It hasn't always been this way. Maryland hasn't always been an elite level football team able to beat Florida State and make annual plans to spend early January in Florida.
Prior to the 2001 season, the Terrapins were perennial ACC doormats, located just above Duke in the conference hierarchy. It's no surprise that their resurgence has coincided with the return of offensive genius Ralph Friedgen to College Park.
The homecoming of Friedgen to his alma mater has helped revitalize a previously suffocating Maryland program. So suffocating, in fact, that Virginia had beaten Maryland nine straight times between 1991 and 2000. Yes, nine straight times. So, preceding 2001, it was hard to even call the annual Maryland-Virginia game a rivalry.
Now rivalry is the only word to describe the annual matchup. The biggest reason for the ill will between the two schools is the short distance separating them. Only two and a half hours north on Route 29, Terps and Northern Virginia Cavalier fans share a common stomping ground in the greater Washington D.C. metro area. The two schools also happen to share the same recruiting grounds, only adding to the shared animosity.
Both schools have upgraded their programs' prestige in the last five years, leading to more competitive recruiting. Oftentimes, both Cavalier and Terrapin coaches find themselves going after the same players.
Virginia sophomore wide receiver Deyon Williams hails from Suitland High School in Upper Marlboro, Md., only 20 miles from the Terps' College Park campus. Of course no one can forget that Maryland stole All-ACC place kicker Nick Novak from local Albemarle High School, a short 10-minute drive from the University's Grounds.
The battle between the two renowned state schools came to a head last October. Following the release of the 2003 U.S News and World Report's annual college rankings issue, which had Virginia tied with Cal-Berkeley for the title of the number one public university in the country, Maryland President Dan Mote was quoted saying, "They [UVA] are highly overrated these days, but are placed at the top of the pile with Berkeley, which is ridiculous." He went on to say that students who pay higher out-of-state tuition to attend UVA "don't know any better."
The comment only fueled a growing hatred toward Maryland and has helped renew the rivalry in the eyes of many Virginia fans and alumni.
Despite the contrasts between the two schools, on the playing field they're more similar than different. Both rely on physical defenses, and while Maryland's offense is more complex than Virginia's with an affinity to run the spread formation, in the end, winning is all that matters.
"I think we're similar teams in some of our beliefs and the way we play," said Virginia senior tailback Alvin Pearman. "We both hate to lose, and more importantly we hate to lose to each other."
Before the game last season, which was held in College Park, an argument between Virginia coach Al Groh and Maryland wide receiver coach James Franklin led to a scuffle between the two teams at midfield.
"There was some bad blood between us," Virginia safety Jermaine Hardy said. "We've got to back up our coach."
The Cavaliers might have backed up their coach before that game, but they certainly didn't back him up during the game, getting steamrolled on the ground, giving up 261 yards to Josh Allen alone. The result was a 27-17 loss, one that has Virginia's players ready for revenge.
While Maryland holds a 39-27-2 overall advantage in the series, the Cavaliers would like nothing more than to help knock Maryland further out of bowl contention, as at 4-4 they need only two more wins to become eligible. In the process, a Virginia win would help put the Wahoos one step closer to making plans to spend January in Florida themselves.
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