Getting to Know Duke
Its time for our Terps to take on the four letter word of the ACC. Duke is coming to College Park for a football game. Doesn’t exactly raise the blood pressure the way Coach K and his coaching staff full of players we all loved to hate. However it is still Duke. It is still a conference game, and it is still a chance to get to 4-1 and 1-0 in conference. Again not lofty goals considering the competition this team has faced this year, but getting to 6 wins and bowl game is a must. No way around that fact, and that should be enough to get people excited about this game. That and the fact that it a 6 PM game and Byrd should be rocking. However, I am not holding my breath on that one. Enough on that one, as we have already discussed fan support.
More importantly, who or what is Duke this year. They are 1-3 this year with the win coming against Elon, and losses to Wake Forest, Alabama, and the real killer, Army. To date they have yielded 44.5 points per game (27, 54, 62, and 35 points). Those hefty numbers rank them 118th in the country. With first year starter Sean Renfree under center Duke is passing for 281 yards per game (20th in 1A or FBS if you will, and I don’t will). The problem Renfree is having that he has 7 interceptions so far this year to go with 9 TD’s. Two of those interceptions came on his first five attempts against Army and he finished with 3 for the game. With the Terps improved take away stats this year, this could be an area the Terps could use to their advantage.
It also appears Duke seems to have an improved running attack compared to last year. Desmond Scott and Josh Snead have combined for 73 carries and 430 yards so far. Not a huge number, but it is an improvement over last year, and it may be just enough balance to help keep the Terps defense honest against Renfree.
Duke has come a long way. The truth is this is still Duke, and this game is in College Park. Not that I think Friedgen will get fired if he losses this game, but this better be a game he wins, if he plans on being here next year. The Terps can win this game, but it is likely to be a high scoring game. Something that does worry me a bit.
Check back tomorrow for injury updates on Torrey Smith, Jamarr Robinson, and a plethora of other Terps.
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on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Maryland Terps Football.
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September 30th, 2010 at 10:32 am
If our defense plays like it has all year we could easily lose this game.
September 30th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Our defense has got to be on the field for fewer than 80 plays. We could win this by two td’s or lose by one very easily. Duke runs the ball well so I hope our guys tackle better this week. Just imagine if we had today’s weather on Saturday. What a disaster that would be.
September 30th, 2010 at 11:12 am
I don’t know how many times in the past I have said I am excited about a Maryland Duke football game, but I am. I expect this to be pretty high scoring mostly because both teams defenses are suspect. Maryland needs to win the turnover battle. If they can do that, they should win.