The Oregon St. Beavers beat the Maryland Terrapins in the Emerald Bowl Friday night, 21-14. Of course, the game probably left many sports fans scratching their heads and wondering, "What's a terrapin?"

Well, a terrapin, or terp for short, is a turtle... not exactly a fearsome mascot, but one that represents strength and persistence, I guess. Maryland fans in a variety of sports had in recent years held up signs at games reading "Fear the Turtle," but it just seems to me that a turtle is not a creature to be feared, even if you call it a terrapin instead.

Anyway, the Maryland Terrapins had won their last three bowl games, but they came into this one with only a 6-6 record (the Beavers, a team with a somewhat more-fearsome mascot, was 8-4 going into the game).

However, the Terrapins had pulled off a couple of big upsets in those six wins: the Terps upset Rutgers (then No. 10 in the country) 34-24 in September, and then beat No. 8 Boston College 42-35 in November.