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Fast 40 countdown: Maryland

August 10, 2011  |  By Benjamin Miraski

Maryland

Last Season: 9-4, 40th in MRI

The good: Maryland returns seven players on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Danny O'Brien, most of his offensive line and seven of the top 10 tacklers from last season on defense. By that measure, all the talent should be there to make a run in the ACC. After all, it isn't like the team with the most skill has won this league any time recently. Oh wait, this is the good.

The schedule definitely works in Maryland's favor as they face all of the toughest opponents at home, or close to home with the exception of Florida State.

The bad: After Ralph Friedgen stole the ACC coach of the year honor last season, he was told to hit the road. The move was met with mixed reaction. The Terps had had arguably their best season since 2006, but certain alums who give a lot of money/clothing to the school weren't too happy with the performance. The house wasn't being protected well enough. And amazingly, it wasn't Debbie Yow doing the firing despite her many threats over the years.

In comes Randy Edsall, who brings with him a record of strong success at Connecticut. OK, even I had to laugh at that.

Edsall helped a team transition from the 1-AA to the big time, and got a lot of credit for winning a Big East conference that his old 1-AA teams would have been competitive in. Why do you think Villanova is still trying to find a way to join up?

Edsall doesn't need to do a complete turnaround here, but new coaches often have struggles molding the offense completely during the first season. Add in a defensive coordinator poached from Southern Mississippi whose units were trending in the wrong direction in terms of points per game. Top it off with a lot of the numbers going in Maryland's direction last season (such as a +15 turnover margin) and you have all the signs of a rebuilding year that didn't necessarily have to be.

Top name: Tyrek Cheeseboro

Trending: Flat - If Friedgen had been back, this could have been one of the surprise teams in the ACC. This team could still surprise, but a lot will depend on how quickly they adapt to a new gameplan and coach. They didn't do themselves any favors starting the year with Miami and West Virginia.

Posted August 10, 2011 10:30 PM

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