Spring Football Report: Practice No. 10
4/16/2009 8:00:00 AM | Football
April 16, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After four days off, the Maryland football team returned to the practice field Thursday morning, beginning a stretch of three straight days of workouts.
With rain postponing Tuesday's practice, the Terps will have to cram quite a bit of work into the rest of the week, including the second scrimmage of the spring.
Thursday's practice, the 10th of the spring, featured about an hour of individual drills, followed by installation of the two-minute offense. The Terps also had about 45 minutes of 11-on-11 team drills.
Head coach Ralph Friedgen has been pleased with the play of the defense this spring, but the offensive line is trying to replace five of its top seven performers from a year ago and will take some time to gel.
"We're struggling up front," Friedgen said after Thursday's practice. "Defensively (coordinator Don Brown) is throwing a lot of stuff at them. We've got a lot of young kids. I thought I saw us getting better in some individual drills (at the beginning of practice), but it didn't translate into the team periods. We had some guys out too. Lamar (Young) and Bruce (Campbell) had some academic commitments today."
The impressive play of the defense was on display in the first two team periods.
LB Adrian Moten and DL Derek Drummond registered sacks in the first period. LB Drew Gloster picked off a Chris Turner pass in the second period and Ian Davidson sacked Jamarr Robinson on the next play.
The offense used some trickery to score in red-zone drills.
On first-and-goal, Turner pitched the ball to RB Da'Rel Scott who started to rush around the right end, but Scott stopped and found a wide open WR Torrey Smith in the end zone for a touchdown.
In the following team period, Tony Logan scored on a 20-yard reverse. Jamarr Robinson took the snap from center and handed off to Davin Meggett who rushed around left end and pitched to Logan. The sophomore wideout cut through the line and went into the end zone nearly untouched.
The defense rebounded with a dominating performance in the final period of practice.
The No. 1 offense was unable to get a first down in two possessions against the No. 1 defense in the two-minute drill.
Turner completed just 1 of 5 passes in the two drives, though three of the incompletions were broken up by DB Anthony Wiseman. Drummond, Davidson and Antwine Perez recorded sacks.
The second-team offense fared a little better, with one first down in its lone drive, but Robinson was pressured into an errant throw and then sacked on the final play of the day by DL Joe Vellano.
Friday's workout is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the on-campus practice facility, while Saturday's scrimmage begins at 10 a.m. in Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium.
Practices and scrimmages are open to the public.
The Terps cap the spring with the annual Red-White game on Saturday, April 25 (3:30 p.m.). The game is the culmination of Maryland Day, a university-sponsored family celebration.
Terp Notes:
Practice Notes: DB Cameron Chism (hamstring) and DB Michael Carter (hamstring) returned to the practice field Thursday ... WR Quintin McCree (turf toe) and DL Travis Ivey (concussion) missed Thursday's workout. McCree is closer to returning than Ivey ... junior OL Paul Pinegar moved from right tackle to left tackle during Thursday's practice with redshirt freshman R.J. Dill is getting a look at right tackle ... Friedgen thought the team was a little sluggish at the end of the practice. "We died a little bit at the end of practice," Friedgen said. "I'm not sure if guys didn't have enough breakfast or what."
Season Tickets on Sale: Maryland football season-ticket renewals and new season tickets are now available. A variety of season-ticket options are available with prices starting as low as $135. Family 4-Packs are also available for $500. For the first time, the Maryland ticket office is offering a season ticket payment plan which allows fans to spread the cost over four installments. For ticket information, call the Maryland ticket office at 1-800-462-TERP or click here
2009 Maryland Spring Football Practice Schedule
Day, Date (Time)Friday, April 17 (4:30 p.m.)
Saturday, April 18 (10 a.m.)#
Tuesday, April 21 (8 a.m.)
Thursday, April 23 (8 a.m.)
Saturday, April 25 (3:30 p.m.)&
# - Scrimmage at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium
