Dominant Defense Downs Demon Deacons

Before we start: Note the alliteration in the post title.

Moving on.

Unless you were hiding under a rock, you probably heard the Terps absolutely crushing No. 21 Wake Forest last Saturday, 26-0. Grinding offense, stifling defense, another upset victory... shocking, right?

Weeeellllllllll, I don't know. I mean, isn't this kind of typical of the Terps? Win a game against a ranked team at home? Besides, it was only a matter of time before Wake started losing conference games: Last week, they only won against Clemson because of a fourth-quarter touchdown. Their offense has only scored 24 points in three ACC games. Definitely underwhelming for a ranked team. In addition, their receiving corps was so terrible, it made you wonder what else Wake could be doing with the money it takes to give those players scholarships.

I'm not hating on what the Terps did by any means, though. It was a spectacular performance. Chris Turner threw for 321 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. OC James Franklin apparently heard something about this Darrius Heyward-Bey guy, because they actually threw to him yesterday. He ended up with a career-high 11 catches for 101 yards and a TD. The defense combined for four sacks and the front seven held the Demon Deacon offense to 73 net yards rushing.

So, what can the Terps against a really terrible N.C. State team to not have another letdown UVA style? Well, keep it going - in more ways than one.

1) Keep up the stiff defense and rolling offense and the five-game winning streak at home.

2) Keep up the recent ownage of the Wolfpack. Maryland has won 6 out of the last 8 in this match up. I know it's hard to remember, but Maryland did have bigger victory than Wake Forest last year. They stomped N.C. State 37-0 to become bowl eligible.

It should be a good one, but considering Maryland killed a weak team like Eastern Michigan at home, and considering we routinely own N.C. State, I'm going to predict a victory.

Back me up, Terps.

Photos by Adam Fried