Sunday, September 3, 2006

Maryland

Highlights: Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore appeared to be a formidable 1-2 punch in a 27-14 victory . Plus, nothing happened to fuel a quarterback controversy. Fifth-year senior Sam Hollenbach went 9 of 15 for 153 yards and did not throw an interception after throwing 13 last season. Meantime, backup Jordan Steffy was 0 for 5 with an interception and a fumble.

Lowlight: The Terps committed four turnovers and allowed the Tribe to control the ball for nearly 17 minutes in the first half. It's never an encouraging sign when you have to bring starters back into the game late against a Division I-AA opponent.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Middle Tennessee (1-0), 6 p.m. The Blue Raiders opened the season and Coach Rick Stockstill's tenure Thursday night with a 7-6 victory over Florida International. Punter Colby Smith was perhaps the MVP after averaging 43.4 yards on nine punts in the defensive struggle.

Highlight: Paul Johnson's triple-option offense seems to work no matter who's playing quarterback. First-year starter Brian Hampton ran 34 times for 149 of Navy's 403 yards in a 28-23 win over East Carolina. Adam Ballard and Reggie Campbell also carried effectively and scored touchdowns.

Lowlight: The pass defense was porous. East Carolina quarterback James Pinkney completed 24 of 35 passes for 283 yards, completing passes to nine receivers.

Up Next : Saturday vs. Massachusetts, 1:30 p.m. Don't take the Division I-AA Minutemen too lightly; last season, they were tied with Army in the fourth quarter before succumbing, 34-27, in West Point, N.Y.

Highlight: Well, Coach Al Groh proved to be an apt judge of talent: Through one game, this does appear to be a rebuilding season.

Lowlight: Two Cavaliers quarterbacks threw passes that resulted in touchdowns -- for Pittsburgh. Christian Olsen was intercepted by Darrelle Revis, who took it back 19 yards to make it 24-10 midway through the third quarter. Olsen's replacement, Kevin McCabe, entered late in the fourth quarter and immediately was intercepted by Clint Session, who ran 78 yards for a touchdown.

Up Next: Saturday vs. Wyoming, 3:30 p.m. After losing their final six games last season, the Cowboys opened with a 38-7 win over Utah State yesterday.

Highlight: In his first start as Marcus Vick's replacement at quarterback, Sean Glennon couldn't have looked better, leading scoring drives on the Hokies' first three possessions. The final was 38-0 over Northeastern.

Lowlight: An already thin offensive line took an additional hit when left tackle Brandon Frye dislocated his right elbow, and flanker Eddie Royal, the Hokies' leading returning receiver, sprained his big toe.

Up Next: Saturday at North Carolina, noon. The Tar Heels will look to rebound from yesterday's loss to Rutgers.