic schools has been very evenly matched over the years. So much so, in fact, that last year's victory in Morgantown gave the two schools identical records at their own venues against one another. Maryland is 11-9-1 at Byrd Stadium and WVU is 11-9-1 at Mountaineer Field.

Last season's Mountaineer win was the closest contest of the five meetings to date since 2001. In the previous three meetings, the Terps outscored WVU by a combined score of 123-31, an average of nearly 46-10 per game.

Only twice in the last 11 meetings between the Terrapins and the Mountaineers has the game's winner not scored at least 30 points (WVU, 13-0 in 1996 and 19-16 in OT last year).

For a recap of last year's game at West Virginia, see the Opponent/Series Info page of this release.

Quick Hits, Week Two

Maryland scored on its first two drives of the day. The first was on a 21-yard Dan Ennis field goal after Sam Hollenbach connected on a career-long 44-yard pass to Vernon Davis. The second drive -- the result of an errant snap on a punt by Clemson -- culminated on a 1-yard plunge by Hollenbach, the first rushing touchdown of his career.

Junior Sam Hollenbach had a career-high 288 yards passing, completing 18 of 28 with a pair of touchdowns. The two TD passes are also a career-high for Hollenbach.

Hollenbach's second touchdown pass of the day was a 3-yard effort near the end of the third quarter, the first career reception (and touchdown) for sophomore backup TE Joey Haynos.

With six catches for 140 yards, Davis had the first 100-yard receiving game this year by a Terp, and the first since Davis last year vs. Virginia (5-104, 11/6/04).

Senior Danny Melendez had career-highs with five catches for 74 yards.

D'Qwell Jackson finished with 16 tackles, his 15th career game in double digits. Last year's leading tackler in the ACC is off to a good start once again with 34 in Maryland's first two games.

Clemson's first three scoring drives were aided by unsportsmanlike conduct penalties against the Terps. In the first half, an unsportsmanlike penalty extended a drive that had been stopped in three downs; the second saw the Tigers move into the red zone on two unsportsmanlike penalties and the third helped them get out of their own end.

After allowing the TD on the opening drive, the Terp defense clamped down in the first half. For the remainder of the half, Maryland yielded just 51 total yards and for the half (including the first drive) it allowed just 24 yards rushing.

Charlie Whitehurst became just the second QB to throw multiple touchdown passes against the Terps since Florida State's Chris Rix in the second week of the 2003 season.

Select Company

Ralph Friedgen's 36 wins in his first four years as a head coach ranks tied for 10th in NCAA Division I-A history for fourth-year coaches. His company on that list is noteworthy.

Nestled between Nebraska's Tom Osborne (9th) and Boston College's Frank Leahy (12th) stands Friedgen and a coach who Terp fans may recognize -- current defensive coordinator Gary Blackney. Blackney posted a 36-8-2 record at Bowling Green from 1991-94.

Just two games into his fifth season at Maryland, Friedgen is already moving his way up the charts for fifth-year ACC coaches. With 37 wins, Friedgen has moved ahead of good friend and current UCF head coach George O'Leary and into seventh on the ACC list. With a win this week over West Virginia, Friedgen would move into a tie with current Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden in the sixth spot.

A Wealth of Experience

Atop the Maryland coaching staff are a head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator who combined, have as much experience as nearly any threesome in Division I-A football. Between Ralph Friedgen, Charlie Taaffe and Gary Blackney, there is a combined 97 years of full-time coaching experience at either the pro or collegiate levels.

Only two other programs can boast more experience at the top of their coaching staff than Maryland's near century of experience. Penn State leads the way with Joe Paterno (HC), Galen Hall (OC) and Tom Bradley (DC) accounting for 117 years of experience, while Florida State is second with Bobby Bowden (HC), Jeff Bowden (OC) and Mickey Andrews (DC) accounting for 101.

The coaching experience on the Terrapin staff does not end with Friedgen and his coordinators. The Maryland staff of position coaches, overall, possesses a combined total of 212 years of full-time experience at either the collegiate or pro levels.

That total includes five coaches (excluding Friedgen, Taaffe and Blackney) who have been at it for 15 years or more, and the 212 years means an average of over 21 years of experience per coach on the 2005 staff.

Raising the Bar

With its season-opening win over Navy, Maryland has 37 victories over its last four-plus seasons -- all since Ralph Friedgen took over in 2001.

The Terps' total of 36 wins from 2001-04 was the second-highest four-year win total in school history. Maryland's top effort was 37 wins under Jerry Claiborne from 1975-78.

The 2004 season marked the first time in Friedgen's tenure that the team failed to win 10 games. In the 108 years of football prior to Friedgen's arrival, Maryland had never put together three straight nine-win seasons much less 10 like the Terps' did from 2001-03.

Since 1892, Maryland has had seven 10-win seasons, three of which have come in Friedgen's four-plus years.

Coaching Connections

Ralph Friedgen is not the only member of the Terrapin coaching staff with previous ties to College Park, though this is his fourth stint at Maryland (player from 1965-68; graduate assistant from 1969-72; offensive coordinator/offensive line coach from 1982-86 and the present stint).

Defensive line coach Dave Sollazzo was a graduate assistant for the Terrapins in 1984 and defensive line coach in `86-87.

As stated previous, Sollazzo is also one of several coaches with a connection to another school -- The Citadel. Sollazzo played for (1974-76) and helped coach (1989-98) the Bulldogs, while Friedgen coached there from 1973-79. Charlie Taaffe was a head coach there from 1987-96 and outside linebackers coach Al Seamonson served there from 1987-99.

Friedgen was actually Sollazzo's position coach at The Citadel. In addition, the head coach at the college at the time was former Terp mentor and current Army coach Bobby Ross (Bulldog head coach from 1973-77; Terps from `82-86).

Sam I Am

In the last two seasons, all eyes have been on the quarterback position at Maryland. Last season, there was little mention of Sam Hollenbach as a serious contender for the job, but a start against Wake Forest in the 2004 finale and ensuing strong starts in `05 suggest the Terrapin coaching staff seems to have found their man.

Hollenbach (pronounced HALL-en-bock) had found the bottom of the depth chart in his first two years, struggling both with the offense and with delivering the football. Perseverance, work and a change in his throwing motion, however, have steadily moved him to the starting job and early season success.

In his first two games this season, the Pennsylvania native is 37-of-58 (64 percent) for 505 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Against Clemson, Hollenbach led the Terp offense passing for a career-high 288 yards on 18 completions (28 attempts). He also posted his first career rushing touchdown, a one-yard plunge on fourth down in the second quarter.

Entering this week, Hollenbach is 2-1 in his career as a starter and has a pass efficiency rating of 143.66, sixth-best in the ACC and 38th nationally.

Green Shells

Last year's Maryland team was a young bunch, but this season, the Terrapins are even more green than last.

Friedgen likes to throw out a note about the number of players on the roster with three or more years eligibility remaining, but his number (58) has been based on a look at student-athletes receiving financial aid.

A look at the entire roster is astounding. A total of 72 Maryland players are sophomore or younger with 47 of those Terps being freshmen (redshirt or true).

Miller Time

Senior Derek Miller has been considered an intelligent, strong-blocking tight end since the duties were turned over to him by current Minnesota Viking Jeff Dugan. Out of necessity, those skills have been put to the test -- at least early in the season-- as he has made the move to left tackle.

Miller's knowledge of the system made it so he could immediately jump in for an injured Stephon Heyer when the senior went down with a knee injury in the first week of camp. Miller -- who will wear No. 74 when playing on the line -- has been a steadying force ever since on a line that features seven (of 10) players on the two-deep who are sophomore or younger.

Defense The Backbone

When he was hired to come to Maryland, the talk about the mark Ralph Friedgen would make in College Park was all about offense. What has been unquestionably the team's most consistent unit in four-plus seasons, however, has been its defense.

Defensive coordinator Gary Blackney's group has been a unit characterized by stopping the run and making teams score by moving the ball through the air. With a scoring average of 18.3 points allowed per game since 2001, that feat has obviously been a tall order for Terrapin foes.

The Terps finished last season allowing an average of 20 points per game, 27th-best in Division I-A.

Since 2001, 36 of Maryland's 52 opponents (69%) have been held to 20 points or less.

Maryland has yet to see a full season under Blackney's watch where opponents average more than 20 points per game.

Since 2002, Maryland has held its opposition scoreless in 76 quarters (three in 2005).

Maryland has held seven opponents to 100 yards or less passing since 2001. The team held Navy to 97 yards in game one of this year.

In Blackney's tenure, Maryland has held its opposition below 100 yards rushing 13 times.

The Terps have not had a quarterback throw for 250 yards or more since Philip Rivers of NC State did so in game 11 of 2003 (FSU threw for over 250 in `04, but did so with two different quarterbacks and attempting 51 passes).

Just twice since game two of 2003 has a quarterback been able to pass for more than one touchdown against the Terrapins (Virginia Tech's Bryan Randall last year and Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst last week).

Blackney's "D" Pulling Rank

Since Gary Blackney arrived in 2001, Maryland's defense has consistently been among the national leaders in several categories. Below is a look at some of the defense's accomplishments in that time (bold denotes Top 30 national ranking):

                	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
Total Def.:     	30	36	15	21	36
Scoring Def.:   	18	7	6	27	T-66
Pass. Def.:     	82	52	12	8	13
Pass. Eff. Def.:	34	36	17	16	93

In addition to the ranking in categories listed above, it is notable that in 2001 the Terps finished ninth in the NCAA in rushing defense, seventh in turnovers gained, and ranked second nationally (behind Miami) with 24 interceptions.

Action Jackson

He was considered undersized as a prep. He began his career playing in the shadows of a legend (E.J. Henderson) early in his career. Senior linebacker D'Qwell Jackson has been through just about everything and has emerged as the unquestionable leader of the Maryland defense, a major awards and All-America candidate, and one of the top defensive players at any position in the country.

Jackson has led the Terrapin defense in tackling in each of his two years as a starter (136 in 2003; an ACC-best 123 in 2004; and now an ACC-leading 34 in 2005).

In his first two games this season, Jackson has averaged 17.0 tackles per game, tops in the ACC and second in the NCAA. A career-high tying 18 tackles against Navy and 16 the following week against Clemson have him again among the national leaders in tackles.

Jackson's performance in week one against Navy helped him earn ACC Player of the Week honors for his position. He has been named the league's player of the week four times in the last two years.

The fiercest competitor on the Terp roster, Jackson has led Maryland in tackles in 14 of 25 games the last three years. He has also had 15 career games with double-digit tackles.

Jackson, a first team All-ACC selection who finished second in balloting (by two votes) for Defensive Player of the Year honors, averaged 11.2 tackles per game last year, making him the lone player in the league to average 10 or more tackles per game.

His average of 11.2 tackles per game ranked 11th-best in the NCAA for 2004.

A preseason first or second team All-American on nearly every major publication's preseason list, Jackson is on the watch lists for the Bednarik, Lombardi and Butkus Awards this year.

Turnover Low in `06

In addition to the high number of young Terps taking the field this year, the more experienced Maryland players -- in terms of their academic eligibility -- are somewhat few and far between, leaving the team with likely much the same look next season.

Maryland has 16 seniors on its current roster, with two of those seniors -- OT Stephon Heyer and TB Josh Allen -- may return next season.

Heading into the third weekend, 10 of 22 listed starters are seniors. On defense, the Terps will lose a total of just four players from its entire two-deep to graduation following this year.

The Duke

One of the most physically-gifted players in the history of Maryland football, TE Vernon "Duke" Davis seems poised for a breakout junior season after an impressive sophomore campaign.

Davis led the team in receiving yards last year from his H-back position, posting 441 yards (on 27 receptions) in what could best be described as a down year for Maryland's pass offense.

Against Clemson, the Washington, D.C. native had one of the best games of his career. He finished with six receptions for 140 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown, often dragging tacklers with him if not running by them.

Named to the John Mackey Award watch list this season after being named the national tight end of the week for his play against Duke last year, Davis' strength numbers are unparalleled in Terp history by a tight end. His spring 2005 testing numbers included a 460-pound bench, 685-pound squat, 40-inch vertical jump and a time of 4.41 in the 40-yard dash.

Turtles in Name Only

Though this year's Maryland team is again a young one, it is also notable that team speed and athleticism have improved as the current coaching staff's recruits are fully integrated into the system (2005 will be the first year there will have been no holdovers from the previous staff's recruiting efforts).

The Terrapins had 14 players run in the 4.5-or-better range in the 40-yard dash in spring testing (note that all times are an average of six stopwatches on the same sprint).

Five of the 12 wide receivers who tested in the spring ran 4.54 or better, two tailbacks ran 4.5 or better (Lattimore and Merrills) and five defensive backs ran under a 4.5 (Barnes, McPhearson, Taylor, Wilson and Gardner).

Two receivers who did not test -- newcomers Darrius Heyward-Bey (10.54 100m) and Danny Oquendo (7.46 55mH) -- were among the top prep sprinters in the nation this past track season.

Two notable times -- CB Gerrick McPhearson broke Renaldo Nehemiah's school record with a 4.21; Vernon Davis, at 250 pounds, ran a 4.41.

Podlesh One of Nation's Finest

Junior Adam Podlesh settled into his career at Maryland before the ink had dried in the record books on his predecessor Brooks Barnard's strong career. Though Podlesh has not cracked all of Barnard's records yet, Maryland finds itself with arguably the most complete and versatile punter in the nation.

Last season, Podlesh maintained a 44.8-yard average (second-best in the ACC and 10th-best in the nation) while his net average (39.4) led the ACC and was also seventh in the NCAA.

On 121 career punts, Podlesh has dropped 36 percent (44) inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

Though he is not ranked nationally because he has not met the minimum punts to qualify, Podlesh is leading the ACC with a 48.2-yard average through two games, with two of five punts landing inside the opposition's 20.

In being named the second team All-ACC punter in 2003, Podlesh became the first freshman in school history to be recognized by the league. He earned the honor for the second-straight season in 2004.

Tough Losses

Two weeks into August, the 2005 season had not yet begun, and already the team suffered a number of significant losses due to injury.

Prior to spring ball, it was announced that TB Josh Allen would miss 2005 recovering from a knee injury suffered in the last game of 2004. Allen will enter 2006 sixth on the team's all-time rushing touchdown list (21) and 11th on the career yardage list (1,860).

Just a week into fall camp, the team lost its top offensive lineman, as left tackle Stephon Heyer tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Heyer entered 2005 with 24 straight starts under his belt, most on the offense.

A day after Heyer's injury, redshirt freshman LB Erin Henderson also tore his ACL. Henderson was a backup at two linebacker spots and was playing well in addition to working with a number of units on special teams.

Iron Terps

Maryland's strength numbers over the course of the last five years have been off the charts. This season, 30 players earned "Iron Terp" status, an honor that is based on a player's strength index (determined by a strength/weight formula). That total is the second-highest in team history.

Team averages in categories used to measure index this season include an average bench press of 337 pounds; an average squat of 516 pounds; an average clean of 295 pounds; and an average vertical jump of 33-1/2 inches.

Not only were new individual records set, but the team as a whole improved dramatically, as 89 percent of the players on this year's team elevated their personal bests in strength index. By comparison, 72 percent had bettered their numbers in 2004.

Vernon Davis' strength feats were mentioned earlier in the release, but other notable accomplishments include QB Sam Hollenbach setting team records in index (701), squat (600) and clean (320) and P Adam Podlesh posting a best-ever mark for a punter with a 315-pound clean a year after setting the record in the 40-yard dash (4.46).

By the ranking system used at Maryland, TB Mario Merrills is the team's strongest player pound-for-pound after setting a record strength index for a running back with an 814.

Local Ties

The Terps do not have any players from the state of West Virginia. Like former Mountaineer nemesis Scott McBrien, however, backup QB Bobby Sheahin was a member of the Mountaineer squad before transferring to Maryland last year.

West Virginia has nine players who call the state of Maryland home: DB Dee Abodunrin (Silver Spring), OT Chris Bassler (New Windsor), WR Darren Brownlee (Boyds), QB Antonio Lewis (Waldorf), DL Chris Malamet (Frederick), OL Mike Moeller (Gaithersburg), DE Brad Palmer (Oakland), OL John Walko (Germantown) and LB Steve Weedon (Damascus).

WVU quarterbacks and special teams coach Bill Stewart was an assistant at Navy in 1984.

Conference Giant

This week, the Atlantic Coast Conference has seven teams ranked in the nation's Top 25. In addition, the conference is ranked by the Sagarin rating system as the top conference in college football. The Sagarin computer ranking has 10 of the league's 12 teams are listed in its' national top 50.

ACC's New Look

For the first time, the Atlantic Coast Conference will be a 12-team league in 2005 and feature a conference championship game. The league is split in two divisions with divisional champions meeting in the inaugural ACC Championship game on December 3rd in Jacksonville, Florida's Alltel Stadium.

Maryland is in the ACC's Atlantic Division along with first-year member Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, NC State and Wake Forest. The Coastal Division features Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech, last year's league champion.

Scouting the Mountaineers

West Virginia heads to College Park with a 2-0 record and boasting one of the top defenses in the country through the season's first two weeks.

Last week, the Mountaineers defeated Wofford, 35-7, at home. They held the Southern military school to 135 yards of total offense en route to victory.

WVU is ranked in the top seven nationally in four defensive categories. The team is first in total defense (128.5 avg.), second in pass efficiency defense (61.65), third in pass defense (80.5 avg.) and seventh in scoring defense (7.0 ppg).

On offense, the Mountaineers have maintained their status quo -- they enter this weekend's game as one of the top-rated rushing offenses in the country. Ranked eighth in the NCAA, WVU averages 255.5 yards per game. Conversely, it ranks 93rd nationally in passing offense with an average of 169.5 yards per game.

Individually, the workload is spread more than it has been in year's past offensively. Five players average more than 25 yards rushing with no single player averaging more than backup QB Pat White's 63.5 per game.

Eric Wicks has been the Mountaineers biggest playmaker through two games. The junior defensive back has notched just six tackles, but three have been for a loss and two have been sacks while he has also recorded an interception (returned for a TD), a pass breakup and forced one fumble.

WVU's Rich Rodriguez

Rich Rodriguez is in his fifth year as the head coach at West Virginia. He owns a 30-21 record in his first stint as a head coach. In 2004, Mountaineers went 8-4 and appeared in the Toyota Gator Bowl for the third time in four years.

Rodriguez is WVU's 31st head coach after coming to Morgantown following two successful two-year stints serving under Tommy Bowden. The first was as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Tulane in 1997 and `98. In 1999 and 2000, he served under Bowden as offensive coordinator and associate head coach at Clemson.

In their years together, Rodriguez and Bowden took little time to turn things around at Tulane and Clemson. At both schools, teams struggled somewhat in year one (a combined 13-10 record) only to have strong second years (21-3).

The best year Rodriguez had as an assistant was at Tulane in 1998 when the Green Wave rode the strong play of quarterback Shaun King to a perfect 12-0 record and a berth in the Liberty Bowl.

A native of Grant Town, W. Va., Rodriguez was a three-time letterwinner at defensive back for WVU from `82-84.

Protecting the House

Despite falling in its opening home game of 2005, the Terrapins are 23-4 at Byrd Stadium under Ralph Friedgen.

The Terrapins finished with their first sub-.500 record under Friedgen in 2004, but for the most part maintained their strong play at home, finishing with a 4-2 mark at Byrd.

With Maryland's win over Virginia in 2003, the Terps finished the 2003 season with a perfect 6-0 record at home, marking the second time in three years that the team had finished its home slate unblemished.

In 112 seasons of football, Maryland has finished undefeated at home 19 times. Just eight of those occasions, however, have come since 1950 (when Byrd Stadium opened) and just three times has it happened since 1975 (`76, 2001 and `03).

The Terrapins' 6-0 mark in 2003 was a tie for the second-best record at home in school history. The 1976 team was also 6-0, only to be trumped by the 2001 team which won all of its games on a seven-game home slate.

More on Byrd Stadium

Now in its 56th year of operation, Byrd Stadium continues to serve as the home of the Terps. Opened on Sept. 30, 1950, and constructed for a sum of $1 million, Byrd was named after Dr. H.C. "Curley" Byrd, a multi-sport star at Maryland who later became the school's head football coach and ultimately its president.

Heading into 2005, the Terrapins are 179-103-1 within the friendly confines of Byrd.

With temporary bleachers installed again this season, Byrd Stadium can hold up to 51,500.

Players Mentioned

Joey Haynos

Erin Henderson

Darrius Heyward-Bey

Danny Oquendo

Bobby Sheahin

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