Cole Farrand
Season openers are uncertain on many levels. Will teams start fast? Will teams start slow? Will it be somewhere in the middle?
Tomorrow’s matchup with Florida International is no different for the Terrapins football team. FIU hired Ron Turner as its new coach in the offseason, and the Panthers are implementing new offensive and defensive schemes. So when the Terps take the field at Byrd Stadium for kickoff, they won’t really know what they’ll see from FIU.
“We know always with an opener it’s tough because you don’t know what to expect,” coach Randy Edsall said. “With Florida International, we see a team that is going to be a pro-style offense with two backs, two tight ends, and really attack you with a west-coast style offense and a 4-3 defense.”
Turner was hired Jan. 4 after coaching in the NFL with the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since 2005. The Terps expect him to bring many of the same schemes he used in the pros to FIU.
“From what we hear, they’re a West Coast offense and the West Coast offense is the quick passing game where you want to get four or five yards every time on first down so you’re on schedule,” defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said. “When there’s two backs, they’ll run the power and the lead stuff with the fullback. But that’s what we hear. We haven’t seen them or any of those things so we just got to go with what Ron Turner has done in the past.”
Since there’s no film on Turner’s teams at FIU, the Terps will have to rely on what Turner has done at each of his stops. In 2006, his Bears offense reached Super Bowl XLI behind quarterback Rex Grossman before losing to the Colts.
Turner does have a few key players on his roster, though.Quarterback Jake Medlock completed 57.8 percent of his passes in nine games last year, passing for 2,127 yards and 13 touchdowns. He reportedly lost 27 pounds in the offseason and reported to camp at 208 pounds with increased mobility in Turner’s offense.
“You kind of go by what [Turner’s] done in the past,” Stewart said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. So we looked at some stuff that he did when he was with Tampa Bay last year as well as what the Colts did. Then we look at when he was the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears and then Illinois. You kind of put that stuff together, come up with what you think is what comes up.”
The teams have met three times before with the Terps winning each. In 2010, the Terps defeated the Panthers, 42-28, at Byrd Stadium. But little of each team is similar now, with new players and coaching staffs on each side.
For a team with bowl aspirations, a win over FIU would be a solid start. The Terps have nonconference games against the Panthers, Old Dominion, Connecticut and West Virginia before ACC play begins in October, and they could secure half of the wins needed for bowl eligibility in that stretch of games alone.
“The first few games set the tone for the season,” inside linebacker Cole Farrand said. “You have to win the first couple and then the team feels good and you can keep the momentum going throughout the season when you get to the bigger games. Florida International is a great challenge a great home opener, and we’re all looking forward to it.”
Tomorrow will be the first time fans have seen quarterback C.J. Brown on the field since November 2011. It will also be the first time Brown has shared the field with dynamic wide receivers Stefon Diggs, Nigel King and Deon Long. The opportunity for the Terps’ first bowl appearance under Edsall starts tomorrow.
“Every game counts just as much,” Farrand said. “FIU counts equally as much as beating Florida State and Clemson. We need the wins early in the beginning of the season to build momentum.”
