July 6, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The following is the first in a nine-part series previewing the 2004 University of Maryland football team. The Terrapins open fall practice on August 11th in preparation for their season opener against Northern Illinois at Byrd Stadium on September 4th.
Today's portion of the outlook for 2004 takes a quick look at the team overall before focusing on the offense in general and the quarterback position specifically. Check back every Tuesday and Thursday in the month of July for a breakdown on each component of this year's team (a complete list of when each position's synopsis will be posted on umterps.com can be found at the bottom of this page), a squad ranked by most preseason publications in the top 25 nationally.
2004 TERRAPIN FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Predicting the future can be risky. Sometimes a prediction of a program's future comes to pass. Other times, reality is the exact opposite from the forecast. For the University of Maryland football program, things have definitely not gone according to plan - and that's a good thing.
When head coach Ralph Friedgen returned to College Park prior to the 2001 season, he thought it would take a few years to get the ball rolling. Take some time, get some of his own recruits in place, install his system, have the players understand it. Like everything else Friedgen does, it was a solid, detailed plan.
But as Terrapin faithful are already aware, the plan was ultimately so well crafted and so exceptional in its design that Friedgen took Maryland to an Atlantic Coast Conference championship in his first year and bowl wins in the two seasons that followed. Now, with Year Four of the well-documented "five-year plan" about to begin, Friedgen and Company face issues they've not had in their three previous seasons.
The 2004 edition of the Terps is the least experienced of all Friedgen's teams to date, and easily the one with the most question marks. Conversely, it also features some of the most athletic, talented players who have come to College Park in years. In addition, the team has put together consecutive recruiting classes that rank as high as any pair of incoming groups in the last few decades at Maryland.
Among the questions that need answering: Who will be the starting quarterback, and how quickly will he be comfortable in the offensive system? How will the right side of the offensive line hold up after losing two seasoned performers in Lamar Bryant and Eric Dumas? How will the young defensive linemen play? Who will play in which position in the linebacking corps? How will the Terps replace four players who earned some form of all-conference honors in 2003?
Despite the number of questions, some have already been answered through a successful spring practice session and others will wait until the curtain opens on Sept. 4 against Northern Illinois. In any event, Terp fans have come to expect that Friedgen and his staff will have the Maryland football team as prepared as it can possibly be in time for that season-opener.
The following is a position-by-position breakdown of the 2004 edition of the Maryland Terrapins as they write the next chapter in a book that, thus far, has been hard to put down:
OFFENSE
A quick glance at the depth chart on offense and it is clear that this year's Maryland team has depth and talent. Intertwined, however, are a few question marks as starting spots need to be filled at several positions of importance.
As they were in the spring, all eyes will be transfixed at the start of camp on the quarterback position as two-year starter Scott McBrien starts this football season in Green Bay trying to make a name for himself with the Packers. His incumbents have thrown a collective 25 career passes and showed both promise and nerves in the spring.
This year's group of wide receivers might offer a relief to that situation as it is very deep and probably the most talented offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe has been afforded in his three-plus years at Maryland. The tailback position is again deep and talented while the offensive line has a few questions to answer. But overall, most questions will return to the quarterback position and if that one is answered, the Terps will again likely feature one of the most balanced, effective offenses in the country.
Quarterback
Two years ago at this time, Maryland was doing its best to figure out who would replace Shaun Hill at quarterback. Two years later, Scott McBrien is gone and the question is restated with a different selection of possible answers. Although spring did not give a definitive answer of who the starter will be in 2004, it did serve to provide a pecking order and some separation between those vying for the job.
Sophomore Joel Statham, a third-year player with good size, speed and a strong, accurate arm, will enter fall camp as the likely starter. His grip on the starting job was loosened by a sub-par first half performance in the spring game, but his overall performance in the offseason warranted his status as the starter. He has noticeably improved his knowledge of the offense and though far from seasoned, he is the lone Terp returning with live game experience. In his one game seeing "real" playing time last year (at Georgia Tech), he showed toughness and now seems to need to just improve his comfort level in a live game setting.
A close second on the depth chart to Statham is fellow sophomore Sam Hollenbach. Hollenbach has ideal size (6-5, 218) and has improved his passing greatly in his time at Maryland. He was a little inconsistent in the spring but showed enough that he and Statham distanced themselves from the pack and are the clear incumbents for the job as the season approaches.
When the offseason began, redshirt freshman Ryan Mitch was listed as a possible contender for the job, but his time appears to be a little further down the road. Mitch performed well on the scout team a year ago and showed that he has a strong, accurate throwing arm. Problems that arose in the spring for Mitch stemmed from his knowledge of the offense and comfort in seeing coverage and where to go with the ball. Nonetheless, he is certainly a player to watch in time.
One player whose future was considered even further off was freshman Dan Gronkowski, but Gronkowski showed the coaches something in the spring. Built similar to Hollenbach, Gronkowski (6-6, 250) did a nice job picking up the system in a short time. The final possibility to challenge for the starting job is from incoming freshman Jordan Steffy. By all reports, Steffy - a four-year starter in high school - is as seasoned as incoming freshmen get, he runs very well and has nice touch, but the question remains on how fast and effectively he can learn the system. By all accounts, Steffy is another young player at the position worth watching, if only for future fall camps.
"We are looking for a guy who can read coverage, make decisions and make plays," said Friedgen. "Entering camp, the position is a concern only because nobody on the roster has played a whole lot in an actual game. Joel (Statham) is the only one who has really played in a game. The players we have possess the talent; they just need to show the intangibles it takes to be a successful leader at this level."
Outlook Schedule on UMterps.com:
Offense/Quarterbacks Tuesday, July 6
Tailbacks/Fullbacks Thursday, July 8
Wide Receivers Tuesday, July 13
Tight Ends Thursday, July 15
Offensive Line Tuesday, July 20
Defense/Defensive Line Thursday, July 22
Linebackers Tuesday, July 27
Defensive Backs Thursday, July 29
Specialists Tuesday, August 3
For season ticket information, please call the Terrapin Ticket Office at (301) 314-7070 or (800) 462-TERP (8377).
