Football Practice Report #5

Aug. 24, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The following is the fifth installment of practice reports from fall camp for the Maryland football team. The Terps continue to work in preparation for their Sept. 4 opener with Northern Illinois and are now in their last week of two-a-days. The final practice report will run this Friday following the Terps' last practice of the preseason.

Friday (P.M.), August 20

A hazy evening saw the team in full uniforms ready to work for the second time in a week in front of a crew of officials.

Earlier in the afternoon, Coach Friedgen signed a new contract, one that further strengthened his situation at Maryland and has him on board through 2012.

To take advantage of the referees being on site, practice ended with a situational scrimmage. On one play, WR Derrick Fenner took a handoff from a tailback on a reverse, made a nice cut and got a good block from QB Joel Statham en route to a 67-yard run.

In goal line scrimmage, senior SS Chris Kelley continued his strong play on the defensive side of the ball, making a nice move to break up a pass that would have gone for a touchdown.

Saturday, August 21

Practice Report #4

Sunday, August 22

The Terps took the field at Byrd Stadium for the first time this fall in shorts, pads and helmets in front of about 1,200 fans as 2004 Fan Day was under way in College Park. On a beautiful afternoon, the team signed autographs before getting in over an hour of work.

As far as preseason work has gone for the team, Sunday's practice was light and firmly based in fundamentals and learning. The session started with work by position before working on team drills at the end of practice.

Friedgen on Statham in the scrimmage the day before: "I think he had a very solid performance. I am very pleased with where he is at this stage in the game. If he can perform like that during the season, I think we will be alright."

Monday (A.M.), August 23

It was another morning session in shorts and helmets for the Terps. The team is understandably tired, but players continue to show support for one another. A day at practice shows seniors coaching up the youngers players - who make up a large portion of this year's team - in between plays, making sure everyone is on the same page.

When team drills began, the intensity jumped up immediately and that spark on this day came from the coaching staff.

Senior TE Rob Abiamiri made a nice catch, going low and getting both hands under a ball that looked like a sure incompletion.

Tailback Mario Merrills had a nice run up the gut that put him in a footrace with the secondary before the whistle blew the play dead. Merrills is just one of many Terp tailbacks who have performed well this fall.

Friedgen on the morning's practice: "We ran quite a few plays over today. We have a lot of young guys which explains the mental errors, but we have to stop if we want to win games."

Monday (P.M.), August 23

The team returned to the field in full pads on another nice evening in College Park. The team has been very fortunate for the most part this year with the weather.

Drew Weatherly stood out in team drills late in the practice over on the grass fields. The sophomore caught a 63-yarder for a touchdown on a nice throw from Statham where he got behind the defense. Two plays later, he caught a ball from Jordan Steffy between two defenders that went for about 50 yards.

In the battle for the starting job at right guard, Russell Bonham took snaps tonight with the first team. The battle between he and redshirt freshman Andrew Crummey has been one of the most highly-contested battles of the preseason.

Aside from Weatherly's two catches, Curtis Williams had the single-best highlight of the evening as he made a diving, one-handed grab running down the sideline on a 35-yard throw from Sam Hollenbach.

Friedgen With Elliott
Coach Friedgen will join the Elliott in the Morning radio show tomorrow morning at approximately 7:10 a.m. The show airs on DC-101 (101.1 FM).

Madieu Making a Name For Himself
Former safety Madieu Williams is one of several Terps who looks like he will stick at the next level and has done quite a job impressing his coaches in Cincinnati. For more on Williams, click on the following link to the story on him in the Cincinnati Post

Related News

Related Videos

Footer