Oct. 31, 2008
By Matt Bixenstine, Athletics Media Relations Staff
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland football player Moise Fokou could only maintain a low profile for so long.
A former walk-on who transferred from Frostburg State following his freshman season, Fokou sat out the 2005 campaign before coming out of nowhere to serve as a valuable special teams contributor in 2006. Still, the senior linebacker remained a stranger to most outside the Maryland football family.
Fokou earned the starting Sam linebacker spot last season registering 84 tackles and tying for the team lead with three forced fumbles. However, he continued to play in the shadow of fellow linebackers Erin Henderson, currently of the Minnesota Vikings, and Dave Philistin, who finished first and third in the conference in tackles.
Yet during this, his senior season, Fokou's relative anonymity has disappeared with the same haste in which he pursues opposing quarterbacks in the backfield.
In a nationally televised upset of then-No. 23 California on Sept 13, Fokou burst onto the scene by setting the tone for the Terps' impressive defensive effort. The Rockville, Md., product accounted for the Terps' first sack of the season when he took down Cal QB Kevin Riley to force a Golden Bears' punt on the game's opening drive. He added another sack in the third quarter, setting a career high for sacks in a game and tying his career mark for sacks in a season.
"I guess you can call it a coming out party because I was back in the dime package that game, and I had a chance to come off the edge and get to the quarterback a couple times," Fokou said. "It was definitely a good feeling."
That good feeling has carried over to Atlantic Coast Conference play for Fokou. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound linebacker tallied a season-high nine tackles in an upset victory at nationally-ranked Clemson on Sept. 27.
The following week versus rival Virginia, Fokou proved the Terps' most productive defensive player yet again. Playing more repetitions due to the absence of fellow Sam linebacker Adrian Moten, who was out with a wrist injury, Fokou notched his career-best third sack of the season when he took down Virginia QB Marc Verica during the second quarter. In all, he totaled seven solo tackles against the Cavaliers, with two going for loss.
Fokou added another sack, his fourth, and his first pass-breakup of the season, respectively, during ensuing conference victories over Wake Forest and North Carolina State.
"Moise has really progressed during this season, and he's probably developed into one of our most consistent players," outside linebackers coach Al Seamonson said. "I'm very excited about the year he has going right now. He's got that fast twitch, and that's why he's a good pass rusher in third-down situations. He's explosive and has good change of direction."
Fokou currently leads the team and ranks third in the ACC among linebackers and eighth overall in sacks (.50 per game), having accounted for more than 20 percent of the team's total. He also leads the Terps with 6.5 tackles for loss.
But even when he does not make his way into the opposition's backfield, Fokou still adds tremendous value defensively. Utilizing speed resembling that of a defensive back, the outside linebacker has proven capable of covering tight ends and slot receivers as part of the Terps' linebacker-oriented defensive schemes.
That multi-faceted ability, though, took time to develop. After a standout freshman season at Division III Frostburg State, Fokou opted to return close to home to pursue a football career and education at Maryland.
"It's one of those bold decisions you make in life," Fokou said. "You say, `I'm going to go do something' and you take action and go do it. I came out here and went full-speed all the time. I just worked hard every day, and I think the coaches started noticing that."
Seamonson and the rest of the Maryland's coaching staff, indeed, had their eye on Fokou after viewing film of his performance at Frostburg State. The linebacker then proceeded to put on a live show on Maryland's practice field uncharacteristic of a walk-on, subsequently earning a scholarship in 2006.
"Watching him during that year he had to sit out, we felt like maybe we had found a guy who could play," Seamonson said. "Sure enough, come that spring when he was eligible to play, you could tell he was going to contribute. He had made the transition and became a legitimate Division I football player."
Once entrenched at his new home, Fokou quickly bonded with his teammates, especially members of the Terps defensive unit. That camaraderie with fellow linebackers Philistin and Chase Bullock, as well as with defensive backs Kevin Barnes, Jeff Allen and Nolan Carroll, among others, has paid dividends by enabling the players to develop trust in one another.
But Fokou's friendship with Moten provides even greater benefits. That the pair of Sam linebackers engages in friendly competition has brought out the best in both players, while shared repetitions has kept both fresher. Like Fokou, Moten has been one of the Terps' best defensive weapons the past two seasons.
"Moise will probably tell you he mentors me, but it's actually the opposite," Moten said. "He's a good friend of mine, and we both make each other better on the football field."
Adhering to a game-week ritual, Fokou routinely calls his younger brothers, whom play collegiately on the defensive side of the ball at Catholic and Bryant Universities.
"The three of us talk a couple days before each game," Fokou said. "I try to motivate them and wish them good luck, and they do the same with me."
Eights games into the 2008 campaign, that sibling encouragement seems to be working just fine for Fokou. And that is not good news for opposing quarterbacks.
