April 16, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
When trainers for the Maryland football program arrived at 4:45 Friday morning, the ice they had discarded on the practice fields from the previous day's practice was still waiting for them. An hour later, the Terrapin football team was back on the field in helmets and shoulder pads working and gearing up for tomorrow's scrimmage.
The Terps went about two hours and 15 minutes in shells, working each aspect of the offense and defense in what could be considered an educational session prior to Saturday's 3:00 p.m. scrimmage in Byrd Stadium. The team went through stretch, position drills, goal line and skelly before concluding the practice with team drills and a two-minute walkthrough for the offense and defense seperately.
Though it looked to be another sunny day at the practice field, it was cold enough for steam to be escaping the facemasks of the Terps as they were put through their paces. Regardless of the weather, head coach Ralph Friedgen was again happy with the effort on Friday.
"I thought we had a pretty good practice today," said Friedgen. "It was a good learning thing. We have some guys nicked up but I hope they can go tomorrow.
Some other highlights from Friday's practice:
Tailback Mario Merrills continues to look good and is easily playing the best ball of his career at Maryland. The battle for the number two tailback spot in spring behind Josh Allen has been one of the most tightly-contested ones and Friedgen said yesterday that Merrills has moved slightly ahead of Lance Ball and J.P. Humber in the rotation. With the return of regular No. 2 Sammy Maldonado in the fall, the Terps will be stacked again at the position.
Cornerback Gerrick McPhearson made a nice play to break up a deep ball intended for Derrick Fenner in team drills.
Sam Hollenbach made a nice play running the option in team work. The sophomore moved out to his right after a nice fake handoff to the up back, moved outside and faked another pitch to the tailback, leaving linebackers and corners in his wake as he cut upfield for about a 20-yard gain.
On a series plays, Joel Statham found players running down the middle of the field and made perfect throws, connecting with Jo Jo Walker and Mario Merrills in what would have been big gains.
It will be a long couple of days for the Terp coaching staff. After leaving Thursday night, they came in early for this morning's practice, will review game film from Thursday and Friday's practice Friday morning and early afternoon and then will host a coaches clinic from 3:00 p.m. until around 7:00 p.m. They will get up and run another clinic again Saturday morning before preparing for the afternoon scrimmage and then get a much-deserved day off on Sunday.
Friedgen on the Quarterbacks
"I have been very pleased with the improvement of our quarterbacks," said Friedgen. "Joel (Statham) has pleased me with his decision making. I think he knows what he is doing but sometimes he just doesn't make the plays he has to make. Today, I thought he was very good. I think as he grows, he will be fine.
"Sam Hollenbach is inconsistent right now, but he had a very good scrimmage last week. At one point, I did not know if he could do this, but right now I think he can if he keeps on improving. We really aren't going to know until they do it in a game.
"But right now, I think Joel is ahead in spring practice mentally of where Scott (McBrien) and Shaun Hill were at this point. I think he is really seeing coverage and knows where the ball goes. Sometimes he just runs plays to run plays. He just needs to understand that every play is a Picasso and try to make the most out of every play that he possibly can. The encouraging thing to me is that he knows what he is doing and that is the biggest problem there is to overcome."
Scrimmage on Saturday
The Terps will get after it again on Saturday, scrimmaging at 3:00 p.m. in Byrd Stadium. Fans are welcomed to attend.
Practice Date and Time Updates
There have been several changes to the practice schedule of late. For updates as they happen, fans should go the Maryland Gridiron Network Website
