• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Virginia Tech-Maryland Preview

Nov 10, 2009 - 9:01 PM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

No. 21 Virginia Tech (6-3) at Maryland (2-7), 1:00 p.m. EDT

Maryland hasn't sold out a game all season, but Virginia Tech fans are expected to pack Byrd Stadium for Saturday's ACC matchup. The lack of a true home-field advantage isn't the only thing hampering the Terrapins this weekend.

The No. 20 Hokies look to hand Maryland a fifth straight loss, with starting quarterback Chris Turner unavailable for the Terrapins.

Maryland (2-7, 1-4) has had trouble drawing fans to Byrd Stadium, which holds 51,500. The Terrapins never drew a crowd of fewer than 48,000 since 2002, but they haven't drawn that many in five games this season.

This contest could feature the biggest crowd of the year because of the large alumni base for Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-2) in the Washington area. An overflow crowd of 54,838 saw Virginia Tech's 28-9 victory in 2005 in its last visit.

Those fans that show up this time can expect to see Jamarr Robinson make his first career start for Maryland. Robinson took over during last Saturday's 38-31 loss at North Carolina State when Turner - a three-year starter - went down with a knee injury.

"I think it's his MCL," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "We're not sure yet how severe it is. He possibly could be done for a couple weeks, just depends on how severe it is."

Robinson completed 5 of 11 passes for 27 yards and also ran nine times for a team-high 38 yards. Friedgen has not ruled out the possibility of playing freshman Danny O'Brien, who would otherwise redshirt.

In any case, an inexperienced quarterback will be going up against a Virginia Tech defense that ranks eighth nationally by allowing 163.1 passing yards per game.

Friedgen is good friends with Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, with both serving as graduate assistants at Maryland in 1972 and as assistants at The Citadel from 1973-78.

Beamer is 3-0 against Friedgen as Virginia Tech has won the last four meetings. The Hokies' 23-13 victory last November was keyed by Darren Evans' school-record 253 yards rushing, but Evans is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Virginia Tech avoided a third straight loss last Thursday with a 16-3 win over East Carolina. Ryan Williams, who has taken over for Evans, ran for a season-high 179 yards and quarterback Tyrod Taylor had a 13-yard touchdown run.

"It's been a tough couple of weeks here," Beamer said. "I use the word, 'relentless,' and that's exactly how I described this football team. They were relentness. They just kept coming back and coming back and fighting their way through it."

Williams has six 100-yard games to set a freshman school record, and he's averaging 123.2 yards to rank ninth in the nation. He had a late fumble the game before that led to a 20-17 loss to North Carolina.

"I think the only person that was going to be able to overcome what happened last week was myself," Williams said. "I realized that it happens to everybody, nobody can be perfect."

Defensive back Rashard Carmichael had an interception for the second straight game, and Virginia Tech limited East Carolina to 277 yards.

"We played together and put the pieces together," Carmichael said. "We didn't change anything. The Virginia Tech defense didn't go anywhere. We stuck to the plan and executed it. That's the difference."

That defense won't have to worry about Turner, who threw for 240 yards and a touchdown in last year's meeting. The loss of Turner comes at a difficult time for Friedgen, who is headed for his second losing season in three years.

Maryland has fallen by a total of 32 points during its losing streak. Turner left last week's game in the second quarter, and the Terps had nine yards in the third.

"It's a tough loss," Friedgen said. "I'm very proud of our guys though. They didn't quit and gave everything they had. They're scrapping out there now. But we couldn't get a break."