The series with Maryland dates back to 1909, with the two teams meeting every year since 1956. The rivalry has been a close one through the years, as evidenced by the 30-30-4 series record. The Terrapins have two more wins in College Park while NC State holds a one-win advantage in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack has lost six of the last eight games to Maryland, but prior to that streak had won eight of nine. Tom O’Brien is 2-1 against Maryland in his coaching career, including a win in his only trip to College Park, a 31-16 victory in 2005 while the head coach at Boston College
Section Six has some Maryland items to share. (Link)
Pack Pride discusses more points and highlights how closely played this matchup usually is. (Link)
Not counting 2008’s 37-0 win by Maryland, the previous seven contests between NC State and Maryland (five of which the Wolfpack lost) have all gone down to the wire, with the average margin of victory being just 5.4 points. NC State’s 10-point win at College Park in 2004 was the largest margin in those seven games before last season.
In 2000, the teams went into double-overtime in College Park before State fell, 28-35. In 2001, the Terrapins scored with under a minute remaining to win 23-19 and in 2002, Maryland kicked a field goal with 34 seconds remaining to take their first and final lead: 24-21. In 2003, after missing an extra point to tie the game for Maryland, the Terrapin placekicker booted a 43-yard field goal with just 23 seconds remaining to give his squad a 26-24 victory.
In 2004, the Wolfpack won by 10 by dominating the Terrapins defensively. NC State won by six, 20-14, in 2005 to become bowl eligible in the final game of the season. In 2006, the Pack turned the ball over three times to give the Terrapins a short field and easy scores, as NC State fell 26-20 in College Park.
How poorly does the Wolfpack statistically stack up against the rest of the country? (Link)
Wolfpack is thin, that is nothing new. (Link)
Failing to capitalize on third down for our offense and our defense has been a primary problem this year. (Link)
Only a few other struggling teams nationally have third-down problems as serious as N.C. State’s. The Wolfpack ranks 94th out of 119 Bowl Subdivision teams in third-down defense, with opponents converting 43.4 percent for the season.
On offense, N.C. State’s 28.1 percent third-down conversion rate ranks 111th in the Bowl Subdivision. Syracuse, San Diego State and Utah State are the only other teams to rank 94th or worse in both categories.
Section Six has a set of interesting points. (Link)
Some more points from S6. (Link)
If you are around on Saturday we would apprectiate some comments about the game. (Link)
