Aug. 11, 2009

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland Terrapins football team returned to the practice field Tuesday for the second day of preseason camp.

The Terps continued practice without pads, spending much of the session working on timing, technique and learning the playbook.

For the second straight day, the team practiced in high heat and humidity as temperatures soared into the mid 90s. The weather may have played a role in Tuesday's workout.

"Today wasn't as good as day one," said Friedgen. "We didn't catch it as well as I like us to. But we still got a lot done. We had a lot of reps. We got a lot of young kids plenty of work. We're running two teams so I'm like a traffic cop out there."

In order to get more work for a roster which has 58 of its 85 scholarship with three or four years of eligibility left, Friedgen has split the practice into two groups, with the first and third teams squaring off against each other, and second and fourth teams working on an adjacent field.

Much of the first week of fall camp is dedicated to individual workouts, repetitions, installing plays, and generally shaking off the rust from months away from organized team activities. Some positions are up for grab as far as who will start, and the practices have been incredibly competitive so far.

"The good thing about this team, there's competition," said Friedgen. "Everybody has to compete. There's very few jobs that are set other than say (Chris) Turner's. But I'm looking for Jamarr Robinson to come on as well. But I'm not disappointed in the play of two young quarterbacks. I'm kind of amazed from what we have in that they're able to get out of the huddle. They're not finished products by any stretch, but they've picked things up well."

Freshmen Danny O'Brien and C.J. Brown, the two new quarterbacks on the roster, have been getting a good number of reps in the offense thus far. O'Brien has been paired with Turner, while Brown has traded snaps with Robinson.

After morning meetings, the Terps will be back on field at 4:25 p.m. Wednesday at the on-campus practice facility. With two days of sessions in jerseys and shorts in the books, the Terps will be able to wear shoulder pads for the third workout. The first full-pad practice is slated for Friday and initial scrimmage set for Saturday

Preseason practices are closed to the general public, but open to members of the Maryland Gridiron Network (MGN) and Terrapin Club.

Terps Notes:

Practice Tidbits: After having a solid first day of camp, redshirt freshman Gary Douglas continued to impress on Tuesday. The running back had several good runs during 11-on-11 drills, showing great cutback ability as well as good acceleration in the open field... Chris Turner also looked sharp, completing 6-of-8 passes during one stretch, including a bullet pass down the sideline to a streaking Tommy Galt. The 6-foot-4 Galt, who will be looked upon to be productive at the tight end position, had several nice catches and has proved to be a good route-runner thus far.

Kicking Game: With Obi Egekeze gone as place-kicker, one question entering camp has been who will take over for a guy who booted 32 career field goals, which is good for seventh place in school history. The competition is between returners Nick Wallace and Mike Barbour, and newcomer Nick Ferrara. Of the progress made so far, Friedgen said: "Wallace and Barbour are much improved over the spring. Right now they're ahead of Ferrara, but he's just a young kid." Friedgen will take his time in making a decision on who will get the nod to start the season, saying he will wait at least two weeks before naming a starter. He also took time after practice to watch the three kick, and noted that Wallace and Barbour "had decent height on the ball and good timing."