|
The Maryland–West Virginia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins and West Virginia Mountaineers. The two schools are strong rivals due to several factors, including similar recruiting areas and the relatively short distance between each other, approximately apart. The two teams first played in 1919 and the series ran uninterrupted from 1980 to 2007. West Virginia leads the series 28–22–2. The two teams met for the Gator Bowl for a rematch at the end of the 2003 season. Until the series lapsed in 2007, the game was the longest continuously running non-conference game for both schools. After the 2015 edition in Morgantown, WV, the two teams will not meet again until 2020 in College Park. ==Background== The rivalry is arguably more competitive than Maryland's other two historically important games: official ACC rival Virginia and Penn State. For West Virginia, it may not be as emotional as the Backyard Brawl, but it is still an important game. Due to the game traditionally being played early in the season, both teams have historically viewed the game as a good measuring stick for the rest of the season. ESPN personality and former Maryland assistant coach, Lee Corso said, that during the 1960s, the rivalry "was really competitive because of the fact that they would sometimes come to Maryland and recruit our players, and we would try to go to West Virginia and recruit some of them ... That adds to the rivalry."〔Marc Carig, (One for the Border ), ''Washington Post'', 13 September 2007.〕 This practice of poaching the opponent's areas of interest remains to this day. In recent history, Terps fullback Cory Jackson was a Morgantown native, while former quarterback Scott McBrien transferred from West Virginia after frustration over not starting. In McBrien's last college game, the 2004 Gator Bowl, he passed for a school bowl record 381 yards and three touchdowns during a 41–7 thrashing of the Mountaineers. Conversely, Heisman finalist Steve Slaton was originally offered a scholarship to Maryland but chose West Virginia when the offer was ultimately revoked. In the 2007 game Slaton exacted his revenge, running for 137 yards and three touchdowns against the Terps. Likewise, fullback Owen Schmitt from northern Virginia originally wished to play for Maryland, but when the school was uninterested, he walked onto the Mountaineers, from where he was since drafted into the NFL.〔〔(Slaton scores 3 TDs to lead West Virginia past Maryland ), ESPN, 13 September 2007.〕 Schmitt had his "coming out" party in WVU's 31–19 triumph over the Terrapins in 2005, gaining 80 yards on just six carries and contributing substantially to two Mountaineer touchdown drives which broke the game open early in the fourth quarter.〔(West Virginia 31, Maryland 19 ), ESPN, 17 September 2005.〕 There was a two-year hiatus during the 2008 and 2009 seasons, in which Maryland played California and West Virginia played Colorado. The schools agreed to resume the series, scheduling games for each year from 2010 to 2013.〔(Maryland-West Virginia football added in 2012 and 2013 ), ''The Washington Times'', May 20, 2009.〕 West Virginia won the first game after the hiatus, 31–17 in Morgantown. On September 13, 2010, the two schools announced a deal to extend the series through 2017.〔http://www.dailymail.com/Sports/201009130485〕 The 2013 game, designated a Maryland home game, was played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.〔()〕 Maryland dominated with a 37–0 shutout victory, the first since 1999. The following season, in 2014, West Virginia and Maryland combined for over 1,000 yards of total offense as the Mountaineers beat the Terrapins 40–37 on a last-second Josh Lambert field goal. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maryland–West Virginia football rivalry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|