April 11, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Waiting for the rain to clear proved beneficial for the defense in Maryland's first scrimmage of the spring football season.

The Terps defenders forced four turnovers and posted eight sacks in holding the first- and second-team offense scoreless during Saturday's 120-play scrimmage which was held at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium. The rain let up just as the scrimmage got underway.

"The defense played very, very well," head coach Ralph Friedgen said. "They were dominant. That doesn't surprise me. I knew we'd have trouble picking up all the stuff they had in.

"Their intensity was a whole lot better than our offense. They played harder and played with more enthusiasm. But that happens in spring practice. It will be interesting to see how the offense responds next week."

The third-team offense, led by quarterback Anthony Green, scored three touchdowns in the 18 possessions in the regular scrimmage, which had drives starting from the 5-, 25- and 50-yard lines.

The offense was more productive in 10 red-zone possessions, scoring six times, though the defense forced three field goals.

The day was capped off with three goal-line possessions (starting at the 4-yard line) with the offense scoring twice and the defense once.

Sophomore Kenny Tate had two of the four interceptions. He also chipped in seven tackles, including five solo stops, and returned two punts for 17 yards.

His first interception stopped one of the first-team offenses best scoring chances. Three rushes by Davin Meggett and two completions by Chris Turner had the offense in the red zone, but Tate picked off Turner inside the 10.

Turner was 7 of 15 for 52 yards, but he threw three interceptions.

"We can't turn the ball over like that," Friedgen said. "Some of the interceptions were not good. We threw it right to them. Chris hasn't been throwing interceptions (in the practices), but we've been getting better on defense too."

Despite not scoring, the first- and second-team tailbacks ran the ball hard.

Da'Rel Scott rushed 13 times for 62 yards and Morgan Green toted the ball nine times for 43 yards, including TD runs in the red-zone and goal-line portions of the scrimmage.

"I thought Da'Rel Scott ran very well," Friedgen said. "Morgan made a case for moving up (the depth chart). I thought Gary Douglas did a couple good things."

Douglas rushed nine times for 36 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown run. Andrew Braxton had the other two touchdowns, scoring on runs of 2 and 1 yard.

Some of the young defensive linemen were able to get pressure on the three signal-callers.

Sophomore Derek Drummond and redshirt freshman A.J. Francis had two sacks apiece. True freshman Zachariah Kerr had two tackles for loss, including one sack.

Tate, as well as senior safety Jamari McCollough and senior cornerback Nolan Carroll, were around the ball quite a bit.

McCollough had nine tackles, one pass breakup and blocked a field-goal attempt. Carroll had four tackles and one interception. He also picked off Turner on the first of three goal-line possessions (not included in statistics) and returned the ball 95 yards for a score.

Reserve linebacker Hakeem Sule had a scrimmage-high 11 tackles, including five solo stops.

Anthony Green, who is serving as the third-team quarterback, had a scrimmage-high 77 rushing yards on 13 carries. He also had the best numbers under center, completing 4 of 5 passes for 50 yards.

Jamarr Robinson went 6-for-15 for 40 yards and one interception.

The Terps are off until Tuesday. The team will practice at 10 a.m. at the on-campus facility and scrimmage on Saturday.

Terp Notes:

Practice Notes: The rain was not much of a factor in Saturday's scrimmage. The field was covered until just before the start of the scrimmage and footing did not seem to be a problem ... Nick Wallace and Mike Barbour each went 2-for-4 in field-goal attempts. DB Jamari McCollough blocked Barbour's 40-yard attempt. The ball landed at the 20-yard line where Derek Drummond scooped it up, returning it 20 yards ... Friedgen said next week's scrimmage will be more game like as opposed to situations ... senior DL Travis Ivey had five tackles, but missed part of the scrimmage after suffering a concussion. "Hopefully he won't be out long," Friedgen said. "He was really having an outstanding spring." DL Masengo Kanbongo (ankle) also missed part of the scrimmage.

Scrimmage Statistics

Scoring Plays

Regular Scrimmage:
Braxton 2-yd. TD Run, Barbour PAT - GOOD
Douglas 15-yd TD Run, Wallace PAT - GOOD
Wallace 32-yd FG
Braxton 1-yd. TD Run, Wallace PAT - GOOD

Red-Zone Scrimmage:
Barbour 37-yd. FG - GOOD
Wallace 33-yd FG - GOOD
Bonato 1-yd. TD Run, Barbour PAT - GOOD
Robinson 5-yd. TD Run, Wallace PAT - NO GOOD
Barbour 40-yd. FG - GOOD
M. Green 4-yd. TD Run, Barbour PAT - GOOD

Goal-Line Scrimmage:
Carroll 95-yd. INT Return TD
M. Green 1-yd. TD Run, Wallace PAT - GOOD
Meggett 2-yd. TD Run, Barbour PAT - GOOD

Offense

Rushing (Carries-Yds./TDs):
A. Green (13-77), Scott (13-62), M. Green (9-43 /1 TD) , Braxton (10-37 /2 TDs), Douglas (9-36/ 1 TD), Meggett (11-29), Bonato (4-15/ 1 TD), Robinson (7-9 /1 TD), Watson (3-6), Turner (4-[16])

Passing (Comp.-Att.-Yds./TDs/ INTs):
Turner (7-15-53/ 3 INT), Robinson (6-15-40 / 1 INT), A. Green (4-5-50)

Receiving (Rec.-Yds./TDs):
McCree (3-23), Smith (2-25), L. Watson (2-18), Dorsey (2-(2)), Scott (1-0), Furstenburg (1-18), T. Watson (1-2), Douglas (1-18), Cannon (1-22), Boykins (1-8), Schlothauer (1-3), Meggett (1-8)

Defense

Tackles (Solo-Assisted-Total):
Sule (4-6-10), McCollough (6-3-9), Tate (5-2-7), Drakeford (4-2-6), Jackson-Mills (5-1-6), Ivey (3-2-5), T. Skinner (3-2-5), D. Galt (2-3-5), Law (1-4-5), Francis (2-2-4), Moten (2-2-4), Harrell (3-1-4), Hughes (4-0-4), Carroll (2-2-4), Wiseman (1-2-3), Drummond (2-1-3), Lazerow (2-1-3), Hartsfield (2-1-3), Walker 29 (1-2-3), Horton (1-2-3), Murray (3-0-3), E. Skinner (1-2-3), Akunyili (1-2-3), Kerr (2-0-2), Peterson (1-1-2), Vellano (1-1-2), Davidson (1-1-2), Arnett (1-1-2), Berman (0-2-2), Gloster (2-0-2), Perez (2-0-2), Salvatico (1-0-1), Boykins (1-0-1), Blue (0-1-1), Logan (1-0-1), Russell (1-0-1), T. Galt (0-1-1), Wright (1-0-1)

Tackles for Loss (No.-Yards):
D. Galt (2-6), Francis (2-7), Drummond (2-14), T. Skinner (2-14), Kerr (2-5), Drakeford (2-12.5), Sule (1-1), Murray (1-4), Moten (1-7), Harrell (1-2), Perez (1-3), McCollough (1-4), Blue (1-.5)

Sacks (No.-Yards):
Francis (2-7), Drummond (2-14), D. Galt (1-5), Moten (1-7), Kerr (1-4), Drakeford (1-12)

Interceptions (No.-Yards):
Tate (2-18), Moten (1-24), Carroll (1-0), Perez (0-15)

Blocks (No.):
McCollough (1 - FGA)

Pass Breakups (No.):
Davidson (2), D. Galt (1), Murray (1), E. Skinner (1), Jackson-Mills (1), McCollough (1)

Special Teams

Field Goals:
Barbour: 2/4 (40-yd. BLOCKED, 41-yd. NO GOOD, 37-yd. GOOD, 40-yd. GOOD)
Wallace: 2/4 (32-yd. GOOD, 42-yd. NO GOOD, 33-yd. GOOD, 37-yd. NO GOOD)

Punts (No./Avg.):
Townsley (3/38.0), Baltz (3-43.6)

Punt Returns (No./Avg.):
Logan (1-10), Tate (2-8.5)

Kick Returns (No./Avg.):
Drummond (1-20)