LIKE! Maryland Football on Facebook

LIKE! Maryland Athletics on Facebook

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - For the first time this season fans got a look at the Maryland football team as the Terps held a two-hour practice open to the public Saturday in Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.

Several hundred fans came out to the early-morning workout to get a glimpse of the Terps, who return 12 offensive and defensive starters from last season's 9-4 squad. It was also the first time this preseason Maryland practiced inside Byrd Stadium, where it will play host to Miami in a primetime, Labor-Day showdown on Sept. 5.

"I think it's good to give the fans a chance to come out here and see the guys," said head coach Randy Edsall. "Just to have people in the stadium I think it brings a little bit more focus and concentration, day 13 into the preseason. I'm grateful for the people that came out here and it's helpful for us."

The session started at 8 a.m. with individual work before moving into 7-on-7, 11-on-11 and red-zone drills. Players will move into their permanent residences Saturday afternoon, scrimmage Sunday night and receive a day off Monday.

As was the case Friday, the team was presented with a challenge on Saturday morning that gave the opportunity to escape conditioning drills. On Friday morning, sophomore offensive lineman Max Garcia (coached by Tony Logan) caught a high punt off the foot of Nick Ferrara, thus keeping the team out of wind sprints.

Saturday's challenge was for Ferrara to make a 54-yard field goal, but the kick missed right and the Terps had to run. Edsall joked that he didn't have to do any yelling because the fans did it for him during the conditioning drills.

"Especially the sprints, I liked that. [The fans] were getting on them, I heard people yelling `get up front, get up front!' So I didn't have to yell, I didn't have to even say anything."

After the practice, players stuck around to sign autographs for the fans in attendance. Click here to see a photo gallery from Saturday.

Terp Notes

Scrimmage Looms Sunday: Sunday night the team will hold a scrimmage that will attempt to mirror a regular game, and Edsall said Monday, which is an off day for the players, will be a day for coaches to evaluate where the team stands midway through camp. "We as coaches on Monday will spend the whole day getting everything lined up for how we want our personnel for Miami," Edsall said.

Tart, Renfro Engaged in Position Battle: Edsall said the position battle at punter could go down to the wire; in the mix are redshirt freshman walk-on Michael Tart and true freshman Nathan Renfro. The position was left open with the graduation of four-year starter Travis Baltz, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts. Though Nick Ferrara filled in ably as the punter when Baltz was injured in 2009, it's unlikely the junior would be asked to handle all three phases of the kicking game. Both Tart and Renfro have shown promise at times throughout camp but a lack of consistency has prevented either from gaining a firm hold on the job. "They punted extremely well yesterday and then today they weren't as consistent," Edsall said. "That's the thing we're trying to get with the whole team but I was a little bit disappointed with the performance of the punters today because like I said they were off the charts yesterday."

DeSouza Working Hard at Recovery: Sophomore Pete DeSouza is continuing to make progress on the long road back from a scooter accident last October that left both of his legs fractured. Edsall has been encouraged by the resolve of the Silver Spring, Md., native. "I see a young man that has a tremendous amount of courage," Edsall said. "You see what he's gone through and you see him out here working to try to get there. You know that it's a long road ahead of him. You feel for the young man but I have a tremendous amount of respect because of him wanting to play the game and trying to get back after that serious accident. I'm just trying to be as supportive with him as I can, and hopefully it can work out but like I said he still has a long, long way to go."