5
Thoughts ... 2008
Humanitarian Bowl
Maryland 42 ... Nevada 35
GAME RECAP:
Maryland runs wild on Pack
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2008 CFN Humanitarian
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2008 Humanitarian Bowl
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1. This game's most revealing
moment? It might not seem like
much, but when one considers
that this game was a mirror of
Maryland's up-and-down season
(sometimes awesome, sometimes
horrible, and always
unpredictable), it's worth
examining.
With just under nine minutes
left in regulation, gutsy Nevada
quarterback Colin Kaepernick--fighting
off an ankle injury to keep his
team competitive--was on the
ground and looking for a helping
hand. A Maryland defender
offered that hand, only to
retract it at the last instant.
The classless display--besides
needing a stern reprimand from
Terps coach Ralph Friedgen in a
film analysis--showed something
about a team that was up one
moment, and down the next.
Character counts, and players
who would insult a brave and
gallant opposing quarterback are
the kinds of players who are
inconsistent, distracted, and
lacking in the levelheadedness
that characterizes a
championship team. Perhaps
Friedgen can use this moment as
a way to teach his kids (the
good ones, not the bad apples)
how to behave in all times and
seasons. With a better attitude,
perhaps Maryland will make
Orange Bowls in the future, not
Humanitarians. -
Matthew
Zemek
2. Maybe there's something to
this whole benching thing.
Maryland RB DaRel Scott was
suspended for the entire first
half and half of the third
quarter after violating curfew,
and then he looked like he was
shot out of a cannon when he
finally got on the field. Of
course he was fired up to make
up for the problems and come
through with a big performance,
but more importantly in a game
like this, he had fresh legs.
While Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick
was trying to fight through a
bum wheel, spraining his ankle
early on, here comes Scott off
the bench playing fired up and
as good as new. Remember, time
off is a big factor in these
bowl games and it gives some
players time to heal up, and it
also makes it hard to get the
60-minute conditioning back.
Scott showed that it's sometimes
better to be held in the barn
and then unleashed on a tired
team late.
-
Pete
Fiutak
3. Couldn’t
Da’Rel Scott have come up with a
more severe infraction than a
measly broken curfew? You know
the Nevada sideline was thinking
that as the Maryland back
repeatedly ripped through its
defense in the second half.
Scott was suspended until
halftime by Ralph Friedgen, but
made up for lost time with 174
yards and two critical scores on
just 14 carries in the final two
quarters. Every time the Pack
rallied, he stepped up and
provided the backbreaker.
Looking like the player who led
the country in rushing for a
time in September, he’ll enter
2009 as one of the ACC’s premier
offensive playmakers.
-
Richard Cirminiello
4. Although he was the losing
pitcher in the game, Nevada QB
Colin Kaepernick delivered one
of the gutsiest efforts of the
bowl season so far. Hobbled by a
badly sprained ankle that
limited his trademark mobility,
he still managed to throw for
369 yards and three scores, rush
for a touchdown, and nearly
rally the Wolf Pack to a
come-from-behind win. Had his
receivers not dropped a million
passes and his defense made an
occasional tackle, he might have
brought Nevada all the way back.
Even without the W, though, he
gained the respect of the
Maryland players and anyone who
caught the Humanitarian Bowl.
Believe it or not, you only
caught a fraction of Kaepernick,
who’s far more dangerous when
he’s working on two healthy
wheels. -
Richard Cirminiello
5. Yes, big boys don't like
scheduling road games against
WAC opponents. If college
football is to grow at all
levels, top teams should be
willing to take on decent teams
in the better non-BCS
conferences. Scheduling is
always a subject in which teams
from the WAC (and the Mountain
West, and the MAC, and C-USA)
will have a legitimate gripe on
an annual basis.
With that said, the WAC has just
concluded a 1-4 bowl season,
with the one win coming against
6-7 Northern Illinois on a
virtual home field (Louisiana
Tech). If Utah doesn't deliver
the goods against Alabama, it
will be very hard to take Rocky
Mountain and upper-tier non-BCS
conferences very seriously.
Nevada played with heart, but
Maryland clearly had the
superior skill people and
linemen. Given the ACC's slew of
bowl losses in 2008, the
inability to beat the
schizophrenic Terps in a WAC
stadium (belonging to league
champion Boise State) represents
a huge missed opportunity for
Nevada and the WAC at large. The
conference needs a better bowl
season in 2009... and, in future
seasons, a willingness on the
part of BCS conferences to
travel to places like Boise,
Fresno, Reno, Honolulu, and
Ruston (La.).
-
Matthew
Zemek