BERKELEY, Calif. - - The video board inside Maryland's Gossett Football Team House flashed "Cal Week" and "21" all week as the Terps prepared to play California tonight in a season opener that is a rematch of one of last season's most compelling Maryland games.
The "21" was a reference to the Terrapins being three-touchdown underdogs to the No. 12 Golden Bears.
Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen was asked during the week whether the unwieldy point spread angered his players. "I hope so," replied Friedgen, who has been using the lack of respect for Maryland to motivate his young team. The Terrapins are picked last or next to last in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division by most pundits.
"We feel this is a statement game for the whole nation to prove who we are," said Nolan Carroll, a fifth-year Maryland cornerback.
The opening-game spread might seem excessive, but, truth be told, Maryland coaches know why the Terps have been cast in the role of prohibitive underdogs against a team they beat last season.
Scoring on its first three possessions, Maryland jumped in front of Cal, 28-6, in College Park. The slow-starting Golden Bears seemed fatigued by the humidity and the noon start, which felt like 9 a.m. to their Pacific Time-oriented body clocks. Cal made it interesting at the end before losing, 35-27.
Here are some reasons Cal poses a bigger challenge this year:
* The Golden Bears have 17 starters back compared with Maryland's 10. The Bears, who play defending Pacific-10 champion Southern California at home this season Oct. 3, believe they have a legitimate shot to win the conference. The team has been ranked higher in the preseason only once since Jeff Tedford became coach in 2002.
Eager to begin the season, Cal is asking fans to stage a "Blue Out" for the Maryland game by wearing the team color.
* Cal's returning players include running back Jahvid Best, who rushed for 1,580 yards last season, and quarterback Kevin Riley, who threw for 423 against a soft Maryland defense. Maryland will debut a new defense under coordinator Don Brown on Saturday night that emphasizes multiple blitz packages and pressing, man-to-man defense on the receivers.
* The revenge factor. Best had a subpar game against the Terps last season. He will long be remembered, at least by Maryland fans, for lying on the turf and throwing up after a fierce hit by Kevin Barnes.
