Dec. 20, 2007

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - With final exams finally behind them, the Maryland Terrapins hit the gridiron Thursday for one of their final practices before leaving Saturday morning for the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.

The Terps (6-6) are scheduled to practice once more Friday and then work out three times in California before taking on the Oregon State Beavers (8-4) on December 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 ET from AT&T Park.

Maryland continued working on its playbook Thursday, and Coach Ralph Friedgen noted that the team had an up-and-down practice.

"We started off good," he said. "We still have the same problem. We have trouble sustaining it and we get a little tired. We practice well for a period and then we don't practice well. We don't have consistency. We're not going to get good until we get through that."

One positive Friedgen has seen in the last several weeks has been the play of several younger players. Wide receivers Torrey Smith and Kevin Gresham, as well as offensive linemen Paul Pinegar and Bruce Campbell drew the coach's praise.

"We've gotten a lot of work with the young kids. I don't know if that's going to help us with this game, but I think it will help us in the future. A lot of them have been working with the second team because we've had injuries," he said.

Starting left guard Jaimie Thomas, shelved for the last five weeks of the regular season with a fractured leg, continues to work hard to return for the bowl game. Friedgen said the junior has improved over the last several days.

"He did better today," Friedgen said. "We'll see how he is tomorrow. (The training staff) worked him pretty good. He's really running pretty well straight ahead. It's the lateral movement and the change of direction where he's still struggling. The goal was to see if he could practice some by tomorrow and we'll see where he is."

With finals ending Wednesday and graduation ceremonies concluding Thursday, the team will have a midday practice on Friday.

Terp Notes:

Emerald Bowl Tickets: Tickets for the Emerald Bowl are still available through the Terrapin Ticket office by calling 1-800-IM-A-TERP or by clicking here. The ticket office is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. Maryland football fans who are unable to make the trip to San Francisco may still purchase tickets and donate them to a number of worthy organizations. The entities which will benefit include the San Francisco Boys and Girls Clubs, Travis Air Force Base, the San Francisco Fire Department and the San Francisco Youth Athletic Programs.