THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609140565
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 51 lines
As best as Brian Cummings can recall, no one fainted or fell from his seat that day last November when a desperate Maryland coach Mark Duffner announced he was abandoning the run-and-shoot offense.
``It was just that we needed to win the N.C. State game, and this is what we had to do to win it,'' said quarterback Cummings.
The Terps, who had been shut out the previous two games, did catch N.C. State by surprise with a ground attack and won the game to clinch Duffner's only winning season in four years at Maryland.
No one should be surprised, then, that the Terps will emphasize the run today at Virginia in a regionally televised (WAVY, noon) game that opens the ACC season for both teams. Still, it will take some getting used to by the Cavaliers.
``We expect them to run, but it is going to be different,'' Virginia junior defensive back Ronde Barber said. ``Every other time I've played against them, we had to be ready to stop their run-and-shoot passing game.''
The Terps still throw the ball, witness last Saturday's 39-15 victory over Alabama-Birmingham in which Cummings completed 17 of 24 passes. But they also had 55 rushing attempts, the most ever for a Duffner team at Maryland.
Duffner says defenses caught up with the run-and-shoot and it no longer was effective. As much as Cummings hated to see it go, he agrees that Duffner had no choice but to dump it.
``The run-and-shoot is the dream of any quarterback because you throw the ball 75 percent of the time,'' said Cummings, a junior from Eastchestern, N.Y.
``But it all comes down to winning and losing, and the multiple-formation offense is the best for Maryland right now. You have to be able to run the ball to win games.''
Winning games and being invited to a bowl are top priorities for the Terps, who were disappointed not to get a postseason bid last year.
With Cummings starting, Maryland bolted to a 4-0 record. Scott Milanovich returned at quarterback in the fifth game after sitting out an NCAA-imposed suspension for gambling, and the Terps finished 6-5. The record qualified Maryland for a bowl, but the ACC's final bowl spot went to another 6-5 team, North Carolina, which Maryland had beaten.
``We were almost there last year, and we feel the red carpet is laid out for us this year,'' Cummings said.
A win over No. 22-ranked U.Va. would keep the Terps on the road to realizing their goals, he added.
``You always want to open the conference with a victory to get a head start on the other teams,'' Cummings said.
The last time Maryland won in Charlottesville was in 1990, which was also the last time that it defeated a ranked-opponent.
That was the last season the Terps went to a bowl, too. by CNB