In Reply to: Don't shoot me but... posted by ThreeDegreeBruin on September 25, 2026 at 11:36:35
One the one hand, they've only played one decent team, and they weren't that competitive in that game, having to score two TD's in the 4Q just to make it a 9-point loss. It's not even clear if Va Tech is any good.
On the other hand, they're a Big 10 team and they have some talent. And a lot of that talent is at spots that could exploit our shaky pass defense.
Yet, questions remain. Their QB is talented but is he actually good? I think the jury is still out. The vibe around their program right now is gloomy, but will it result in capitulation if we can get a lead, or are they gonna fight for their coach? Really could go either way.
And then you have the pathology of UCLA fans, where we just think that something bad is always about to happen. On the one hand, it feels like UCLA is kind of due for a complete game. But, will that be a complete game for good (good O and D at the same time), or complete game for bad (bad O and D at the same time). Again, could go either way.
I think with it still being early in the season and this being Maryland's conference opener, against a team they definitely think they can beat, they will give us their best shot. You saw that Purdue, coming off a bad loss and 14-point underdogs, could really smell victory in that 3Q. UCLA just does not scare anyone.
Maryland's season and head coach's career will very likely collapse at some point this season but it may not be just yet.
I think there's a world where if we get off to a fast start we can put them down pretty early. But if we can't, then it's probably going to the wire. Against all three of our opponents there were parts of the game where you thought if we just made one more play we were on our way to an early rout. But instead we didn't put the opponent down and had to do so in the 4Q.
With our shaky pass defense, I just don't like our chances of winning a shootout on the road. Thus, we need to not allow this to become a shootout in the first place.