College Park, MD (Sports Network) - The 20th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies will attempt to beat the Maryland Terrapins for the fifth straight time in the series between the familiar ACC foes.

Virginia Tech was most recently in action on Thursday, November 5th, when it knocked off East Carolina by a 16-3 final on the road. That victory halted a two-game skid for the Hokies and enabled them to move to 6-3 overall, including 3-2 in conference. While not out of the race for the ACC title, the Hokies likely have to win the remainder of their regular season games and get some help to claim at least a share of the title.

Not only is Maryland an afterthought in the race for the conference crown, but the team has no chance at securing a winning record this season. Last Saturday, the Terps fell to 2-7 overall with their fourth consecutive defeat, a 38-31 setback at NC State. They are 1-4 in ACC action, and head coach Ralph Friedgen's seat may be getting warm in College Park.

Maryland holds a narrow 15-14 edge in the all-time series with Virginia Tech, but the Hokies have won the last four meetings.

In the game against East Carolina last time out, Virginia Tech was only able to register one touchdown, a 13-yard run by quarterback Tyrod Taylor in the second quarter. Otherwise, the Hokies got three field goals from Matt Waldron en route to the lackluster 16-point total. Star freshman tailback Ryan Williams was tremendous in the triumph, as he rushed for a career-high 179 yards on 26 carries. Taylor added 61 yards on the ground, and he completed 17- of-30 passes for a modest 137 yards.

"I can't be perfect, but I'm going to try and be as close as I can," said Williams, who suffered a costly fumble that led to defeat against North Carolina in the previous outing.

Defensively, VaTech was tremendous against ECU as the Hokies were on the field for just over 25 minutes and held the Pirates to 4-of-14 success on third down conversion attempts. Tech permitted a mere 277 total yards, including 110 rushing yards on 31 attempts, and just three points were allowed. The fact that the Hokies came up with three takeaways obviously helped the cause.

"We played together and put the pieces together," said Rashad Carmichael, who registered an interception in the win. "We stuck to the plan and executed."

Virginia Tech is averaging 29.0 ppg this season to go along with 366.1 total ypg. Williams has started all nine games and has rushed for 1,109 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging 5.9 yards per carry, numbers that will undoubtedly earn him some ACC Player of the Year consideration. Taylor, who has run for four touchdowns, has thrown for 1,452 yards and nine touchdowns with only three interceptions. Leading the way for the receivers is Jarrett Boykin with 27 catches for 433 yards and three scores.

It seems that Virginia Tech plays tremendous defense every season, and that has been the case in 2009. The Hokies are yielding 17.4 ppg and 312.3 total ypg despite playing top notch competition. Opposing quarterbacks have completed far fewer than 50 percent of their passes against Tech and have just seven touchdown passes with nine interceptions. Cody Grimm leads the Hokies with 79 total tackles, including 6.5 TFLs, and four forced fumbles.

The fact that Maryland finished with 31 points against NC State on Saturday suggests that the offense played well in the game, but the fact is that only two of the four touchdowns registered by the Terps came from the offense. Maryland finished the game with 270 total yards, a figure that simply isn't good enough. The Terps kept possession of the ball for barely more than 25 minutes, and quarterback Chris Turner was a 12-of-19 for 135 yards with no touchdowns and one interception before exiting with a knee injury. It appears the Jamarr Robinson will be under center this weekend.

"Overall, I thought he made some plays," said Friedgen of Robinson's play late against NC State. "He gives us some mobility which is good."

There are both positives and negatives to report for the Maryland defense from its performance against NC State. The Terps came up with three interceptions, one of which was run back for a long touchdown. Unfortunately, 482 yards were surrendered, and the NC State offense finished the tilt with five offensive touchdowns. Maryland enabled 7-of-12 third-down conversion attempts to be successful and permitted a number of big plays.

"It's a tough loss," said Friedgen after the tilt. "I'm very proud of our guys though. They didn't quit and gave everything they had. They're scrapping out there now. But we couldn't get a break. Seemed like every time we got a positive play, we had a penalty."

Overall this season, Maryland is averaging 22.7 ppg to go along with 319.4 total ypg. The Terps have scored 20 offensive touchdowns in nine outings, and the ground attack has struggled to average just three yards per carry. Turner has been has been rather mediocre with 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions, so perhaps Robinson will provide the offense with a spark.

Opponents are racking up 32.3 ppg against Maryland, which is permitting 390.6 total ypg. A total of 32 touchdowns have been allowed to opposing offenses, and while the run defense has been respectable, the effort against the pass has been downright horrendous.