I think Cal's record on the back end of a home-home is decent, SU, ATS any way you look at it especially when they are on the receiving end of a road loss in the first game in a series. I can only think of UT off hand but I know there have been others.
And another angle... I am sure that Jahvid Best will have a thing or 2 to say about the outcome here. He was held to an abysmal 25 yards in G1 (his lowest output of the year, including USC) even though Riley threw for more than 400 yards. I seem to recall some kind of injury that hampered him shortly after the season started but I can't remember the circumstances -- possibly turf toe. Any way you look at it, it was a bad day for him last year on the road in this matchup. There haven't been many like game 1 @MD LY in his entire career.
In any event, as they are known to do, this game is the kind of game that warrants a big turnaround from Cal's offense, specifically a much more productive game out of Best and Vereen. Best is capable of taking a game like this one over personally. He did it on numerous occasions last season carrying the Bear offense when there was no QB in sight, and maybe he thinks he owes one to the Terps here. That fits his style and the Bears thirst for revenge in Strawberry Canyon too. I just hope it isn't some huge DD number to lay. If so I'd seek my action elsewhere.
I don't know what kind of win/loss record Maryland will have this year. But from a betting standpoint the Terps have a pretty good track record in covering games as home dogs. So games that I will be looking at where they could possibly be the home dog is against Rutgers, Clemson and Va Tech.
The Fridge
I say that if Fridge gets down to 275 they go undefeated. Seriously, at 62 to make such a dramatic life changing move is highly commendable and to say the least exemplary. Regardless of their rercord this year or any year I say Maryland is damn lucky to have him. For me personally, Maryland may be the hardest team for me to bet on or against, partly because of my respect for Fridge.
I say that if Fridge gets down to 275 they go undefeated. Seriously, at 62 to make such a dramatic life changing move is highly commendable and to say the least exemplary. Regardless of their rercord this year or any year I say Maryland is damn lucky to have him. For me personally, Maryland may be the hardest team for me to bet on or against, partly because of my respect for Fridge.
I can easily see 7 losses for Maryland. At Cal is a sure loss. At Wake Forest, at N.C. State, Va. Tech, and at Florida State will take huge upsetting efforts. Maryland will be dogs in all of those games. Maryland will have to win 3 out of 4 against Rutgers, Clemson, Virginia and B.C. to get to 6 wins, and that is assuming that they get past Middle Tennessee, a team that beat them last year. Maryland does not have the talent on defense to stop anyone. They probably are not a Top 50 team, and certainly not a challenger for the ACC Crown.
I'm not trying to be a homer, and it's hard to separate what I want to see from what I expect to see. That said, QB Chris Turner has 21 starts under his belt, it's the second year of OC James Franklin's offense, and there is certainly talent on the offense (though the O-line concerns are visible).
More importantly, IMO, is that DC Chris Cosh has been replaced by UMASS HC Don Brown, who is getting rid of the soft zone and employing a 4-3. I don't see 7 losses. It's certainly possible, but I would be surprised if this team wasn't .500. That said, yeah, they aren't challenging for the ACC Atlantic Division unless Brown's schemes are unstoppable.
More importantly, IMO, is that DC Chris Cosh has been replaced by UMASS HC Don Brown, who is getting rid of the soft zone and employing a 4-3. I don't see 7 losses. It's certainly possible, but I would be surprised if this team wasn't .500. That said, yeah, they aren't challenging for the ACC Atlantic Division unless Brown's schemes are unstoppable.
