Category Archives: Terps

Maryland cracks top-25 in latest AP poll

Posted on by

On Monday afternoon the Associated Press released their NCAA men’s basketball poll for week four of the 2018-29 season. After winning their first six games of the season, the Maryland Terrapins find themselves ranked No. 24 in the nation. This is the first time since February of 2017 that the Terps have been in the AP top-25.

This early emergence in the top-25 may come as a surprise considering what happened in the offseason. Mark Turgeon was able to recruit another strong class but losing starters like Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson to the NBA draft was a huge loss. Even after retaining key players like Anthony Cowan and Bruno Fernando, voters and media personalities struggled to pin down Maryland. Some had them finishing toward the top of the conference while others failed to see how they could build any momentum with such a young core. However, it appears many are starting to become convinced that this young Terps squad can make some noise this year.

Having Maryland in the top 25 will also be great for the upcoming ACC / Big Ten challenge as the Terps prepare to host Virginia on Wednesday November 28. The Cavaliers are currently ranked No. 4 in the AP poll and are coming off the heels of a nice 53-46 win over No. 25 Wisconsin.

This Wednesday’s nationally televised game will surely be a good one as Virginia receives their first big road test and the Terps will get their first chance for a resume win. The importance of this matchup cannot be stressed enough. The Big Ten currently has seven teams in the AP top-25 but Maryland may only get the chance to host a ranked team one or two more times this season.

The last time these two teams met was in December of 2014. The Terps knocked off the Cavilers in their final ACC home game earlier that year but Virginia would get it’s revenge on Maryland by taking them down in the ACC / Big Ten challenge. Almost four years later, there is still no love lost between these former conference foes.

Image credit: Patrick Semansky / AP

Advertisements

Podcast Episode 26: Who’s ready to walk with Mike Elias (and run with Lamar Jackson)?

Posted on by

Image Credit: Camden Chat

Welcome to Episode 26 of the Charm City Bird Watch Podcast with site owner Jake McDonnell, editor Nolan McGraw, and author Ian Schultz.

After Jake tells a rather unfortunate story to kick off the show, the guys recap Lamar Jackson‘s first NFL start, a 24-21 win over the Cincinnati Bengals (8:38). They’ll also take a look at what was said during John Harbaugh’s Monday press conference (23:21) where the Ravens’ head coach lashed out at reporters over questions about Jackson and Marshal Yanda allegedly spitting on Vontaze Burfict, as reported by ProFootballTalk.

As we always do during our Ravens discussions, we share our lists for Who’s Trending (28:58) and some things to watch for during Sunday’s 1:00 matchup with the 2-8 Oakland Raiders (41:23).

For this week’s Orioles segment, Jake, Nolan, and Ian revisit the Mike Elias hire and break down the top takeaways from yesterday’s introductory press conference with Elias and the Angelos boys (48:30). Is this the right move by the Orioles, and should fans buy into what the Angelos boys and Elias covered during Monday’s news conference?

Up next, Ian tags out and we check in with our Maryland Football expert Jay Stavros (1:02:47). On Saturday the Terps fell to Ohio State in overtime 52-51, but they led for most of regulation and gave the Buckeyes all they could handle. Can the Terps put together a similar performance on Saturday in Penn State and clinch bowl eligibility with a win? Is Matt Canada definitely on his way out? Stavros runs through it all.

To wrap up the show, we dive into our weekly numbers segment, taking a look at the best Baltimore sports athletes to wear the number 26 (1:09:50).

You can find the Charm City Bird Watch Podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Google Play. Please leave us a review on iTunes, we love to hear your feedback and may read it on a future episode. Thank you for listening!

The Charm City Bird Watch Podcast is brought to you by Seven Sports Bar & Grille. For a limited time only on behalf on Charm City Bird Watch, you can receive a 10% discount off any entree dish when you tell your server or bartender the promo code ‘Charm City.’

Filet Mignon, sautéed mushrooms, Mac n’ cheese, dinner roll

College Park Thriller: Maryland falls 52-51 to #10 Ohio State

Posted on by

College Park — The Terps dropped to 5-6, 3-5 BIG10 after a 52-51 senior day loss at home against the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes. The Terps jumped out to a fast start, leading 24-17 at the half. Ohio State’s perseverance shined through at the end as the game resulted in a 52-51  overtime loss for the Terps.

In the first quarter, the Terps were rolling. The crowd was fired up as the Terps led 17-3 after the first quarter behind sensational touchdown runs of 81 and 75 yards by Anthony McFarland. All stops were pulled for this team, as Maryland Kicker Joseph Petrino successfully executed a pooch kick which the Terps recovered. Unfortunately, the Terps missed out a golden opportunity as Jeshaun Jones fumbled on the very next play of the game. At the half, the Terps led the Buckeyes 24-17.

In the second half, the Terps continued to churn out yards on the ground as McFarland rumbled for a freshman record of 298 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns. McFarland was only six yards short of tying Lamont Jordan’s school record for rushing yards in a single game.

Despite giving up 52 points, the Maryland defense played well enough to win, forcing three turnovers, including a pick-six by RaVon Davis.

The Buckeyes trailed the entire game until overtime, down two touchdowns in the third quarter and trailing 45-38 with under two minutes left. Before battling back behind six touchdowns from Dwayne Haskins. Haskins, a former Maryland verbal commit, was 28-for-38 for 405 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Haskins led a game-tying drive with less than two minutes left which ended with a three-yard touchdown pass to Binjimen Victor.

ZYRKY5HKV4I6RL7R53BJW34SZI.jpgAt the end of regulation, these two teams had racked up nearly 100 points and over 1200 yards. The first possession of overtime ended with a seven-yard touchdown run by Haskins. This was the first lead change of the game. The Buckeyes led 52-45 as the Terps took possession. The Terps stayed on the ground with Tayon Fleet-Davis scoring a one-yard rushing touchdown. Coach Matt Canada and staff made a high-stakes gamble to go for two. Quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome threw a pass that was off-target, missing a wide open Jones in the end zone. The gamble did not pay off as the Terps fell 52-51 in overtime.

Takeaways

  • The Terps should retain Canada as the head coach. Canada has  moved into a new, difficult role at a challenging time. He has been relatively successful, winning five games, and leading one of the most explosives offenses in the nation. He could bring the stability that this program needs.
  • McFarland is going to be an absolute superstar. McFarland is shifty enough to make defenders miss, and has the breakaway speed to leave defenders in the dust. He has broke the freshman single game rushing record twice this season. He broke it against Indiana where he rushed for 210 yards, and again this week against the Buckeyes where he rushed for 298 yards only six yard shy of breaking Lamont Jordans single game record.
  • With just one game let against the #14 Penn State Nittnay Lions next weekend, the Terps are still looking for that sixth win to become bowl eligible. The Lions will certainly bring a near impossible match up at in State College. But if the Terps play like they did against the Buckeyes they will have a good shot to upset the Nittnay Lions.