Sep 12, 2006 3 min read

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia and Maryland get energized for their rivalry every year. Having only five days to prepare this time changes nothing. Maybe it’s the atmosphere of a sellout crowd and two unbeaten teams playing on national television Thursday night in Morgantown.

For No. 5 West Virginia, maybe it’s the chance to have real competition after two blowout wins.

Or maybe it’s the prospect of beating Maryland a third straight time.

“We don’t like each other,” said West Virginia linebacker Kevin “Boo” McLee. “Everybody will be fired up and ready to play.”

This game doesn’t quite reach the fever pitch of West Virginia’s Backyard Brawl with Pittsburgh, but it’s close.

Morgantown and College Park, Md., are about 210 miles apart. West Virginia has six players from Maryland, while backup fullback Cory Jackson, a Morgantown native, is the Terps’ lone player from West Virginia.

“If you can’t get excited for this one, you’d better check your pulse. There’s a lot of intensity in this rivalry,” said West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez. “We recruit against them and a lot of our players know their players.

“It’s a big, big game at this point for both teams.”

A game that has become a barometer for their respective seasons.

The series is tied 21-21-2. The rivalry heated up in 2001 after the arrival of Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen and the transfer of ex-WVU quarterback Scott McBrien to Maryland.

Maryland beat the Mountaineers four straight times by double digits, including a 41-7 thumping in the Gator Bowl following the 2003 season. The Terrapins went 31-8 in that span, the best record by a coach after three seasons in ACC history.

But West Virginia (2-0) has won two straight in the series and went 8-4 and 11-1 in the past two seasons. Maryland (2-0) is coming off consecutive 5-6 seasons.

“We’ve been really looking forward to them since last year,” said Maryland linebacker Wesley Jefferson.

West Virginia began dealing with Maryland well before the final whistle of a 52-3 win over Division I-AA Eastern Washington on Saturday.

Rodriguez mentioned preparing for the Terps in last week’s practices and he removed many starters before halftime Saturday in order to get experience for his reserves.

Maryland will try to avoid three straight losses to West Virginia for the first time since 1996-98 but has plenty of kinks still left to work out.

The Terps committed four turnovers in a season-opening 27-14 win over Division I-AA William & Mary and were outgained 321-274 in a 24-10 win over Middle Tennessee on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a very physical game,” Friedgen said. “We’ve got to rise to the occasion. It’ll be interesting to see how the team reacts to playing on Thursday night with the whole mystique.

“It’ll be great preparation for the rest of the season.”