April 3, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland football team got back to work Saturday after being rained out on Friday at the football practice fields. Considering it was just the second day of practice and the team was wearing only shells, the action was particularly lively. For head coach Ralph Friedgen, at times, it was too much so.
The action started when sophomore TE Vernon Davis took a short pass from QB Sam Hollenbach, made a few nice moves, sprinted up field and ran over true freshman DB Richard Taylor. That exchange got the offense excited.
A few plays later, Davis again took a short pass and started moving up field, but this time when his progress was slowed and the play would typically have stopped, senior cornerback Domonique Foxworth came up and popped the young tight end. From that point on, both offense and defense played to the limits of "no contact" and beyond, ultimately urging Friedgen to stop practice and run the entire team.
Needless to say, Sunday's practice session - the first full contact outing of spring - should be worth watching.
"We'll find out who's for real tomorrow," said Friedgen. "We'll see who wants to talk tomorrow when we are in full pads."
Some other highlights from Saturday's session:
Davis and fellow tight end Rob Abiamiri continued to get a lot of balls thrown their way. After the first play where he ran over Taylor, Davis had a target on his back most of the day but continued to perform while he jawed with the defense.
Redshirt freshman LB Wesley Jefferson made a nice play, tipping a Ryan Mitch pass to himself for an interception in team drills.
Wide receiver Dan Melendez was very active today, catching a number of short and mid-range passes and doing some nice running after the catch.
The defense got some nice play from sophomore tackle Conrad Bolston. On one play, Bolston made his way through blockers and strung a running play out for a loss, drawing the praise of line coach Dave Sollazzo.
Overall, with the exception of the bad weather, Friedgen has been very pleased with the work of his team early this spring.
"There's been a lot of enthusiasm and their doing a nice job," said Friedgen. "There haven't been a lot of mistakes. There have been a few mental mistakes but for such a young bunch, I am real pleased with where they are at. As far as the hitting goes, I guess you would rather see them that way than the opposite of that."
Practice Date and Time Updates
Due to the weather, there have been several changes to the practice schedule. For updates as they happen, fans should go the Maryland Gridiron Network Website
