Maryland Uniforms 2011: Smart Marketing Not Enough for Terps vs. West Virginia

If the Maryland Terrapins are going to capitalize on all the publicity surrounding their eye-sore uniforms, they'll need to win in them on a regular basis.

Two weeks after downing a short-handed Miami squad in their freaky flag duds, the Terps came up short at home against No. 18 West Virginia in all-black threads. Maryland fell behind 34-10 early in the third quarter before staging a furious rally to close the gap to 34-31 with 11 minutes remaining. The Mountaineers tacked on a field goal to widen the margin back to 37-31.

Danny O'Brien and company responded with a solid drive of their own until Maryland's quarterback was picked off in West Virginia territory with less than two minutes to go in the game.

A win for Maryland over a quality opponent like West Virginia in a long-running rivalry game would have done wonders for Randy Edsall's program, more than any new uniform iteration could possibly contribute to the cause.

As exciting and advantageous a marketing ploy as it may be to have Under Armour shipping in edgy new outfits each week, the only way Maryland football is truly going to advance within the ACC and on the college football landscape as a whole is with wins, wins and more wins.

Have I mentioned the Terps need to win to be successful?

Say what you want about Oregon's growth into a national power after Nike stepped in, but the Ducks ultimately transformed into an annual BCS contender once their success on the field overshadowed just how hideous their uniforms actually were.

Not that Maryland won't get there. The Terps won nine games last year, albeit before pushing long-time head coach and alum Ralph Friedgen out the door, and have more than enough returning talent to duplicate that feat in 2011.

With O'Brien under center on offense and Kenny Tate terrorizing folks on defense, the turtle should strike fear into enough of its opponents in a weak ACC to make Edsall's first year at the helm one to be proud of in College Park. Maryland will take on Temple and Towson before delving into conference play at Georgia.

A favorable slate, to be sure, and one that, aside from a visit to No. 5 Florida State in late October, should have Maryland football back on the good foot sooner rather than later.

Then, once the winning tradition has been established, the Terps can start bringing in bigger, better and faster athletes to wear those ugly uni's and catapult Maryland to the top of the college football world.

Because Maryland already does crab cakes well. Now it's time for football in the Free State to catch up.

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