Each week of the Maryland football season, Patrick Stevens conducts a question-and-answer session with a member of the media from the opposing school. Patrick uses his expertise to answer five questions about the Maryland football team while the opposing beat writer does the same. Patrick and I have hooked up to provide some insight into the Maryland-Navy football game, being played on Labor Day afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium. For those of you who do not know Patrick Stevens, here is a quick biography. Patrick covered Maryland athletics for The Diamondback newspaper while an undergraduate and I'm proud to say he spent one summer as an intern at The Capital and did a terrific job. Patrick then enjoyed an oustanding career  as a sportswriter with The Washington Times, primarily covering Maryland athletics, but also covering collegiate sports in general. When the Washington Times did away with its sports section (still one of the craziest decisions I've ever heard of in this business), Patrick continued to cover local collegiate athletics through his blog DIscourse.com. Here is the link to Patrick's blog, which is very well-done and has become quite popular.

http://d1scourse.typepad.com/blog/#tp

The following are Patrick's answers to the five questions I posed about Maryland's football team. Visit DIscourse.com and you will find the answers I provided about Navy football.

Question 1) Jamarr Robinson is a different type of quarterback than Maryland has started in recent years. Do you think offensive coordinator James Franklin will alter the offense to take advantage of Robinson's mobility -- perhaps employing some speed option and designed rollouts or QB draws?

Answer) There's no question Robinson is a different quantity than what Maryland is used to. If nothing else, his presence at least alleviates some of the pressure on the Terrapins' offensive line.

While Maryland will probably use some option and a lot more rollouts than in recent years, simply the threat Robinson can utilize his elusiveness is something Maryland will happily use to its advantage.

Many folks don't realize Robinson has a strong arm as well, and he won't be afraid to air things out if given the opportunity. He can --- and will --- run, but Maryland will make sure to take advantage of his full skillset.

Q2) Head coach Ralph Friedgen and Franklin have both stated that the offensive line is vastly improved. That being said, the unit is still very young and is anchored by a pair of former walk-ons. Do you get the sense the line will take a quantum leap forward and give the offense a chance?

A) The line will be better, in part because it can't be significantly worse. But that comes with a caveat: After the starting five and reserve Bennett Fulper, it's anyone's guess how well Maryland can get by.

Paul Pinegar slide into Phil Costa's spot at center and has done well. The guard spots should be much improved with Andrew Gonnella and Justin Lewis sewing up spots. R.J. Dill is a year older at right tackle, and Justin Gilbert is a promising prospect at left tackle even if he isn't the physical specimen Brice Campbell was.

Blocking for a more elusive quarterback in Robinson will give a lift to this unit, but it still has a long way to go. Assuming they can stay healthy, Maryland's offensive line should gradually progress into a better group than what the Terps fielded a year ago.

Q3) Defensive coordinator Don Brown seems confident he has a plan to slow down the triple-option. When Brown was head coach at Massachusetts, he devised a defensive game-plan that held Navy to 187 total yards. Do you sense the Terrapins will be properly prepared for the unique offense and will do a good job of shutting it down?

A) Brown didn't just face Navy's triple-option while he was a head coach in New England, he also played Paul Johnson-coached Georgia Southern in the postseason and a conference school that used the scheme every year (Rhode Island).

The best thing Maryland has going for it for now is it had all spring and summer to get ready for Navy's offense. That's a whole lot better than contending with it in the middle of October.

Maryland's strengths on defense should be its linebackers and safeties --- the exact guys whose miscues open up holes for a big play for an option team. That's not to say the Terps won't absorb some ugly plays, but between the timing and the defensive strengths, Maryland has a better chance of being prepared for the Mids now than at any point.

Q4) What are some of the concerns/question marks Maryland has coming into this season?

A) Despite some optimism, there's no question the offensive line has a lot to prove. But we've been through that already.

On the other side of the ball, it remains to be seen how the Terps' cornerbacks hold up. Cameron Chism, the secondary's lone returning starter, battled a hamstring  injury for much of camp. On the other side, junior Trenton Hughes (minimal experience) and redshirt freshman Dexter McDougle (no experience) will split time. The fourth cornerback is Avery Graham, another redshirt freshman.

Special teams was supposed to be a source of consistency for Maryland. But kicker Nick Ferrara, who was 18-for-25 a year ago, has battled inconsistency and injury throughout camp. If he can't at least achieve his 2009 form, the Terps will have a headache that will create all sorts of problems if an when they find themselves in close games.

Q5) Do you sense that this is a make-or-break game right out of the gate for the Terrapins. What would a win mean for the program. What negative affect might a loss have on player confidence and fan apathy?

A) Strictly speaking -- in terms of on-field results and expectations for this season -- it shouldn't. The goal is still a bowl game, and there are a half-dozen winnable games (and maybe a couple more if things break right) even without a defeat of Navy.

But after a 2-10 season, fans could easily check out after an opening victory. A plausible scenario is fans adopt a wait-and-see approach through the mid-September date at West Virginia, but patience is understandably at an all-time low.

I'm not so sure players will check out with a loss, though. This is a team that had a chance to win three of four games in November, with the one blowout loss in that stretch to a vastly superior Virginia Tech team. Something tells me the Terps will slog along regardless of the opener's outcome, though an accumulation of losses --- especially close ones --- could eventually wear Maryland down.

A win, on the other hand, offers the hope this really is a different season. The possibility of reaching the bye week at 4-1 would look quite doable at that point, and some bad memories from a year ago could finally be set aside if not completely forgotten.

In many years, you could argue Maryland doesn't have much to gain by playing the only other major Division I program in the state. This season, the Terps might just have the greater upside and downside to be a part of this game.

Remember, the Terps lost seven times a year ago when it entered the fourth quarter within a touchdown. Eventually, that's going to take its toll.