Spring Football Practice Report No. 6

April 21, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The following is the sixth installment of bi-weekly practice reports on the University of Maryland football team as it progresses through spring practice, 2005. Reports will run every Monday and Friday leading up to next Saturday's annual Red/White Game at Byrd Stadium.

Tuesday, April 19

It was a mild and hazy morning at the football practice fields and the Terps ran through a "thud" practice session after having a long scrimmage the Saturday previous. (Thud is when contact is made with the ball carrier but he is not brought to the ground).

Tuesday's session was a learning and information session for the team featuring a lot of position drills and red zone installation. The practice featured just one team period at the end.

TB Keon Lattimore returned to practice and showed no ill effects from his injured ankle, displaying good speed on an outside run in red zone drills.

One play after Lattimore's nice outside run, LB William Kershaw -- who has had an outstanding spring -- broke up a similar play, knocking FB Ricardo Dickerson into the ball carrier.

Friedgen on one of spring's best battles: "There is a real good battle going on on the right side of the offensive line between Brandon Nixon and Scott Burley. There has also been some real good competition at guard. Again, I think the challenge for us as coaches will be to get the five best players on the field."

TB Lance Ball showed good hands catching the ball in "full" skelly (9 vs. 9).

TE Vernon Davis caught a touchdown pass (10 yards) from Sam Hollenbach where the ball made it just in time to beat two converging defenders. As Davis made his way into the end zone, Josh Wilson and Milton Harris collided violently, temporarily stunning Harris.

Harris came back about 10 minutes later, intercepting a Statham pass.

Friedgen on Tuesday's outing: "I thought we had a real good practice on Sunday. Probably the best "no pad" scrimmage we have had since I've been here. Today, I think there was good and bad; we might still be a little tired."

Thursday, April 21

On an overcast and cool morning, the team worked 24 periods in full pads.

Though 24 periods were scheduled, the time practice lasted didn't exactly match up to that format. In "inside run" drills, for example, the team ran one play and heard Friedgen say "start the period over...and this time, it's live." The period ended up being re-started four times by Friedgen's whistle as the defense stifled the offense's ability to move the ball on the ground.

Second-year PK Obi Egekeze had a good day of practice. After missing his first kick of the day, Egekeze connected on his remaining attempts at the start of practice and later showed a good leg in special teams kickoff coverage drills.

WR Drew Weatherly showed good hands on a pair of catches he made over the middle in team drills, reaching back on one ball that was behind him and turning it into a nice gain.

QB Joel Statham threw a perfect pass on a 25-yard fade to Derrick Fenner, beating what was otherwise good coverage by Richard Taylor.

Friedgen on Thursday's practice: "I think practicing every other day has helped us this year when it has come to injuries. Today, we put a few things in offensively, but it was just an okay practice overall. The defense got the better of the offense today, in my opinion."

Dates to Remember

Sat., April 23 (10 am) -- Scrimmage #2

Sat., April 30 (4 pm) -- Annual Spring Game

For schedule updates and other info, go to the Maryland Gridiron Network website.

For ticket information, call the Terrapin ticker office at (800) IMA-TERP

Players Mentioned

Lance Ball

Scott Burley

Obi Egekeze

Keon Lattimore

Richard Taylor

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