Could several of Maryland's injured starters return for Saturday? Such is the mystery of late week mental gamesmanship between coaching staffs.
My prediction for the game is Rutgers 19, Maryland 13. I don't know if RU can win a shootout at the moment, especially with Savage a question mark. Even if he plays, the passing game looked out of sync last week. The run blocking needs work, having not shown to this point an ability to physically wear down opposing lines over the course of a game. Gotta try a few Corcoran screens against their slow LBs. Move Timmy Brown and D.C. around to isolate the best matchups.
However, while I'm concerned about the team's ability to move the ball, there's a good chance that the defense will produce four or five sacks against a struggling Maryland OL, Bruce Campbell or not. They're going to have to create pressure, and make their quarterback uncomfortable and out of rhythm. Ideally, they need to get the crowd out of it early. If RU wins the toss, defer to the second half and start on defense to set the tone for the game. Rutgers looks stronger on paper, but with a high degree of uncertainty and margin for error, turnovers and special teams will be critical. Missing a field goal cost Maryland the game last week.
Dom Natale only has hearing in one ear?
The battle for Maryland's #3 tailback spot isn't that interesting in itself, but an interesting bit of trivia is that the Terps decided to pass on Steve Slaton for Morgan Green.
As per Aditi, Turtle Waxing wasn't kidding about the Maryland athletic department being cheap. Baltimore's Ray Rice and L.J. Smith will be in attendance. Let's hope things work out better than when Rice was on the sidelines aganst Navy last year.
Transfer QB Chris Paul-Etienne and his Rhode Island team square off against UConn this weekend.
An administrative union is boycotting Pres. McCormick's address today due to ongoing labor disputes.
I've been peeved lately that my ESPN Insider sub is in limbo; the site is now requiring users to enter a credit card to access a membership that is already paid in pull. Which is scummy, and absolutely a ploy to autobill users who forget to cancel their accounts. I saw this CNBC article on the topic.
Hoenig: You can dwell on the credit card thing, but we’re actually looking for a variety of ways to make it easy for people to pay. The opportunity here is to change the decision making process from opt-in to opt-out and that’s something that everybody in every industry would like to do. People in the retail industry do it all the time by getting you to become logged in as soon as you come in so that the decision to buy becomes easier. You get plenty of opportunities to charge your credit card, or whatever payment plan you wind up using, to say you don’t want it anymore. There’s no catch involved. It’s not something that people aren’t used to. But instead of saying, "I like this. Am I willing to fill out a credit card form or any other kind of form to get it?" You are now saying, "Do I not like this enough to say no," and that’s a very different decision.
I like services such as ESPN 360 when they create additional value for subscribers. Only airing games on 360 however is punitive towards potential customers, and only creates hostility towards the company.
Update: Evening links -
Construction begins on the new recruiting lounge.
Count on Shaun O'Hara to rep for Rutgers in the Giants' locker room.
Introducing Rutgers Today, a new promotional weblog for the school.
My Q&A with Turtle Waxing is up.