RECAPS 2007

Sept. 1, 2007: Maryland 31, Villanova 14
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

A decent breeze and no drama from the Fun Police greeted the morning set-up crew on Opening Day of the A-Game Tailgate's 12th season.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/Villanova gameday.

Click here for more pictures taken by Becca. (You'll need a new or existing Snapfish account.)

There's always something special about Opening Day, and the first gameday of Team A-Game's 12th season of Maryland Football tailgating proved worthy of its pre-event anticipation. In the offseason, thanks to some stellar recruiting efforts by several Team members, the A-Game bulked up to 24 season tickets (second only to the 27 in 2004). The added eating and drinking capacity got everyone fired up, as did a blessing from Mother Nature with low humidity and a tolerable 80 degrees, about the best you could expect for Sept. 1. But what really got the day off to a great start was the stunning lack of drama from the UM Parking Nazis that greeted PK and Mike Norris at 7:45 a.m. After a quick entrance, the flags were promptly raised on another season. Kenna, Yancy, Walt, Hazel, Dave and DeLynda were right on the heels, and amidst a cool breeze and plenty of sunshine, complete set-up was done by 9 a.m. Morning brats were enjoyed as DirecTV beamed in the pregame shows. After the lots officially opened at noon, A-Game Theater featured East Carolina hanging with Virginia Tech and Appalachian State's shocking upset of alleged No. 5 Michigan on the Big Ten Network. We got the network as part of the SportsPack, casting aside ESPN GamePlan in another offseason roster upgrade. With the bulked up Team (today's attendance reached around 35), we threw a bunch of items on the grill and transferred to serving trays around 2 p.m., which seemed to work well for all. Some of the menu items included: marinated pork chops from Yancy, pasta salad from Becca, wings brought by several folks, Andrea's punch and plenty of dips. Congrats to the following for making it through their first A-Game Tailgate: DeLynda, Josh, Pat and Lisa, although no one looked like a rookie. Chad did a good job not allowing his ACL injury to slow down his tailgating efforts. The UM coeds represented their school well throughout Lot 1. Terp Alley was its usual sunbath, and 50,389 nearly filled Byrd to see new QB Jordan Steffy, who did not disappoint in smoothly directing the Turtles' offense to scoring drives. Save for an INT in the endzone and a dropped touchdown pass, MD looked diverse and very effective offensively, moreso than in the last three years. The defense gave up some yardage, mainly in the first half, but yielded only seven points. The 31-14 final gives a lot of promise for the season. Postgame tailgating including more wings and lamb chops and the viewing of Tennessee/Cal and a better-than-expected Auburn/Kansas State game. Sixteen hours later, at 11:45, we called it a day.
Record: 66-40

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Sept. 13, 2007: West Virginia 31, Maryland 14
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

Team A-Game rallied strong in the church lots after being booted from Lot 1 by the UM Parking Nazis.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/WVU gameday.

Score one for the Parking Enemies of Freedom. After a Maryland state trooper (read: officer of the law) rightfully admitted Team A-Game into Lot 1d, set-up began and the Q was fired up. But not long after, the UM Parking Terrorists came by with their Bible, a double-sided piece of paper listing confusing regulations and backward-thinking-policies, and ordered the removal of several tailgaters in Lot 1d despite it being half empty at 1 p.m., as clearly much of the UM student body was mailing in afternoon classes to properly begin preparations for the battle royale with the Mountaineers. Threatened with $300 fines for simply being on the grassy medians (isn't the university a public place?), we bailed and reconvened in the parking lots of the Methodist church across the street. Naturally we lamented how red-taped UM still just doesn't get it, but after that, the flags were raised, Drinking Jenga began (that always helps) and the Team rallied for one of its best food showings. Several candidates for Dish of the Week included jambalaya (Yancy), barbecued scallops and bacon (Brian R.). Regrettably, some of us even had to bail on Terp Alley, but Mike Norris and the bag of ice represented well. Kudos to Andrea and Despina for getting on ESPN with the “Payback Time” signs. Unfortunately, it was not to be. In front of a raucous crowd of 53,107, fifth-largest in Byrd history, which included about 5,000 mostly good-natured Eer fans and an impressive UM student blackout, and with all-black uniforms, the Turtles fell, 31-14. WVU is very good this year, but Maryland failed to throw its best punch. Several times the Terps' D had the Eers at 3rd and long but would inexplicably allow the visitors to convert. Offensively, the Turtles should've opted to throw more, period. It was a much different scene than the debacle in Morgantown last year, but most of the Red Shirts in attendance left wondering what would've happened had the Terps fired all their bullets, which we clearly did not do. It was a somewhat dissatisfying way to head into a two-year break in what is one of the nation's most competitive and most underrated rivalries. WVU leads the all-time series 23-21-2. The rivalry resumes in 2010 in Morgantown, and Team A-Game already cannot wait.
Record: 66-41

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Sept. 29, 2007: Maryland 34, Rutgers 24
Rutgers Stadium, Piscataway, N.J.

Part of the 3,000-strong Terrapin Nation gathered in Lot 51 on the Rutgers campus before cheering on the Terps to a 34-24 win over alleged No. 10 Rutgers.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/Rutgers gameday.

About 30 members of the Terrapin Nation met at the Rutgers Student Center by 10:30 a.m. to participate in a caravan to Lot 51. Unfortunately it didn't stay that way. Aim satelites in parking lots and cook great food — that we can handle. Navigating New Jersey's bass-ackwards road system proved to be another matter. Despite a split and a longer-than-expected (and needed) tour of downtown New Brunswick, we did arrive in Lot 51 on schedule for the 11 a.m. Raising of the Flags, happy to find several Turtle supporters already having set up shop. As per the norm with road tailgates, everyone stepped up their game — the fellas taking to the G.M. early and often and the ladies doing whatever fruity shooter they were doing. Some well-cooked wings from Yancy supplemented the traditional Brats and salmon from PK, but credit the UM students who parked next to us for contributing Old Bay chicken and, later, marinated steaks for postgame. Hanging out with the students brought back memories for some of the A-Game veterans as the UM seniors struggled with grill set-up and the like. But they showed great initiative with their recipes and are on the right track to becoming professional tailgaters. We enjoyed some games on Sirius satelite radio (namely Navy's win over Air Force and Notre Dame's loss to Purdue) before getting the Terrapin Nation together for some group photos and heading into the stadium. There, 3,000 Maryland supporters helped make up the second-largest crowd in Rutgers history (43,803). The Turtles established their line-of-scrimmage advantage early and surged to a 14-3 lead, but a we've-seen-this-before collapse by the defense late in the first half allowed the Scarlet Knights to go into the break ahead, 17-14. With starting QB Jordan Steffy knocked out due to a cheap shot, backup Chris Turner played cool, calm and collected, and directed a thankfully-agressive Maryland offense to 20 points in the second half, all while the Turtles' once-passive D played with more tenacity, hopefully turning a corner this season. The play of the game may have been a diving catch on third down by freshman WR LaQuan Williams (from Poly HS in B-more), which set up the game-winning TD by Keon Lattimore. With cheers of “R-U Leaving?” and “ACC!” and renditions of the Maryland Victory Song, we celebrated a 34-24 win over the country's alleged No. 10 team. Looks like the Maryland Gridiron Network will be purchasing another tombstone for the practice fields to continue the tradition of marking Top-10 foes to fall to the Turtles. After the game, we cooked up all the food, and the victory tailgate lasted until 10 p.m. A revenge game against Georgia Tech is next.
Record: 67-41

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Oct. 6, 2007: Maryland 28, Georgia Tech 26
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

Omelet Man Mike Norris treated Team A-Gam's eArly ArrivAls to breakfAst prior to the Turtles' 28-26 win over Georgia Tech on a steamy afternoon in College Park.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/Georgia Tech gameday.

One week after upsetting purported No. 10 Rutgers and having no problems getting into the RU parking lots earlier than their posted opening time, Team A-Game returned home to the unfriendly confines of Lot 1 and was once again accosted by the UM Fun Police upon our 5:47 a.m. arrival. But there is only so much complaining we can do about the Parking Enemies of Freedom. They just don't get it, and they never will. PK and Mike Norris pulled into the spot at 6 a.m. and promptly beasted setup with the help of Doug and Andrea. With the old-school Coleman grill (circa 2000 season) making an appearance, Mike Norris cooked up his signature omelets for the eArly ArrivAls, helping the Team bulk up for what would be a very hot afternoon. B-game to Mother Nature. The lot stayed relatively empty for most of the morning with the exception of the usual diehards. The flags returned to Terp Alley, although this time the Legions b-gamed. The aggressiveness we saw last week at Rutgers with Chris Turner at the helm continued for most of the first half, then the passiveness returned and the Turtles nearly melted away under a 21-3 lead. With the Jackets within two and waltzing their way towards the winning field goal, the Zebras caught an offensive lineman holding. Cosh's group then got a big stop on third down, forcing Travis Bell into a 52-yard FG attempt. He didn't miss by much, sending the way-too-small and too-quiet-for-much-of-the-day crowd of 47,527 into hysterics. GT has practically owned the series, so it was good to get some revenge after blowing a late lead in Atlanta last year. The post-game tailgate was epic. Skip brought several different kinds of fish for the grill. Brian's chicken kebobs were a hit. A visit to the Legions was made for a splash of victory GM, and A-Game Theater lasted until 8:30 p.m. for a total gameday of 14.5 hours. A discussion was held as to which gameday was the longest ever, and research reveals it was the 18-hour marathon set at the third annual Family Day, Sept. 11, 2004, vs. Temple. Next up is Rivalry Week vs. the Whine-and-Cheesers from Virginia.
Record: 68-41

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Oct. 20, 2007: Virginia 18, Maryland 17
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

Team A-Game Co-Founder and Tailgater Emeritus Neil Hall returned to celebrate the Third-Saturday-in-October Founding of the A-Game Tailgate with PK 11 years ago.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/Virginia gameday.

Recap to come.

Record: 68-42

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Oct. 27, 2007: Clemson 30, Maryland 17 (Family Day)
Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

Impressive pumpkin carving of the script Terps by Kenna and Yancy helped highlight the sixth annual Family Day at the A-Game Tailgate.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/Clemson gameday.

Recap to come.

Record: 68-43

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Nov. 3, 2007: North Carolina 16, Maryland 13
Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Near the end of a solid tailgate for Team A-Game's first (but not last) trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., a disappointing 16-13 loss to the Tar Heels.

Click here for pictures of the Terps/North Carolina gameday.

Recap to come.

Record: 68-44

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Nov. 10, 2007: Doubleheader Day
Salisbury 35, Frostburg 14 – Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
Maryland 42, Boston College 35 – Byrd Stadium, College Park, Md.

Click here for pictures of Team A-Game's Doubleheader Tailgate Day.

Click here for more pictures of Regents Cup tailgating.

Recap to come.

Record: 69-44
Note: In keeping with past practice, Salisbury's win over Frostburg does not count in our overall record due to us not actually staying for the game.

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Dec. 9, 2007: Irsays 44, Ravens 20
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Md.

Record: 69-45