Aug. 3, 2004

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The following is the final installment in a nine-part series previewing the 2004 University of Maryland football team with today's focus being on the Terp special teams. The Terrapins open fall practice on August 11th in preparation for their season opener against Northern Illinois at Byrd Stadium on September 4th.

Today is the final part of the preview of this year's team (a complete list of when each position's synopsis was posted on umterps.com can be found at the bottom of this page), a squad ranked by most preseason publications in the top 25 nationally.

Special Teams
Maryland's special teams units will again be one of the strengths of the team in 2004, with top flight players returning at placekicker, punter and in the returns game. Though always seeking to improve, one important factor this season will be in grooming replacements for players in their last year such as Nick Novak and Steve Suter, while also continuing to be one of the top units overall in the nation.

At placekicker, Novak is a contender for this year's Lou Groza Award and has an outside shot at being the leading career scorer in NCAA history. He will become the leading scorer in ACC history with three more points and, though he struggled some at the end of last year, he still enters this season as the top kicker in the conference. His standing nationally will be determined by how quickly he returns to the form he had in the early part of 2003. Backing him up will be sophomore Dan Ennis, a player who is steady from 35 yards in and Obi Egekeze, a true freshman who will likely redshirt unless he can give the team a different dimension on kickoffs.

Adam Podlesh had an outstanding first season as the Terrapins' punter, combining a good leg with very good directional punting. He was a Ray Guy semifinalist and the first Maryland freshman ever named to the all-conference team (second team). He finished the season with a 42.3-yard average but knocked 22 of his 53 efforts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Jon Condo has yet to have a punt blocked in his three years as the team's long snapper and is firmly entrenched as the starter. In the returns, Suter returns as the team's primary punt and kickoff returner, but several players such as Rich Parson and Drew Weatherly showed in the spring that they are very capable should they be called upon. Suter needs just one punt return for a TD to tie the NCAA career record and, as mentioned earlier, will be at full strength this season.

"Nick (Novak) had a very good offseason and appears to have snapped out of the little slump he was in," said Friedgen. "Podlesh had a very good first year and we hope that he continues to improve on his start. In the returns, we know what we have in Suter but Rich Parson can definitely help us and Weatherly showed us what he could do in the spring game, so we feel pretty good about things overall."

Outlook Schedule on UMterps.com:
Offense/Quarterbacks        Posted July 6
Tailbacks/Fullbacks         Posted July 8
Wide Receivers              Posted July 13
Tight Ends                  Posted July 15
Offensive Line              Posted July 20
Defense/Defensive Line      Posted July 22
Linebackers                 Posted July 27
Defensive Backs             Posted July 29
Specialists                 Today 

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