Maryland's 41-7 win is its fourth straight romp over West Virginia.
By Associated Press
Published January 2, 2004
JACKSONVILLE - The rematch turned out to be a replay.
Scott McBrien threw for a career-high 381 yards to help No. 23 Maryland to a 41-7 victory over No. 20 West Virginia in the Gator Bowl on Thursday, a rematch of a regular-season game that was almost as lopsided.
Facing the team he left in 2001, McBrien threw for three scores and ran for another. Teammate Steve Suter returned a punt for a touchdown and made a highlight-reel catch to help the once-downtrodden Terrapins reach 10 wins for the third straight season under coach Ralph Friedgen.
Only Texas, Oklahoma, Miami and Washington State can boast a similar three-year stretch.
"How long has it been since Maryland has been mentioned in the same breath with those teams?" Friedgen said. "That's how far we've come."
They've done it thanks in part to West Virginia. Including the 34-7 regular-season win, the Terps have defeated the Mountaineers four times over three seasons by an average of 35-13.
That these teams were playing a rematch of a lopsided game may have seemed strange to a sellout crowd of 78,892.
Friedgen downplayed the dominance.
"The biggest thing is, we got ahead fast. That's it," he said.
The Mountaineers, the Big East co-champs, went in on a seven-game winning streak and are trying to establish themselves as the team to beat next year in a revamped conference that will lose Miami and Virginia Tech.
Instead, they reinforced their remarkable penchant for flopping in bowl games. West Virginia has lost 10 of its past 11 bowls and is 0-2 during Rich Rodriguez's tenure by a combined 89-29.
"Our preparation was probably no different than Maryland's or anyone else's," Rodriguez said. "We were focused. Our intensity in practice was good. We were excited about playing. We just didn't play well."
Suter, a junior playing with a bum knee that needs surgery, made the highlight plays.
Early in the second quarter, he fielded a punt at his 24 and was barely touched by one Mountaineer, scoring for a 17-0 lead. He had an 80-yard punt return for a score last season against West Virginia in a 48-17 win.
In the third quarter, Suter jumped with Mountaineers cornerback Lance Frazier for a long pass down the sideline. Frazier batted it into the air and it fell to the receiver at the West Virginia 7. Three plays later, McBrien ran in for a 31-0 lead.
The senior quarterback finished 21-of-33, a strong closing act for the Rockville, Md., native who transferred from West Virginia to Maryland after Rodriguez took over the Mountaineers and made McBrien third string.
McBrien finished 21-6 as a starter for the Terps and 3-0 against the Mountaineers.
"Scott, if he played us 12 times, he'd probably be in the Heisman race," West Virginia running back Quincy Wilson said. "That's my man. I've known him since we first started off. Any time he does well, I'm rooting for him."
