The Terps rush the field and waves their flags before Maryland’s 20-19 victory against Penn State on Nov. 1, 2014.
The Terrapins football team surprised everyone when it handled the transition to the Big Ten last year with ease, going 7-6 and defeating traditional powerhouses Michigan and Penn State on the road.
So it would make sense for fans and pundits to have higher expectations entering this season. The Terps should be ready to take the next step now, right?
The trouble is, it’s not that simple. The Big Ten is better this season, and the Terps lost 12 starters. While it would be nice to pin this as the year the program goes from good to great, it’s an unrealistic expectation.
This season is less about taking a step forward and more about not taking a step back.
The Terps have had back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2002-03. They’ve been to two straight bowl games for the first time under coach Randy Edsall, and they’re finally beginning to bring in some of the top recruits from the area. The Terps are clearly a program headed in the right direction, and when considering the strength of the Big Ten, that’s important.
The future is bright, with the 26th-best recruiting class set to arrive in College Park in 2016, according to Rivals. That’s still a year away, though, forcing this group to keep the momentum going without help.
The players are embracing that challenge.
“It’s a tough division, but I’m not one to settle for less,” linebacker Jermaine Carter said. “I’m shooting to be No. 1, and I’m sure everybody else on the team is shooting to be the No. 1 team in the Big Ten East.”
Defending national champion Ohio State, a Wisconsin team that has had 13 straight winning seasons, a Jim Harbaugh-revitalized Michigan squad and a Penn State group poised for a bounce-back year stand in their way. It’s a large reason why making that next step this year seems impractical.
Scan the Terps’ schedule, and any result from 4-8 to 9-3 seems plausible. There’s a handful of Big Ten games that could go either way, and with so many new players starting, it’s tough to project their chances.
One thing’s for sure, though, this team isn’t going to let a bevy of unknowns temper its expectations.
“Our goal is to win the Big Ten Championship, go to the Rose Bowl, win a national title, go undefeated,” newly named starting quarterback Perry Hills said. “If that’s not your goal, I don’t know why you are here. If you just expect to lose a game then I wouldn’t want you to be here anyway.”
It’s the mindset any team has to have. Even when the Terps stroll into The Horseshoe on Oct. 10 to take on Ohio State, they have to believe they can pull off the upset.
Realistically, though, the Terps will lose that game — probably by many touchdowns. Their season hinges on how they perform against the middle of the Big Ten.
The Terps’ magic number is six. For them to not take a step back, they have to earn a berth to a bowl game. So where do those six wins come from?
They have been virtually handed a 3-0 start with Richmond, Bowling Green and USF visiting Byrd Stadium. Assume they won’t upset Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State, and that leaves six games to get three wins. Running back Brandon Ross is looking beyond that.
“We definitely can get back to another bowl game,” Ross said. “But really, the main goal is the Big Ten championship game, so in order to do that, we are going to have to beat some good teams.
“Really, we don’t have time to take a step back.”
