Cal vs. Maryland - What the pundits are saying

As the Cal team prepares themselves for Maryland on Saturday, mainly by sleeping (for the 9AM start time), we prepare ourselves as fans by tempering our expectations. It’s easy to expect a blowout after a 66-3 win over WSU, but most longtime Cal fans know better than to do something as silly as get excited after big wins.

The current spread is 14.5 and an overwhelming 96% of the voters in this week’s poll feel we should have no problem beating the Terrapins by 14 points or more.

(Fear the "Fridge")

Here’s what some “experts” are saying:

Bruce Feldman – ESPN
Cal 35, Maryland 17
Kevin Riley has a lot of firepower at his disposal, and his confidence is soaring. The Terps' QB situation isn't as optimistic. Maryland has a dangerous RB, Da'Rel Scott, and one of the country's best WRs, Darrius Heyward-Bey, but unless it can get some consistency from the rest of its offense, it'll be a long day.

Ted Miller – ESPN
California 41, Maryland 17: No need to fear the turtle! Bears should roll against a team that struggled against Delaware and lost to Middle Tennessee State. But it's still a road game against a BCS conference foe. And it will be worth watching just to see what TB Jahvid Best does next.


Sporting News
(What’s with Spencer Hall’s profile pic?)


California Golden Blogs
Yellow Fever: 55-3 TwistnHook: 4-2 (don’t ask) HydroTech: 24-21 Ragnarok: 31-17 CBKWit: 24-17

Takeaways?
It appears nearly everyone is pretty confident we should roll over Maryland this weekend. Most have us scoring anywhere from 5-6 TDs and limiting Maryland to under 20 points. Check back in tomorrow for my weekly Keys to the Game feature to see what we’re going to need to do to ensure as dominant of a victory as more are expecting.