In November 2002, during the week leading up to his team’s game with UVA, then-Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen famously said: “We expect to beat teams like Duke and Virginia.”
Smart.
That Saturday, UVA crushed Maryland, 48-13. Friedgen was fired in 2010, having lost more games than he won against the orange and blue.
At halftime of a UVA-Maryland basketball game in March 2011, Randy Edsall, Friedgen’s successor, announced to the Comcast Center crowd: “Here at Maryland, we don’t lose to Virginia.”
Brilliant.
Eight months later, UVA dominated Maryland, 31-13. (And Virginia’s basketball team hasn’t lost to the Terps since Edsall took the microphone, either).
Maryland doesn’t like Virginia, and the feeling’s mutual. Luckily for Mike London, we can throw out the records when these two get together Saturday.
UVA (2-4, 0-2 ACC) is mired in a four-game losing streak during which it has been outscored by 87 points. The ‘Hoos have lost four of five to Duke (Duke!), including last week’s embarrassing 42-17 setback. Since starting 2-0, London’s team is allowing more than 42 points per game and ranks dead last nationally in turnover margin.
Maryland (3-2, 1-0 ACC) surpassed its 2011 win total a week ago when it came from behind to beat Wake Forest, 19-14. Edsall went just 2-10 last season, his first in College Park after jettisoning UConn. The natives remained restless after Maryland needed a fourth-quarter touchdown to get by William & Mary in its opener, 7-6, but the Terps have shown steady improvement from week to week.
Virginia has won 15 of the last 20 meetings dating back to 1992, but Maryland has taken two of the last three in Charlottesville, including a 42-23 win in Mike London’s first season at UVA.
