Gary Douglas News

With the threat of flooding due to heavy rain in the area, the University of Maryland football team held practice in its off-campus indoor facility Thursday afternoon in preparation for Saturday's Virginia Tech game.

Terps and Hokies to kick off at 1 p.m. in College Park; Maryland to wear special uniforms to promote Wounded Warriors Project Saturday, Nov.

There's a striking familiarity in N.C. State football coach Tom O'Brien's tone of voice.

While the winner of Saturday's Maryland-North Carolina State game faces an uncertain fate the rest of the season, the ramifications for the loser are clear: It will be the first ACC team eliminated from bowl contention and, at least for now, will earn the title as the conference's worst team.

No teams in the conference have struggled as mightily as the two that will collide at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Neither has won a game in more than a month. They have a combined 2-11 record against division I-A teams. Narrow and not-so-narrow defeats, plus injuries, have left both grasping for signs of hope.

The University of Maryland football team held a 90-minute practice Thursday in preparation for Saturday's matchup with North Carolina State.

When medical staff carried safety Antwine Perez off the field on a stretcher Saturday, the Terrapin football team's coaching staff was forced to burn another redshirt.

Maryland's ACC title chances are basically kaput. The Terrapins' bowl hopes are on life support at best.

I enjoy watching the speedy Porzel run. Morgan Green and D.J. Adams are the other running backs making the trip.

He has taken his team to a movie during camp, and he has ordered the offense to perform up-downs after each severe miscue in practice.

For most of the last decade and a half, an ACC team couldn't ask for a much friendlier matchup than what Maryland will encounter Saturday when it visits Duke.

The affair that took place Saturday at Byrd Stadium could be described only in variations of ugly. The weather, the field, the atmosphere and certainly the play on the field -- it was all unsightly. Or dreadful. Or hideous.

There were plenty of adjectives that applied to what took place between one floundering squad and another not too far removed from such a state. But there was only one tone that fit, even for the victor. Virginia defeated Maryland, 20-9, continuing a recent trend in which the Cavaliers (3-3, 2-0 ACC) have thrived and the Terrapins (2-5, 1-2) have stumbled.

Smith entered the game with 139.5 yards in kickoff returns per game. He is Maryland's career kickoff return leader and led the nation in all-purpose yards before Saturday.

Terps and Blue Devils to meet for first time in five years; Kickoff set for 1:30 p.m. from Wallace Wade Stadium One of the top playmakers in the ACC, Adrian Moten leads the Terps in tackles for loss and sacks.

The frustration of Maryland's football team and the anguish in the voice of its coach Saturday was predicated not just on the latest loss in forgettable fashion.

Maryland is applying pressure on Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell. The Terps have four sacks in the first half and have forced a fumble.

It's understood that Chris Turner, so long as he's playing, will lead Maryland in passing each week.

An unlikely player has emerged as Maryland's most effective available option to run the ball: quarterback Chris Turner.

Excluding yardage lost on sacks, Turner is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, which is better than that of any healthy Terrapins running back now that Da'Rel Scott is sidelined for the foreseeable future with a broken forearm.

'I think it adds a dimension to his game,' Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen said. 'Not only is Chris doing a good job with that, but I think he's taking the runs when he can. I don't think in the past he would do that as frequently as he's doing now. He's come up with some big first downs for us.'

Running back Da'Rel Scott and left tackle Bruce Campbell , two of Maryland's best offensive players, are expected miss Saturday's game at Wake Forest.

A lot of Maryland players and coaches will suffer from nightmares featuring open receivers and easy touchdowns allowed stemming from a mid-October visit to BB&T Field.

Maryland at Wake Forest Time: 6:30 p.m. TV: ESPN360.com Radio: 105.7 FM, 1300 AM Line: Wake Forest by 12 1/2 Series: Maryland leads 41-15-1. Last meeting: Maryland won, 26-0, on Oct.