Ron Vanderlinden came out of a meeting with his staff Sunday to find a message from his old boss, Gary Barnett.
“He said, `Tough day for Wildcats and former Wildcats,’ ” Vanderlinden said.
Indeed, it was hard to tell who had the tougher day Saturday. Barnett’s Northwestern team blew a Top 25 ranking in another loss at Wake Forest. But Vanderlinden lost to Ohio–U., not State–in his debut as Maryland’s head coach.
“Shoot, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Vanderlinden said in a telephone interview Tuesday from College Park.
And it won’t get any easier this week. Next up for the Terrapins is a visit to fifth-ranked Florida State. Maryland and FSU have met five times since FSU joined the Atlantic Coast Conference, with scores of 69-21, 49-20, 52-20, 59-17 and 48-10, all in favor of FSU.
The Vanderlinden Era began promisingly enough. The Terrapins scored touchdowns on their first two possessions and appeared ready to run Ohio out of the stadium.
“That was impressive to me,” Vanderlinden said. “I did think to myself, `It’s coming together.’ “
But the Bobcats, who returned two 1,000-yard rushers and eight starters on defense, put the clamps on Maryland’s offense and took control of the game with a punishing ground attack.
A blocked punt figured prominently. That brought back sickening memories for Vanderlinden.
“It was kind of shades of Miami of Ohio,” said Vanderlinden, recalling Northwestern’s lone regular-season loss in 1995. “It was as if our kids were just in disbelief.”
Dropping his first game as a head coach stung Vanderlinden, but the 41-year-old Michigan native hasn’t lost his trademark optimism. Having been part of the dramatic turnaround at Northwestern, he believes he can perform a similar feat at Maryland, which has gone 40-70-2 over the last 10-plus seasons.
Like NU, Maryland has to struggle for attention in an area obsessed with professional sports. Maryland has two NFL franchises–the Washington Redskins and the Baltimore Ravens–within 35 miles of campus.
Vanderlinden has spent much of his first 10 months on the job carrying the banner for the downtrodden program. Like Barnett, who sold Northwestern’s proximity to Chicago, he pushes Maryland’s location between Washington and Baltimore; on a clear day, fans in the north grandstand at Byrd Stadium can see the U.S. Capitol building, the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral.
Vanderlinden has made countless appearances at alumni functions all over the Chesapeake region. They don’t serve Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. But Vanderlinden has taken to one of Maryland’s native delicacies.
“I do like crab cakes,” he said.
Tough times at Temple: For the Temple Owls, last weekend’s victory over Boston College was cause for great rejoicing–and not just because it was only their second Big East football triumph in 40 games.
It’s been a somber year on the Philadelphia campus. First there was the murder of Ennis Cosby, son of longtime Owls booster and benefactor Bill Cosby. Then, last summer, Athletic Director Dave O’Brien’s 9-year-old son, Michael, perished in an auto accident, and Marvin Webster Jr., an Owls basketball recruit, died of a heart attack.
To recognize those losses, the Owls are literally wearing their hearts on their sleeves this fall, with heart-shaped patches stitched to home and road jerseys.
“It’s something that they won’t forget because of the heart that’s on their chest,” Temple coach Ron Dickerson said.
The Owls had another reminder of mortality when Dickerson underwent surgery for prostate cancer in June. In a minor upset, the 49-year-old was back on the job full time the day before Owl freshmen reported.
Having survived that, it’s no wonder Dickerson isn’t frightened about playing No. 1 Penn State this weekend. But he has told his players they’d better not make him anxious.
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“My doctor said I’m not supposed to get flustered and riled,” Dickerson said. “I told my players before the season, don’t do that. I’m not supposed to die this early.”
Wolverines are No. 1: At least in schedule strength, according to an NCAA survey based on last year’s winning percentages. Michigan’s 1997 opponents had a .659 winning percentage a year ago, and seven played in bowls.
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr isn’t sure this is good news.
“I like to play good competition; we’ve always done that at Michigan,” Carr said. “But I do think a year from now, with the (bowl) alliance changing and the Big Ten and the Pac-10 joining, and the potential for winning the national championship, it dictates that we take a look in terms of what we’re doing here in terms of scheduling.”
The rest of the Top 10 in schedule strength, and their opponents’ 1996 winning percentages:
2. Washington (.645); 3. Florida (.629); 4. Arkansas (.629); 5. Colorado (.595); 6. Illinois (.593); 7. Arizona (.591); 8. Southern Mississippi (.590); 9. Oklahoma (.576); 10. Auburn (.571).
Fourth and inches: It’s time to recognize the obvious. The basketball-mad ACC is a solid football league. The ACC already has knocked off three Top 25 teams from other conferences (Wake Forest over Northwestern, North Carolina State over Syracuse and Florida State over USC). That’s more victories over ranked non-conference foes than the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conferences have, combined. . . . West Virginia’s David Saunders, the standout receiver from Palatine High School, is beginning rehabilitation this week after knee surgery ended his season before it began. Saunders, the leading receiver in the Big East last year, has one year of eligibility left. . . . Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer on the Hokies’ Big East showdown with Syracuse this weekend: “Syracuse has played three ballgames, and there’s no question you become a lot better team as you go along.” Wonder if Beamer received the right game films; after flaying Wisconsin 34-0 in the Kickoff Classic, the Orangemen have lost to lightly regarded North Carolina State and Oklahoma. . . . Central Michigan coach Dick Flynn had no complaints about sportsmanship after an 82-6 drubbing at Florida, acknowledging that Gators coach Steve Spurrier emptied his bench. “I’ve never been one to believe that you can completely pull the reins back on those people,” Flynn said. . . . Southern California coach John Robinson looked on the bright side of last week’s 14-7 loss to fifth-ranked Florida State, Robinson’s third loss in his last five USC openers. “We found ourselves a quarterback,” said Robinson, referring to sophomore John Fox, who had thrown only an incompletion and an interception before last weekend. “I would like to have won, but that will come.” . . . Tennessee and Florida are off this week as they prepare for their Sept. 20 shootout in Gainesville. The Volunteers escaped UCLA with a shaky 30-24 victory that wasn’t sealed until the final seconds. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning said. “We’re fortunate to have the off week and correct our mistakes.”