SPREAD OUT

The characters pierce through the red screen. It's a simple, conventional font, centered directly on the bright red background.

"CAL WEEK."

"21."

The television screens in the lobby of Gossett Team House generally display photos of the Terrapin football team's past or highlights from the 2008 season.

But for the past three days, a new message has been displayed: CAL WEEK. 21. As in, the No. 12 California Golden Bears are expected to beat the Terps in Berkeley, Calif., on Saturday by 21 (or 21.5 or 22, depending on where you look) points, according to oddsmakers.

The spread is the largest facing the Terps in coach Ralph Friedgen's nine-year tenure. It is the result of staggering losses on both sides of the ball for the Terps and a largely intact core for the Golden Bears. It's the result of oddsmakers assuming Cal hasn't forgotten last season's 35-27 loss at Byrd Stadium, one in which the Bears gave the game away seemingly before even waking up. It's the result of seemingly every matchup being stacked against the Terps.

The spread serves as a harsh reminder of the types of questions the Terps have faced all spring and fall. Saturday will serve as a Terp debut for a number of key players, and Friedgen has acknowledged his players may be struck with starry eyes playing in front of 71,799 spectators and a national television audience.

Still, last season's relatively easy win — a dominant three-quarter performance by the Terps before a final period letup — coupled with questions at quarterback, offensive line and linebacker for the Golden Bears, made the enormous spread a bit of a surprise.

"I like, kind of, the idea of us being a 21-point underdog," linebacker Adrian Moten said. "It's just funny. We haven't even played a snap yet, and whoever does that stuff already saying we going to lose by 21. I just laugh at them."

Last week, Friedgen was unfazed when told about the spread. He said he wants his team to use it as a rallying point — a desire taken a step further after his motivational coach suggested putting the number on the televisions.

Every player asked said the spread on this game was too large to ignore. Senior cornerback Anthony Wiseman is ready to "shock the world," he said.

Three years ago, on Nov. 4, 2006, the Terps went to then-No. 19 Clemson as 19.5-point underdogs. The game turned into one of the most memorable in recent Terp history, with a Clemson safety being called off and then-quarterback Sam Hollenbach taking a risky midfield kneel to set up kicker Dan Ennis for a short, centered field goal, sealing the 13-12 victory.

The Terps were coming off three straight wins and in the thrust of the ACC title race entering that game. This year, the circumstances are quite a bit different for the season opener.

"Yeah, they're favored. And you know what, maybe they should be favored right now," fullback Cory Jackson said. "There's not a whole lot of expectations for us, and sometimes we prefer to have it that way. We're not going to be a team that's preseason ranked right now. We don't have a lot of seniors, and the offensive line pretty much got [overhauled] from last year."

Still, Jackson had an addendum. The young Terps have demonstrated the swagger of a team with no reason to think they can't conquer the world. And the senior fullback made it clear: That mission starts Saturday.

"But we think we've got a pretty good team," Jackson said. "And if they think they're going to come in and steamroll us, they've got another thing coming."

ajoseph@umdbk.com