The University of Maryland football team made final preparations on Thursday for its matchup with Florida State which is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday in Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.
The Terps (7-3, 4-2 ACC) hope to take another step toward their first Atlantic Division title by knocking off the Seminoles (7-3, 5-2 ACC), who hold a half-game lead over Maryland and NC State in the division standings.
A win against the Seminoles would set up a de facto Atlantic Division title game next week when the Wolfpack visit College Park. Head coach Ralph Friedgen acknowledged the importance of the game for the program as a whole.
"This is an important game, not only for our program, but for these kids," said Friedgen. "If there's really a good story - you see these kids that lost a lot of tough games last year. But other than California we didn't really get blown out last year. Here they are; they've worked extremely hard, maybe as hard as any team I've ever had. All winter, spring, summer, and now they're enjoying the fruits of their labor."
One of Maryland's biggest areas of improvement has been forcing turnovers on defense and taking care of the ball on offense. The Terps are tied for third in the nation in turnover margin and only three teams in the nation have committed fewer turnovers than Maryland (8).
"It's something we work hard on," said Friedgen. "There was a point in time last year we were minus-15. We're plus-13 right now. At the end of (last year) we got better but we lost some games early because we turned the ball over. We went back to work at winter conditioning, even though you're not allowed to have a football, we had towels taped up and were working on how to hold a football. We work on it every day."
The team that is able to force turnovers will be a key in Saturday's matchup. Florida State's three running backs, which have helped the Seminoles rush for 186.6 yards per game, have not lost a fumble since Nov. 7, 2009.
Maryland hopes a big crowd participating in the "Blackout" promotion will help it stay perfect at home in 2010. The Terps enter the game 4-0 at Byrd Stadium, having outscored opponents 187-61.
The Terrapins will also wear specially designed head-to-toe uniforms Saturday. Maryland will take the field in black and desert camouflage uniforms featuring the Wounded Warrior Project logo. This marks the second year Under Armour has designed custom uniforms to honor the U.S. Armed Forces, with cleats being a new addition for this year. The team will also debut a new helmet.
The uniforms will be auctioned off on www.umterps.com after the game to help raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. A major reason for the Terps success this season is quarterback Danny O'Brien. The freshman has 10 TDs to just one interception over the past four games, and his 16 TD passes this season are third in the country among first-year signal-callers. At the team's weekly news conference on Tuesday, O'Brien said the team is treating the final two games of the regular season like a tournament.
"We are treating this like a playoff game," said O'Brien. "If we can win one game at a time for two weeks we are in the ACC Championship game. We are treating this as almost a quarterfinal game because we know that we control where we want to go this year."
O'Brien, along with standout wide receiver Torrey Smith, a running game that produced four touchdowns last week and an opportunistic defense, hope to continue their upward rise. No team in the ACC has improved their win total more through 10 games than Maryland, which is five games better now than it was at this time last season.
"Who knows what we can do?" said Friedgen. "You never know. We've got a shot. We're playing at home; if we can win out at home we're in the championship game."
Following practice, Friedgen announced that linebacker safety Antwine Perez, wide receiver LaQuan Williams and punter/kicker Travis Baltz will serve as captains for Saturday's game. He also named wide receiver Eric Powell as the offensive scout team player of the week and defensive lineman Andre Monroe as the defensive scout team player of the week.
Defensive lineman A.J. Francis, a Severn, Md., native, will carry the Maryland flag onto the field Saturday and offensive lineman R.J. Dill will bring the American flag.
Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 8:12 p.m. EST, with the game to be broadcast regionally on ABC and on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network.
Tickets for the game are available through the Maryland Athletics Ticket Office by calling 1-800-462-TERP or clicking here.
Maryland Injury Report vs. Florida State
Out:
DB 39 Desmond Kearse (leg)
TE 86 Dave Stinebaugh (shoulder)
Out for season:
QB 16 C.J. Brown (shoulder)
OL 79 Pete DeSouza (legs)
OL 75 Justin Gilbert (knee)
LB 42 Ben Pooler (knee)
TE 80 Lansford Watson (knee)
DL 41 Marcus Whitfield (knee)
"This is an important game, not only for our program, but for these kids," said Friedgen. "If there's really a good story - you see these kids that lost a lot of tough games last year. But other than California we didn't really get blown out last year. Here they are; they've worked extremely hard, maybe as hard as any team I've ever had. All winter, spring, summer, and now they're enjoying the fruits of their labor."
One of Maryland's biggest areas of improvement has been forcing turnovers on defense and taking care of the ball on offense. The Terps are tied for third in the nation in turnover margin and only three teams in the nation have committed fewer turnovers than Maryland (8).
"It's something we work hard on," said Friedgen. "There was a point in time last year we were minus-15. We're plus-13 right now. At the end of (last year) we got better but we lost some games early because we turned the ball over. We went back to work at winter conditioning, even though you're not allowed to have a football, we had towels taped up and were working on how to hold a football. We work on it every day."
The team that is able to force turnovers will be a key in Saturday's matchup. Florida State's three running backs, which have helped the Seminoles rush for 186.6 yards per game, have not lost a fumble since Nov. 7, 2009.
Maryland hopes a big crowd participating in the "Blackout" promotion will help it stay perfect at home in 2010. The Terps enter the game 4-0 at Byrd Stadium, having outscored opponents 187-61.
The Terrapins will also wear specially designed head-to-toe uniforms Saturday. Maryland will take the field in black and desert camouflage uniforms featuring the Wounded Warrior Project logo. This marks the second year Under Armour has designed custom uniforms to honor the U.S. Armed Forces, with cleats being a new addition for this year. The team will also debut a new helmet.
The uniforms will be auctioned off on www.umterps.com after the game to help raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. A major reason for the Terps success this season is quarterback Danny O'Brien. The freshman has 10 TDs to just one interception over the past four games, and his 16 TD passes this season are third in the country among first-year signal-callers. At the team's weekly news conference on Tuesday, O'Brien said the team is treating the final two games of the regular season like a tournament.
"We are treating this like a playoff game," said O'Brien. "If we can win one game at a time for two weeks we are in the ACC Championship game. We are treating this as almost a quarterfinal game because we know that we control where we want to go this year."
O'Brien, along with standout wide receiver Torrey Smith, a running game that produced four touchdowns last week and an opportunistic defense, hope to continue their upward rise. No team in the ACC has improved their win total more through 10 games than Maryland, which is five games better now than it was at this time last season.
"Who knows what we can do?" said Friedgen. "You never know. We've got a shot. We're playing at home; if we can win out at home we're in the championship game."
Following practice, Friedgen announced that linebacker safety Antwine Perez, wide receiver LaQuan Williams and punter/kicker Travis Baltz will serve as captains for Saturday's game. He also named wide receiver Eric Powell as the offensive scout team player of the week and defensive lineman Andre Monroe as the defensive scout team player of the week.
Defensive lineman A.J. Francis, a Severn, Md., native, will carry the Maryland flag onto the field Saturday and offensive lineman R.J. Dill will bring the American flag.
Kickoff for Saturday's game is set for 8:12 p.m. EST, with the game to be broadcast regionally on ABC and on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network.
Tickets for the game are available through the Maryland Athletics Ticket Office by calling 1-800-462-TERP or clicking here.
Maryland Injury Report vs. Florida State
Out:
DB 39 Desmond Kearse (leg)
TE 86 Dave Stinebaugh (shoulder)
Out for season:
QB 16 C.J. Brown (shoulder)
OL 79 Pete DeSouza (legs)
OL 75 Justin Gilbert (knee)
LB 42 Ben Pooler (knee)
TE 80 Lansford Watson (knee)
DL 41 Marcus Whitfield (knee)
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