April 6, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland football team got its best weather day in the first week of spring at Tuesday's practice session, drawing a crowd of local high school athletes and their coaches.
With approximately 30-40 potential recruits and their coaches on hand as local high schools enjoy spring break, the Terrapins went a full two-and-a-half hours with a practice similar to that of Sunday. The enthusiasm that has permeated the practice sessions up to this point was not up to head coach Ralph Friedgen's standards, at least on the offensive end, as the offense finished practice running sprints.
"The offense lost to the defense today and as long as they do that, they will run (at the end of practice) by how ever much they lose by," said Friedgen.
Some other highlights from Tuesday's session, most of which came from the defense:
LEO linebacker Shawne Merriman batted down passes on consecutive plays in team drills, one coming on a Joel Statham pass, the other on a Sam Hollenbach effort. Even though he was one of the ACC's sack leaders last year, Merriman looks much improved now that he is healthy.
Fellow linebacker Tim Cesa was active in today's session. Friedgen says his instinctiveness has improved over year one and Cesa is easily one of the more intense players on the practice field day-in and day-out.
Another redshirt freshman, Patrick Powell, did a nice job getting in the opponents backfield today, knocking the ball out of Hollenbach's hands as he tried to find an open receiver.
Sophomore cornerback Josh Wilson had a nice hit on WR Drew Weatherly, dislodging the ball just before the start of goal line drills. A few plays later, fellow linemate Justin Duffie had a would-be sack of Hollenbach. Duffie's return will be a bonus to the Terps in '04.
One of the bright spots for the offense came in goal line drills as they scored on their first three possessions, the first ending in a Josh Allen TD run, the second in a touchdown reception by TE Darren Sanders and the third a short keeper by Hollenbach, ending practice.
Friedgen said after practice that he saw improvement out of Statham and Hollenbach, the latter having performed much better in the last two practice days in particular. Friedgen's interest is in putting the young QBs in as many game-like situations as possible.
"I think we have to keep putting the quarterbacks in competitive situations, see how they perform when the pressure is on," said Friedgen. "Whoever the quarterback is, he has to be able to come through."
In the end, Friedgen was still happy with where his team is.
"I am still pleased with where we are, overall," Friedgen said. "I think we had some guys lose their concentration today but overall, it is better than what I could have anticipated up to this point."
Injury Bug Bites
Tuesday saw a number of minor injuries deplete the Terrapins' depth, if only temporarily.
Cornerbacks Reuben Haigler (groin) and Chris Choice (dislocated finger) were both injured while LB D'Qwell Jackson suffered a muscle strain and WR Jo Jo Walker suffered a hit that had him sit out the rest of practice.
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
