The 2011 Terps: they look good, now can they play?
The Maryland football team showed off its new Under Armour uniforms in a glitzy ceremony Monday night that was a curious combination of a fashion show, rock concert and pep rally.
But it had the desired effect: it fired up the masses who attended. (You can read Sun reporter Jeff Barker's account of the evening here.) You only hope this wasn't the high point of the season for the Terps, their fans and new coach, Randy Edsall. To say Maryland is rebuilding this year would be an understatement. Most college football experts pick the Terps to finish at the bottom of the ACC's Atlantic Division standings.
I give Edsall credit: he's trying everything humanly possible to psyche up the fan base, which has been in something of a torpor the past few years. Edsall said he even wants the fans to weigh in on the new unis -- maybe by voting on their favorite color combinations. (Good luck dragging the students away from their keg parties to do that, Coach.)
The uniforms themselves look spiffy. And with four jersey colors, four pants colors and two helmet colors, the Terps will have 32 color combinations to choose from. Forget deciding on the coin flip and whether they want to kick off or receive. Deciding on which color-combo uni to wear will be exhausting enough.
Me, I like the black jersey-black pants, black helmet look with the red and yellow (gold) lettering. At least it'll make the Terps look menacing, even if they're getting pushed all over the field. (The red belt seems a bit much. But who am I to judge? I still think a polo shirt and khaki pants are the height of fashion.)
I'm also fine with Edsall's decision not to have names on the back of the unis this season. He wants to make this rebuilding season all about the "team" and not about individual players, who will have to earn their recognition with their play on the field. Makes sense to me.
Anyway, as Barker reports, the new uniforms are drawing raves from the Maryland players.
Wide receiver Ronnie Tyler was quoted as saying: "You look good, you play good."
We'll see about that.
The Terps open with Miami on Sept. 5 in College Park. So far, no word on what colors they'll be wearing. With 32 different combinations, that could take a while.
Baltimore Sun photo of Cameron Chism by Gene Sweeney Jr. / Aug. 22, 2011
Comments
Rebuilding year? Getting pushed around all over the field?
What planet is Cowherd from? The Terps finished in the Top 25 last year, and have many from their 2-deep depth chart returning, including their QB (who happened to be ACC rookie of the year). Most pre-season prognostications I have seen project the Terps to win about 8 games and to make it to a mid-level bowl. We'll see once the game are played, but this writer's drivel is pathetic.
Posted by: SmittyATL | August 23, 2011 12:22 PM
Kevin, I get your point, but I think you're diving off the deep end on the re-building aspect. Look at the cupboard. Who did we lose from a 9-4 team? Da'Rel Scott and Torrey Smith on offense, Wujciak and Moten on D. A new coaching staff comes with bumps and hiccups, especially moving to an up-tempo offense.
Having been around MD for a while, you should also know that being picked near the bottom of our division in preseason by the media is a regular occurrence. Even in the early Friedgen "glory" years we were slighted. Luckily, games are decided by play on the field and not which teams garnered the most stars by Rivals.com. Last year MD smoked Wake and NC State, but was picked below both of them.
Perhaps it's an issue of semantics. Let's call it a remodeling year--which may be anything from a patch & paint to changing the entire layout...
Posted by: David | August 23, 2011 1:18 PM
I love the white top/black bottom/black helmet combo. The people bashing this move just don't get the current landscape in college football. Look at all the press its getting already, this is a great move
Posted by: Ben | August 23, 2011 3:03 PM
Ok. So these unis are not cool. And they absolutely do not look good.
It seems as if Under Armour is trying waaaaaay to hard to outdo Nike. And shame on Maryland on trying to drive in the same lane as Oregon.
Under Armour needs to stay in their lane too. This is embarrassing. Maryland... get good first.
Posted by: SD | August 23, 2011 4:19 PM
I don't know. Everything I've read has the Terps finishing second behind Fla St in the division. I'm talking all of the major outlets. Where does The Sun find these people? Is it because they don't think anyone is reading anymore so they just don't care?
Posted by: Drew Miller | August 23, 2011 4:53 PM
"But who am I to judge?"
Uh, YOU? Maybe? You're a NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST. Isn't that part of your goddamn job? These uniforms look like a Doritos bag or something Taco Bell briefly considered for food wrappers and then rejected for not being tasteful enough. Tell it like it is, man.
Posted by: Frank Jordan | August 23, 2011 5:02 PM
Are you kidding?? those new unis, overall, are horrid! the only think i like is the flat black helmet for its simplicity, but the stripe messes it up. should just have a plain red stripe to keep it simple. don't let him fool you, no way Edsalls "less is better" imprint is on these. he more or less has to accept them at this point.
I do think the team will play well this year, in spite of the unis.
Posted by: csquare | August 24, 2011 12:54 PM
People need to get a grip regarding the uniforms. Not everyone has the same taste. We need to support the team and the new look.
Posted by: Harry McClung | August 24, 2011 12:58 PM