April 7, 2007
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
With five spring practices in the books, the Maryland football team was finally able to put the fruits of its labor to the test Saturday morning in a 90-play situational scrimmage at the Terps on-campus practice facility.
Practice opened with 60 minutes of individual and team work before the Terps embarked on the first scrimmage of the spring which began with possessions starting at the 40-yard line and ended with six first-and-goal opportunities.
The offense, which has been hit with the injury bug over the last week, scored just one touchdown in its nine possessions at or near midfield, while the defense countered by picking off two passes and forcing a fumble to end three of those drives.
"The defense is ahead of the offense right now," head coach Ralph Friedgen said. "I saw a lot of encouraging things from a defensive standpoint. We still have a lot of young kids on offense who are learning. I saw a lot of positive things. They're definitely going after each other pretty good."
The offense started out fairly strong, gaining four first downs in its first two possessions before the defense clamped down, posting three-and-outs in the final five drives at the 40-yard line.
Junior quarterback Jordan Steffy completed 4 of 6 passes for 33 yards on the day and gained another 10 yards rushing, including a 4-yard touchdown gallop in the initial first-and-goal possession.
"Jordan played alright," Friedgen said. "Everyone else has a long way to go. But like I've said, quarterbacking doesn't happen overnight. Jordan has had enough reps where he should be ahead of everyone else, and he is. Hopefully the other guys can step up."
Sophomore Josh Portis was 2-for-7 for 16 yards and one interception. Sophomore Chris Turner completed 4 of 7 passes for a scrimmage-high 41 yards, but also tossed two interceptions.
Redshirt freshman linebacker Alex Wujciak picked off one of Turner's passes, stepping in front of the intended receiver in the end zone to thwart one of the first-and-goal possessions. Wujciak also had a scrimmage-high eight tackles, including six solo stops.
Senior defensive back Christian Varner and junior linebacker Chase Bullock each chipped in with five stops apiece.
Senior defensive lineman Dre Moore was active in the interior of the line, tallying four solo stops and finding his way into the backfield a number of times.
"Dre is really coming into his own this spring," Friedgen said. "I hope he will be dominant in the fall. I know he's playing very motivated right now."
Redshirt freshman Morgan Green led the rushing attack with 77 yards on 17 carries, including a 46-yard scamper on his fifth carry which set up the lone early touchdown. Green had all 50 yards on the drive, punching the ball in from one yard out. He also scored once in the first-and-goal setting, as did Lance Ball.
Green got the majority of the carries in the scrimmage with senior Keon Lattimore and redshirt freshman Da'Rel Scott remaining out of action. Ball rushed 11 times for 18 yards.
"Morgan and Lance did some good things out there," Friedgen said. "Morgan needs to keep improving on holding onto the ball. He ran as hard today as he has since he's been here. I've seen him improve this spring."
Friedgen remains concerned about depth on the offensive line.
"Hopefully we can find some guys to step up for us on the offensive line," Freidgen said. "Paul Pinegar has showed me some things. Hopefully he can be a good player for us down the road, but he's a true freshman and he still has some work to do."
The Terps are off until Tuesday when they hit the field at 4 p.m. for the first of three practices next week.
Terps Notes: Friedgen announced after practice that defensive lineman Jeremy Navarre will likely miss the rest of spring with a knee injury, while offensive lineman Andrew Crummey is out with an ankle sprain ... he also said Scott will have his knee evaluated next week, while Lattimore is out indefinitely.
Scrimmage Statistics
OFFENSE
Passing (Att-Comp-Yds):
Steffy: 4-7-33; Portis: 2-7-16/1 INT; Ricker: 1-2-9; Turner: 5-8-41/2 INT; Sheahin: 1-2-23.
Receiving (Rec-Yds):
Heyward-Bey: 3-23; Ball: 2-14; Haynos 2-12; L. Williams 1-9; Gresham 1-24; Cannon 1-23; Smalls 1-12; Green 1-5
Rushing (Carries-Yds):
Green: 17-77; Ball: 11-18; Steffy: 6-10; Washington: 4-1; Sheahin: 1-3; Ifon: 1-0; Ricker: 2-0; Jackson: 1-(-1); Robinson: 2-(-4); Turner: 2-(-12); Portis: 3-(-17)
Field Goals:
Egekeze: 3-3/ 42, 20, 20; Baltz: 1-2/ 21, 42 (Miss)
DEFENSE
Tackles (Solo-Assisted-Total)
Wujciak 6-2-8, Varner 4-1-5, Bullock 3-2-5, Moore 4-0-4, Philistin 4-0-4, Taylor 3-0-3, Ball 2-1-3, D. Galt 2-1-3, Clement 1-2-3, Allen 2-1-3, Carroll 3-0-3, Barnes 2-0-2, Fokou 2-0-2, Jackson-Mills 2-0-2, Moten 2-0-2, Nelson 2-0-2, Henderson 2-0-2, Frost 0-1-1, McCollough 0-1-1, Savage 1-0-1, Ivey 0-1-1, Clinton 1-0-1, Otulaja 1-0-1, Sule 1-0-1, Skinner 0-1-1, Wiseman 1-0-1
Tackles for Loss (No.-Yards)
Wujciak 3-5, Jackson-Mills 1-4, Fokou 1-2, Philistin 1-2, Moore 1-1, Varner 1-1, Ivey 1-1
Sacks (No.)
Moore 2, D. Galt 1, Savage 1, Moten 1, Clement 1
Break Ups (No.)
Barnes 1, McCollough 1, Wiseman 1
Interceptions (No.-Yards)
Barnes 1-6, Nelson 1-0, Wujciak 1-0
Fumbles Recovered (No.-Yards)
Clement 1-0
