After all of the questions and comments provided in the Maryland Mailbag Request, shown below are responses to what you wanted to know. For some reason there weren’t any questions about KenPom Rankings, or why Maryland let James Franklin escape College Park at the end of the 2010 football season. What was provided, and responded to, is presented herein. With that, here goes nothing....
Does Maryland have a legit chance at not being blown out by the powers in the East? - younghollywood5
DJ: They have a legit shot at not being blown out by Michigan and Michigan State. Actually, they have a shot at upsetting the both of them. Not being blown the F out by PSU and OSU? That’s a different question that revolves around injuries and how the DL has developed. The starters are there to be in that “not get blown the fuck out” category but even teams like Nebraska recently have taken it hard by OSU, so that isn’t always a good barometer. I think Michigan and MSU the Terps show up to but I’m not sold that they don’t take it hard against PSU and OSU this year.
z: Yes, if the defensive players are as good as advertised. For all of the talk about injured quarterbacks Maryland’s defense, particularly stopping the run, was - to put it mildly - not good. Due to injury and a lack of depth last season, at times it seemed the only way Maryland could stop the run was letting the opposing team score. How well Jesse Aniebonam returns from injury plus players such as Byron Cowart, Adam McLean, Austin Fontaine, and the Gaddy twins will go a long way in determining if 66-3 blowouts will become a thing of the past.
Since UMaryland is the Terrapins, why is their mascot Testudo, a genus of tortoises? - Stormy Dragon
z: Answering this one requires minutes of exhaustive research and looking back on my days as a Maryland undergrad a whole bunch of years ago... Back in 1932, University President Curly Byrd made the Terrapin the University of Maryland’s official mascot. One year later, the Class of 1933 commissioned a bronze Terrapin statue to be cast. After Testudo (the statue) had been ‘relocated’ to John Hopkins University and the University of Virginia (among other places), this casting was given its permanent home in front of McKeldin Library. To this day, students rub Testudo’s nose to bring them good luck before exams.
Why the state flag uniforms? Why would anyone think that was a good idea? - BoilerUp89
z: I have no fucking clue. (Actually it was an UnderArmour thing prior to the start of the 2011 football season and Randy Edsall’s tenure as head coach. Excuse me as I just threw up in my mouth...)
DJ: I think they can be executed properly but UA has been very slow to drown out how loud they are. They are using MD as experimentation grounds and who are we to say no given how much money they give us? I love the white/black ops uniforms and think that the red ops uniforms should go join Big Red in hell.
Is there a way to keep people who never leave Montgomery County from displaying anything with that awesome crab/state flag design? - ChrisHarrell’s_stache05
z: Well there are a lot of Penn State fans and alumni living in Maryland, including Black Shoe Diaries’ Cari Greene. Problem is, that means they would have left Maryland (Montgomery County) at some point... There’s also a lot of Orioles fans in Montgomery County, but 2018 happened... So, I’m guessing there isn’t any way to get these folks to display anything other than crab and/or Maryland state flag designs.
What did ziowa say at HPSS when Gus Edwards caught the go ahead (and winning) TD in the 4th quarter of the November 2017 game? - WestCoast_RU
z: Said, ‘If we leave now we can beat the traffic going home.’
DJ: ^^Old
What is the worst Maryland football uniform combination? Note that all is the correct answer. - HoustonBoiler
z: The BlackOps uniforms are, in a word, ugly. They get my vote for the worst. Honorable mention goes to the ill-fated RedOps uniforms, and any combination featuring black pants (teamed up with either white or red jerseys).
DJ: zIowa doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Any combo of all red or all yellow or both with each other. They should never be considered.
Given the big similarities between us (Maryland) and Indiana in sports, will UMD and IU develop some sort of rivalry or are we going to settle for a rivalry with Rutgers that we think we’re above? - aurelianus
z: In a way the Terps and Hoosiers have developed some sort of rivalry. 2002 says hello...
What is the best way to turtle? Do you want to protect your head or internal organs first? - WhiteSpeedReceiver
z: I would turtle by protecting my head first. But then again, I’m a Maryland (and Iowa) grad; so what do I know.
DJ: Like this?