Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
HOWARD ULMAN
Associated Press
BOSTON - The competition for a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game is very close, about as close as the games Maryland won to be a part of it.
The Terrapins' last seven games, six of them victories, have been decided by six points or less. Their current five-game winning streak began with a two-point win. The margin in the last two games has been a single point.
Victories in their last two regular-season games, by whatever margin, will clinch the Atlantic Division for the 21st-ranked Terps and a date with Georgia Tech, the Coastal Division champion, in the championship game Dec. 2. One more loss by 20th-ranked Boston College will eliminate it from contention.
That's why Saturday's home game against the Terps (8-2 ACC, 5-1) is so important to the Eagles (8-2, 4-2).
"The only thing we know is if we lose, we're out, so that means we have to win," BC quarterback Matt Ryan said. "After the game, we'll sit down and watch what happens."
That's when both teams will keep an eye on the conference's other key game between Atlantic Division leader and 14th-ranked Wake Forest (9-1, 5-1) and 19th-ranked Virginia Tech (8-2, 4-2), a member of the Coastal Division already won by Georgia Tech.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen delivered this message to his players this week: "I could go through all of the scenarios but I am going to keep it real simple for you. You win the next two games and you're playing Georgia Tech."
If they do, chances are the game will be tight.
"I think we have a good focus because we've been in tough games. There hasn't been a sense of, we can take it easy," guard Andrew Crummey said. "Every game has been close, every game has been tough. So there are no big heads, no one walking around saying, `this is going to be easy.' "
Maryland held on for a 14-13 win over Miami last Saturday after building a 14-0 lead on touchdown passes of 65 and 96 yards from Sam Hollenbach to Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Hollenbach is "playing with confidence, throwing the ball well," said BC linebacker Jolonn Dunbar, who scored on a 94-yard fumble return last year in a 31-16 win at Maryland. "He's matured as a quarterback. It's almost scary how good he's gotten in one year."
And, Friedgen said, Bay hasn't "even come close to touching his potential. He is still learning the position."
Maryland's defense must contend with a ground game that features two runners who both gained over 100 yards in last Saturday's 28-7 victory over winless Duke. L.V Whitworth has rushed for exactly 2,100 yards in his career, while Andre Callender needs 148 to reach the 2,000 mark.
But Ryan knows those aren't the most important numbers.
Like the Eagles, he said, the Terps "give up a lot of yards but, most importantly, they don't give up a lot of points."
If Boston College beats Maryland and Wake Forest loses, all three will be 5-2 in the Atlantic Division. Then the berth in the championship game would be decided by BC's game Thursday night at Miami and Wake Forest's the following Saturday at Maryland.
Wake Forest would win a tiebreaker with the Eagles because it beat them. BC would win a tiebreaker with the Terps because it will have beaten them.
Maryland is coming off two straight losing seasons. BC can reach nine wins for the third straight season.
"What I've learned from this league is expect the unexpected," BC center Josh Beekman said. "Any team can beat any team."
What he can expect is a close game, and a Maryland coach who has gotten used to winning them.
"It is nerve-racking, but I am so into the game that it doesn't really affect me," Friedgen said. "Sometimes when I watch the tape on Sundays I just kind of shake my head. When I am in the game, I am not really worrying about how close it is but just what we have to do to win the football game."