The Weekend in Football: October 1 - 2, 2005

What is this? Every local football team won? Amazing.

The Terps won in a barnburner in College Park, the Redskins squeaked out an overtime win at FedEx Field and the Ravens beat the Jets at M&T Bank Stadium.

For the record, I was 0-2 in picking against the spread in the NFL games this weekend. Sorry. But then again, if you’re basing your gambling picks on this site, you deserved to lose your money.


NCAA Football: Terrapins 45, Virginia Cavaliers 33

Well, I don’t think anyone really saw this kind of shootout coming. Maryland’s offense came up big time, with Lance Ball rushing for 163 yards and two touchdowns and Sam Hollenbach going 25-for-33 for 320 yards and a pair of passing scores as the Terps knocked of No. 19 Virginia.

The Terps offense was Friedgen-esque, putting up 570 yards. This after over a season of complete inability to mount an offense that led to some people questioning if Friedgen’s convoluted schemes had become too much for the players to handle. Ralph, consider yourself vindicated.

The Terps are now 3-2 (2-1 ACC), and the Cavaliers now have a blemish on their record, at 3-1 (1-1).

Go figure, Vernon Davis caught one of the receiving touchdowns for the Terps, who wore new black Under Armour jerseys for homecoming.

The Terps didn’t do a great job of containing UVA QB Marques Hagans on the ground, which I thought was going to be the key factor in the game, but Maryland won despite allowing him to run for 55 yards and two touchdowns.

Virginia took a 26-24 lead into the fourth quarter, but Maryland turned up the offense for three touchdowns in the final frame to get the win. The loss knocked Virginia out of the AP Top 25 and down to No. 25 in the USA Today Poll.

My prediction: Terps win 27-17.
Actual score: Terps win 45-33.

The Terps travel to Philadelphia to take on Temple on Saturday, October 8.


NFL: Redskins 20, Seattle Seahawks 17 (OT)

After a late-fourth-quarter Seahawks interception in Redskins territory, it looked like the ‘Skins were destined to lose a heartbreaker. But when Josh Brown’s 47-yard field goal attempt doinked off the left upright, the Redskins still had life.

In overtime, Mark Brunell converted three third-and-longs in a drive that culminated in a 39-yard Nick “The Kick” Novak field goal to win it.

The Redskins had leads of 14-3 and 17-10 before a Matt Hasselbeck pass to Darrell Jackson tied it at 17 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. Brunell and the Redskins had enough time to drive for a game-winning score, but on the second play of the drive, Brunell threw a pass a little too far out in front of Clinton Portis, who deflected the ball straight up in the air for an easy Seahawks pick on the Redskin 26.

With one second remaining, the Seahawks called a timeout and sent Brown out to win it with a 47-yard field goal, but it bounced over halfway up the upright and back into the end zone. No good.

Brunell finished 20-for-36 passing with two touchdowns and an interception, Santana Moss caught six passes for 87 yards, and Clinton Portis ran for 90 yards in the win.

My prediction: Seahawks win 21-20
Actual score: Redskins win 20-17

The Redskins are now 3-0, which means everyone in the area gets to hear bold presumptions of a Redskins Super Bowl ... at least until the ‘Skins head to Denver on Sunday to play the 3-1 Broncos.


NFL: Ravens 13, New York Jets 3

Man, are the Jets bad. That’s all that needs to be said.

The Ravens (1-2) still couldn’t put together a legitimate offense, but Jamal Lewis did break through for his first touchdown of the season and the Ravens won for the first time this year.

The Jets started rookie Brooks Bollinger, and he was harassed from the beginning. He was sacked five times by the Ravens, and only managed to go 14-for-28 for 149 yards passing.

Anthony Wright only managed 144 yards passing for the Ravens, but he did it on a respectable 15-for-21. He did throw an interception, but the Ravens pounded away on the ground, running the ball 45 times for 115 yards. Those numbers aren’t good, but they were enough to beat the Jets.

Baltimore took the lead in the first quarter on a Matt Stover field goal and never gave it up, leading 6-0 before the Jets field goal in the third quarter that was their only score of the game.

In the third quarter, Jamal Lewis ran the ball in for a one-yard touchdown to put the ravens up by 10, and the defense made it stick.

My prediction: Ravens win 14-10
Actual Score: Ravens win 13-3

Let it be known that I did say the Jets wouldn’t score an offensive touchdown, and that they’d get a field goal and score on an interception return. I was right, except that the interception wasn’t returned for a touchdown.

The Ravens take on the 1-2 Lions in Detroit on Sunday.