West Virginia Mountaineers @ Maryland Terrapins Football Preview

West Virginia is the favorite to win the 2011 Big East championship, almost by default.   Thus far, the conference has not distinguished itself in out of conference play.   The Mountaineers, and the Big East as a conference, desperately need to beat a Maryland team that is probably a middle-of-the-pack squad in the ACC.   More accurately, West Virginia and the Big East desperately need to avoid the massive perception hit that would result from the Big East favorite losing to a middle-of-the-pack ACC team.   The two conferences are tied together, for better or worse, by the superconference expansion craze that is swirling around them.   With the Big Ten, Pac 12, and SEC’s futures being secure, if there is a fourth superconference, both of these conferences want to be it.   Thus, the value of being perceived as the “better” of the two may be very important in the months to come.

Fortunately, for the teams involved, that’s just background noise.   Maryland-West Virginia is an underrated rivalry that both programs want to be on the winning end of for its own sake.   The Mountaineers have an additional sense of urgency due to an underwhelming first half last week against Norfolk State.   The 55-12 final score does not do justice to just how poorly the Big East favorites played in the first half against a team that finished 4-4 in the MEAC last season.   A similar performance against their rivals from Maryland will not result in a blowout win for the Mountaineers.

The Terrapins want to maintain the momentum they established in beating Miami in the nationally-televised Labor Day Monday Night matchup.   They are coming off a bye week and should be well-rested to face the new uptempo passing attack brought to Morgantown by first-year West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen.   The fiery offensive genius was lured by AD Oliver Luck to take over a Mountaineer offense that can only be described as underachieving under former head coach Bill Stewart.   Originally brought in from Oklahoma State as a coach-in-waiting, Holgorsen was promoted to head coach a year early due to the well-publicized shenanigans of Stewart, who reportedly tried to sabotage Holgorsen.

Whatever happened to bring him to this point, West Virginia is now Holgorsen’s team, and the West Virginia fans expect big things out of this offense.   Quarterback Geno Smith is a darkhorse Heisman candidate, and after only two games he already has 620 passing yards and is completing passes at a 66.6% clip with six touchdowns and no interceptions.   It is tempting to say that the passing offense that Holgorsen perfected at Oklahoma State and Houston and Texas Tech has taken hold in Morgantown, but that would not be entirely accurate.   First and foremost, Holgorsen’s offense is supposed to open up space for the running back to run, but that aspect of Holgorsen’s offense does not seem to have translated to West Virginia yet.   There is no Kendall Hunter on the West Virginia roster, or if there is, the offensive line isn’t allowing him to surface. 

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The Maryland front seven will seek to keep it that way.   While the Terrapins’ defense struggled at times against Miami, especially in the secondary, linebacker Kenny Tate leads a solid front seven, and given West Virginia’s struggles running the ball, it’s going to fall on Smith to move the ball through the air.

West Virginia ’s biggest concern is still its defense.    Norfolk State gained almost 300 yards on WVU, and almost 200 through the air, despite only being able to score 12 points.    Maryland brings in an offense that should be able to drive the field.   Danny O’Brien, only a sophomore, may already have established himself as the top quarterback in the ACC, and Davin Meggett is a more-than capable running back.  Maryland was able to throw against a Miami defense that, while undermanned due to suspensions, is still probably more talented than the West Virginia squad.   O’Brien threw for almost 350 yards against Miami and the Terps bring in a passing attack that should be able to exploit weaknesses in the West Virginia secondary. 

Ultimately, this game should end up being about which squad can outscore the other.   While Maryland offers a more balanced offense, both teams can pile up yardage in chunks, and both have difficulty containing receivers.   It should be strength against weakness on both sides of the ball. 

The pride of the residents of these bordering states is not all that is at stake here.   The pride of a battered Big East and an underachieving ACC is also at issue, and with conference realignment (again) heating up, now is the time when conference strength really matters.   The next round of the ACC-Big East challenge takes place in College Park, and it may be more important than it’s ever been for all the wrong reasons.

By: John Cary
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer