Early football musings

The Terps had a very good season last year, going to the Champs Sports Bowl and dominating Purdue. But now that we're past the afterglow of that 9-4 campaign, Terp fans are wondering what the team can do for an encore.

Which leads me to wonder, what would be a reasonable expectation for next season? The Terps will have to break in a new QB, either JR Jordan Steffy, the current incumbent, or hotshot SO Josh Portis. Aside from that, the team loses little among offensive skill position players, and returns potential all-ACC players in Ball, Lattimore, Crummey, and Heyward-Bey. The defense should be improved as well, assuming Defensive Coordinator Chris Cosh's game plans improve as well in his second season.

But there are plenty of question marks as well. Offensive line depth will be a question, especially with the talented Jared Gaither's status up in there yet again. The team also loses a lot on Special Teams with the losses of kicker Dan Ennis and punter Adam Podlesh, as well as kick returner Josh Wilson. Getting a reliable performance out fo the kicking team is a big need, and at this point, a big question mark as well.

The schedule isn't easy either. The team doesn't face Duke again this year. The nonconference portion of the schedule is beefed up, with a trip to Rutgers coming a few weeks after a Thursday night game at Byrd against rival West Virginia. In between those two games will be a trip to Winston-Salem to face the defending ACC Champs Wake Forest.

That will be a critical early season stretch. The team will win its first to games (vs Villanova, @ Florida International) heading into that three game stretch, which could be the turning point of the season for good or for bad. Winning two or more could set the stage for a special season, while losing all three could cause the wheels to come off early in the year.

The Terps then get three straight home games to finish the first half of the ACC, with Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Clemson coming to College Park. After that it's a trip to Chapel Hill to face UNC, the home finale against Boston College, and then road games against division foes Florida State and North Carolina State.

The bright side in that schedule is that the team misses Virginia Tech and a possibly resurgent Miami team who will be looking to improve on last year's 7-6 debacle. The schedule isn't exactly an SEC schedule, but it's no cake walk either.

But back to the point - expectations. 8-4. I think, would be a good season. It's still too early to say for sure considering the QB situation is still up in there, but if the team performs at a reasonable level given their skills, 8 wins - as many as 6 in conference - seems to be an attainable benchmark.

And if Portis does hold the starting job for most of the season, an 8-4 campaign might be a very nice stepping stone to a 2008 seaosn that could be another double digit win year. Who knows? We'll talk a lot more about this in the next few months. I can't wait until September 1st!