Terps Get in Good Day of Work at Fan Day
8/17/2003 8:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 17, 2003
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland football team got all it could have asked for out of Fan Day 2003. The largest crowd in recent memory turned out, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and -- to head coach Ralph Friedgen's delight -- the team got in over 130 plays in a scrimmage situation at Byrd Stadium with very few casualties to speak of.
There were standout performances on both sides of the ball. The Maryland tailbacks showed that their unit is as deep as it is talented as sophomore Josh Allen rushed for 83 yards on 16 carries (5.2 avg.) and junior Sammy Maldonado rushed 18 times for 60 yards with three touchdowns.
Seniors Scott McBrien (12-of-26, 122 yds.) and Orlando Evans (14-of-20, 174 yds.) both played well while Evans continued to strengthen his stronghold on the backup signal-caller spot. Evans has played the best football of his Maryland career in his last week of practice or so, showing a firm grasp of the offense and improvement in the passing game.
Sophomore D'Qwell Jackson played well, showing that Terp fans have little to worry about when it comes to the new face at the middle linebacker position. Jackson led all defenders with 10 tackles (eight unassisted).
The Terps got a great turnout from their fans, most of whom were able to take advantage of an hour-long autograph session prior to practice while enjoying interactive games before the scrimmage started.
The scrimmage was Maryland's longest live-action session of the preseason and went a long way towards gearing the team up for its season opener against Northern Illinois (Aug. 28), a team picked in the preseason to win the Mid-American Confererence.
Below are some of the statistical leaders from the scrimmage on Fan Day 2003:
Passing Comp. Att. Yds. TD Int. O. Evans 14 20 174 2 1 S. McBrien 12 26 122 1 1 R. Mitch 5 6 63 0 0 J. Statham 4 4 49 0 0Rushing Att. Yds. TD J. Allen 16 83 0 S. Maldonado 18 60 3 L. Ball 19 48 1 J.P. Humber 10 28 0
Receiving Rec. Yds. TD L. Harrison 6 68 1 D. Weatherly 6 68 0 D. Melendez 5 66 0 D. Fenner 2 55 0
Tackles UT AT Total TFL Sack D. Jackson 8 2 10 0 0 W. Kershaw 7 1 9 1 0 R. Holmes 4 3 7 1 0 J. Lemons 4 2 6 0 0 C. Kelley 2 4 6 1 0
Kicking PAT FG Lg. N. Novak 1-1 5-5 42 D. Ennis 3-3 0-0 --
