Maryland looks to lay groundwork for rivalry with Penn State
Despite the geographical proximity of the two universities, Maryland and Penn State have not played since 1993. The Terps will travel to State College for a noon contest Saturday and with the teams now Big Ten east division foes, UM head coach Randy Edsall knows the chance for a rivalry can sprout at Beaver Stadium this weekend.
“I think it's great to be able to be in the same conference with them, in a bordering state,” Edsall said Tuesday. “It's something that as we continue to play Penn State, we can turn it into a rivalry and again we are looking forward to going up there to play in front of that hostile environment of 100,000 people."
Edsall was particular with his words. The series history between the two teams has 37 entries, with Penn State winning 35 times. Maryland isn’t looking to rekindle a rivalry. It’s looking to establish one – and to do that, the Terps need to start beating Penn State.
"I think I've been on record, you have to win games and that's one thing that we haven't done here at the University of Maryland,” Edsall said. “Most of our guys weren't even born yet the last time (Penn State and Maryland played). Again, it's just one of those things that we will get the chance to play them now on a yearly basis, and what we have to do, is continue to get better. If you are ever going to make a series a rival, there has to be wins on our side to be able to make that happen."
If Edsall’s program can start pulling out victories against the Nittany Lions, the potential for a rivalry will extend beyond the playing field to the recruiting trail. The teams already recruit many of the same regions, with Penn State dipping into the fertile recruiting grounds of the Washington D.C.-Maryland-Northern Virginia area pretty frequently and with good success.
Edsall hopes some of those kids from Maryland will take a longer look at the Terps.
"Penn State has always recruited down here and Penn State has pretty much always gotten who they wanted to get down here,” Edsall said. “It goes back to beating them on the field to change those things, those are the things that you have to do. We're in an area where it's a bordering state and you have the population that we have here there is going to be a lot of people that are going to come in here and recruit. It's just one of those things and what you have to do is go out and play to the best of your ability and win. That way you can probably keep more of those guys here at home."
Penn State head coach James Franklin, in his first year with the program, is extremely familiar with Maryland in his own right. Franklin spent two different stints with the Terps as an assistant – from 2000-2004 as the wide receivers coach and 2008-2010 as the offensive coordinator. He was even Maryland’s head coach-in-waiting before Vanderbilt hired him away from College Park to be its head coach.
Though he recruited a handful of players on the Maryland roster, including quarterback C.J. Brown, Franklin said his familiarity with those players doesn’t give Penn State an advantage.
“I don't see it being an advantage on the field because I know their personalities but I haven't coached them or been around them in four years,” Franklin said. “So a lot of things change, guys get bigger, stronger, they develop, they're in schemes that are different and things like that. I don't think we gain a whole lot of an advantage.”
Both teams are coming off tough losses over the weekend. The Terps (5-3) were blown out 52-7 on the road by Wisconsin while Penn State (4-3) dropped a double-overtime decision to Ohio State.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
