SB Nation - Jamari McCollough

Maryland Football Season Review: Defensive Backs

Ben Broman — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:00:33 -0000

Maryland will miss this man.

One of the most underrated adjustments Maryland players had to make to the new defensive scheme was in coverage, as Don Brown used less of a Chris Cosh-ian sit back and wait zone and more of an attacking press man or tight Cover 2. With athletes better suited to the zone, corners were occasionally hard-pressed to make the transition.

The DBs saw both things encouraging and things scary. Anthony Wiseman and Cameron Chism. Kenny Tate and Kenny Tate. Terrell Skinner and Nolan Carroll.

Actually, Carroll's injury is a bit underrated. I don't think he'd be changing the outcome of too many games, but he was all set up to have a breakout year, and a shutdown corner can never hurt. As it turned out, he got hurt, and Maryland was again searching for a #1 CB.

Nolan Carroll

After a great spring and fall practice period, Nolan was set to be the man in the secondary and was already a defensive leader. He was perfect for Don Brown's scheme and looked to make exciting plays without getting beaten deep. While he showed flashes in his first game, no one was all that good against Cal, and it wasn't long after (against JMU) that he broke a bone in his leg, ending his year.

A similar fate doomed another senior cornerback for Maryland last year, Kevin Barnes. Hopefully they'll have better luck in the future.

Anthony Wiseman

Originally the #2, Wiseman was forced into the starting spot directly after Carroll's injury, and the results were...middling. Despite a few big plays every once in awhile, he tended to be one of the worse corners in the secondary. Really, though, it's not his fault: his skill set just wasn't good for this defense, and he looked to have trouble man-to-man. The real blame falls on the coaches for keeping him in too long.

Like Carroll, though, I don't think Wiseman cost Maryland any victories on the year, at least not directly. He had a rough go of it, but I have nothing against him.

Cameron Chism

Ah, now this is exciting. Chism put out one of the best performances by a sophomore CB I've seen from a Terp, and showcased everything you could want: he got better as he went along, was able to shut down a few guys, and didn't drop interceptions. He had his problems - fade routes were especially rough on him, and he got bailed out by safeties more than once - but the future is bright.

You could see his progression throughout the year, too. Early on, QBs were picking on him, sending a lot of balls his way. Later, they went more toward Wiseman, avoiding Chism.

Chism will almost certainly be the #1 corner next year, and deservedly so. He's a good fit for the defense and is a playmaker.

Trenton Hughes

Despite there being an open nickel spot in the secondary, Hughes didn't see all that much memorable playing time. That's actually a good thing: also an inexperienced sophomore, he managed not to get burned and stayed in front of his man in most instances. Even though he didn't really make any great plays and there were passes completed to his side, I was moderately impressed with his performance.

He'll be the frontrunner in a very interesting battle for CB next year. He has the experience and he's nutty fast, but he's on the skinny side and an ultra-talented, bigger guy like Travis Hawkins or Dexter McDougle might serve them better.

Richard Taylor

The senior member of the group, Taylor is a sixth-year senior who was actually in grad school. Despite receiving almost no playing time in any of his previous five years, he saw major PT toward the end of the year and started rotating the nickel corner spot with Hughes. He ended up with his first INT in a clutch situation against North Carolina State, and was one of my favorites.

At the same time, he was as flawed as the rest. He consistently held his own, but that's not to say he was never beaten or that he was a shutdown corner. When Wiseman was off the field and he was on it, he tended to get balls thrown his way.

Terrell Skinner

Ever since last year's break-out campaign for Terrell, he's quietly been one of the best players on defense. He doesn't get a lot of talk as a pro prospect or as a great safety, but he didn't beaten nearly as much as his strong safety counterpart and racked up the tackles. This was his last year, and he did performed admirably with an occasionally shattered secondary. Maryland will miss his presence.

Kenny Tate

Skinner's backup, Tate is a polarizing figure. Some miss the potential he showcased on the offensive end, because he started out at safety instead of his natural WR position and decided to stay there. It makes sense, but his first two years have shown that he is a little out of place. His instincts have never seemed quite there and he made a lot of mistakes.

That said, he has a ton of talent, and two years of experience can only help. Get him out on the field as a starter and coach him up on the finer points of the position, and he has the ability to dominate. I wouldn't mind seeing him out at punt returner or even a few offensive packages including him, either.

Jamari McCollough

I will always love Jamari if only for his UNC interception. The emotion from that game, even though it wasn't all that important, was simply incredible. Luckily for us, he turned out to be a pretty good strong safety, too. Despite battling injuries all year long, he showed up and, even though he got beaten deep occasionally, was great against the run and solid in short zones. Like Skinner, he will be missed.

Antwine Perez

McCollough's probable replacement, Perez has to be one of the most exciting players on defense. A former five star transfer from USC, he hasn't seen the field much in his time at Maryland despite clearly having a huge amount of talent. Like McCollough, his finest moment came against UNC, and he showed a ton of potential late this year. If he can put together an entire year along the lines of these past few games - which I believe he can - Maryland could have one of the better safety duos in the ACC.

Eric Franklin

A true freshman who had to fill in for Perez at first and then Tate thanks to a late-season injury, Franklin didn't see a lot of playing time, and was average in the time he did see. He did have an important sack in his debut, but a few games later he allowed a big TD run after taking a bad angle. All in all, it was pretty good for a freshman safety. He'll be the primary backup at both spots next year, barring something unexpected.

The Future

Despite being surrounded by unnecessary, useless burnt redshirts all around, the defensive backs saw only one burn, and a reasonable one at that. Thus, I'm pretty excited for next year.

The good news is that Maryland will have more talent in the defensive backfield at any time next year than they had all of this year. There's more depth at the corners and more experience at the safeties than before, and you can add more talent to both of those spots. The ceiling is high.

On the bad side, there's not a lot of experience. Chism has half a year as a #1 corner. Hughes is the only other corner with any other experience, and not very much of it. Neither Tate nor Perez have been starters for any period of time. They'll have to learn quick.

The 2nd CB position won't be the most high-profile battle of the spring and fall (that'd be QB), but it will be the most entertaining (okay, maybe 2nd most there). Hughes, Hawkins, McDougle...three very talented guys fighting for the same spot. My money is on Hawkins, but that's just a guess.

The first few games will be rough as the secondary works out the kinks and figures out the right lineup. As they gain experience, though, this group will be very dangerous. When combined with a hopefully improved DL and a returning LB corps, this defense could be quite good.

The Preview: Maryland Terrapins @ Florida State Seminoles

FSUncensored — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:10 -0000

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Time: Noon
TV: Raycom Sports - Tim Brant (pbp), Doc Walker (color) and Mike Hogewood (sidelines) will call the action. The game can also be seen on ESPN Gameplan or ESPN360.com.
Line: FSU -18.5
Forecast: Rain? No Rain? Looks like heavy rain in the afternoon but it should hold off for the first half.

The Maryland Terrapins are coming off a 36-9 home loss to Virginia Tech. They sit at 1-8 on the year against D1 teams. Their coach, Ralf Friedgen on that loss:

"I thought we improved in our offensive line play. Andrew Gonnella played probably his best game and I thought Terrell Skinner played a fantastic game. He had 13 tackles and really played well. We defended the run well, but what we didn't do was defend the big plays and the passing game. We have to make some more plays in our offense. There are some plays out there that we need to make and we didn't make them. On Monday night I showed about eight plays to the offense where we are very, very close to just sustaining the block, breaking the tackle or making the catch to make a difference."

Maryland Offense v. FSU Defense

As you can see (click to enlarge), Maryland's offense isn't very good. 83rd in the country and significantly worse than North Carolina (the next best offense FSU has played). But they are better than USF, and like USF, they are starting a young running quarterback for the first time.

And Florida State's defense...

As you can see (click to enlarge), FSU's defense is 90th in the country. Maryland put 31 points on NC State's 85th ranked defense on the road, and dropped 32 on Wake's 46th ranked unit, also on the road. But that was with their quarterback. Let's see what they are currently working with.

Here's Maryland's offensive depth chart:

WR-X 7 Adrian Cannon 6-2 204 Jr.-2V
LT 74 Bruce Campbell 6-7 310 Jr.-2V
LG 71 Paul Pinegar 6-4 290 Jr.-2V
C 72 Phil Costa 6-3 300 Sr.-2V
RG 77 Andrew Gonnella 6-6 305 So.-SQ or 78 Justin Lewis 6-4 320 Fr.-RS
RT 76 R.J. Dill 6-7 320 Fr.-RS
TE-Y 34 Devonte Campbell 6-2 250 Fr.-RS
QB 11 Jamarr Robinson 6-0 190 So.-SQ
TB 8 Davin Meggett 5-8 215 So.-1V & 23 Da'Rel Scott 5-11 200 Jr.-2V
FB 38 Cory Jackson 6-1 245 Sr.-3V
WR-Z 82 Torrey Smith 6-1 200 So.-1V
WR-F 24 Ronnie Tyler 5-11 190 So.-1V
TE-F 80 Lansford Watson 6-4 260 So.-1V

And FSU's Defensive Depth Chart:

LE 95 Kevin McNeil 6-2, 257, SR
DT 93 Everett Dawkins 6-2, 258, FR & 72 Budd Thacker 6-2, 276, SR
NT 90 Moses McCray 6-2, 298, SO & 99 Jacobbi McDaniel 6-0, 267, FR
RE 98 Markus White 6-4, 261, JR & 49 Brandon Jenkins 6-2, 240, FR
SLB 36 Dekoda Watson 6-2, 226, SR
MLB 29 Kendall Smith 6-1, 224, JR
WLB 13 Nigel Bradham 6-2, 235, SO
Backup LB 12 Nigel Carr 6-3, 230, SO
CB 15 Ochuko Jenije 5-10, 188, JR
FS 20 Jamie Robinson 6-2, 188, SR
RV 22 Korey Mangum 6-0, 202, SR & 10 Nick Moody 6-2, 228, FR
CB 21 Patrick Robinson 5-11, 194, SR
Nickel Corner: 5 Greg Reid 5-9, 175, FR

Phillip, a friend of Tomahawk Nation, will be helping us out with the Maryland team.

Jamarr Robinson is the new quarterback. He runs a 4.66 in the forty yard dash so he'll give your defense all types of problems scrambling but at this point he's just not a good passer. In six quarters he is 17-43 for 130 yards, no TD's and no pick, though he has thrown a couple balls that could have been picks and a couple that could have been TD's if the receiver makes a play. Robinson won't throw over 200 yards against FSU in all probability no matter what the circumstance. Robinson is mobile, but not so mobile he's a game changer. He can't read coverages and hes pretty inaccurate.

But in the rain with FSU's defense over-pursuing like crazy, this running back playing QB could give FSU some trouble. I'd actually rather face Turner. I talked to the Va Tech guys and they said Robinson is extremely erratic. FSU is facing a less talented B.J. Daniels. Maryland has always run some option and they rep the option in practice so I think FSU is in for a heavy does of option. It would fit this kid's skill-set well.

Tough to evaluate this running back group cause of the bad O-Line. Da'Rel Scott, a first team all ACC guy should return from injury after missing the last five games. Hes our best runner. Hes averaging over 5 yards a carry when nobody else is over 4. He was fumbling the ball before he got hurt, so that could be an issue. The backups who played the last couple weeks were banged up themselves. They are not bad players they just don't have big holes to run through. Also with Jamar Robinson playing you can crowd the box, thus the RB's only got 7 carries against VT, the QB did most of the running (25 carries for 127 yards). Without a healthy Scott this group is pretty average. If they played with a good line they would get decent yardage, but they don't and aren't good enough to make things happen on their own. Scott put up big numbers earlier in the season, but in fairness to the other rb's, Scott played against a couple weaker defenses, (James Madison and MTSU) when he put up his numbers. Our fullback, Cory Jackson, might be the best blocking fullback in the ACC, but without an O-Line that only gets you so far.

Remember Dave Megget of the Giants? That's his son. A similarly fashioned scat back. Scott is not a receiving threat but Megget has good hands. If Maryland wants to use a fullback, that's fine by me. FSU will play 8 men in the box like they did last year early on.

This wide receiver group is talented. Torrey Smith, Adrian Cannon, and Ronnie Tyler the top 3 guys are all good. If Turner is the QB this group could cause your secondary problems. This group is probably in the top third of the ACC. If we had a good O-Line or a run game to balance the pass, UMD could put up big passing numbers with these guys. Torrey Smith is a sophomore but probably has a future in the NFL. He broke the ACC KO return yards as a freshman and broke that record this year and has put up very solid receiving numbers. Smith has soft hands, good cutting ability, and low 4.4 speed. Adrian Cannon is a good possession WR. He runs around a 4.6 so not a deep threat that can stretch the field vertically, but hes got a thick body and very strong hands. Hes good after the catch, okay elusiveness and is strong and will break a lot of tackles by db's. Tyler is the slot, short at 5'9, hes an explosive athlete that is a good college receiver.

I agree with Phillip here. FSU CB Patrick Robinson, one of the best corners in the nation and a likely first round choice should be able to limit Smith. Jenijie should be okay against the other their #2. Maryland doesn't have a tight end who catches a lot of balls, so that is a plus.

I would say the worst O-Line in the ACC by quite a bit. We struggle to pass block and we struggle to run block. Its not clear which we are worst at. Occasionally they will have a good series or two, but this O-Line has yet to really put together an entire game, so FSU doesn't have much to worry about. The O-Line started out young and inexperienced and has been exacerbated by injuries. Bruce Campbell the best O-Lineman is playing pretty hurt. Due to injuries 9 different guys have gotten starts this year on the line and another has played significantly. Your D-Line will have its best game.

This is true. Maryland's offensive line is highly questionable. Campbell is actually a tremendous talent at left tackle, but as Phillip said, he's been injured. Last year Maryland was one of a few teams to not double team Everette Brown and Brown absolutely abused the Terps. They have struggled with quick rush ends so far this year and as Phillip said, FSU might have a good day. I don't think he understands just how poor FSU's defense is, however, so don't get too excited, 'Nole fans.

Maryland runs a pro-style offense. It's West coast based. They typically man block, not zone block (FSU zone blocks). If I was running Maryland's offense, I would probably use 3 wide receivers and two running backs, mixing in a lot of option looks for the young quarterback who is basically a running back under center. The rain probably plays to Maryland's advantage if they elect to run some of the zone-read plays we've come accustomed to seeing teams run against Florida State, often with great success. It's one thing to overrun a play. It's another to overrun a play in the rain and be unable to recover in time. I expect FSU to run more of the cover-2 stuff they ran against Wake Forest. This should help because it allows FSU to keep all 11 eyes on the "quarterback". It also will force the quarterback to work with his receivers. FSU did not do this well against USF, and pair dearly for it via two bombs and multiple scrambles. Playing an excess of man coverage in this game is a poor choice. Maryland has some good skill guys and if FSU lets them play street ball, this could be interesting. Against Zone, receivers must sit down in the voids, and the quarterback must recognize where these voids will be and throw the ball to the spot. I do not think Maryland's guy under center can do that consistently. FSU must make him do things at which he is not comfortable, and not allow him to hit the high-risk, high-reward stuff. A good cover-2 or cover-3 zone can help with this. In addition, FSU should refrain from excessive blitzing. If there is any offensive line that FSU's defensive line can get pressure against, it is this group. Maryland won't consistently beat a conservative FSU defense, but they could beat an aggressive FSU defense. They have a veteran center who can make the calls and FSU's schemes aren't fooling anyone. It's best to be very conservative, contain Robinson, and let him make mistakes. I worry about this because it is defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews' last game. Will the players be too hyped up to play good assignment football? I don't know.

Working off a 68 play projection (about average), I expect Maryland to put up about 5.5 yards per play. That's 375 yards. 24 points seems reasonable. I'll go with that. Can FSU top that? Continue reading to see.

Maryland Defense @ Florida State Offense

The Terps defense is not as bad as their offense.

From their media guide:

They've actually been sort of solid on defense for most of the conference season (Cal housed them 52-13), though they struggled aginst the Hokies last week. They are allowing an average of 113 rushing yards per game (second in league play). LBs Alex Wujciak and Adrian Moten have been the top playmakers on a defense which has just four starters back from last year. Wujciak, a second-team All-ACC selection last year, has a team-high 113 tackles, including 11 vs. Virginia Tech last week. Moten has 58 tackles (second on the team), including team highs in tackles-for-loss (8.5) and sacks (6.0). Freshman LB Demetrius Hartsfield, was the third-leading tackler until he broke his hand and missed two games. He was back in action last week. First-year defensive coordinator Don Brown has a veteran secondary, though there have been injuries at that position. Senior Nolan Carroll, the team’s No. 1 cornerback, was lost for the season vs. JMU with a broken tibia. Senior SS Jamari McCollough missed two games with a foot injury and played sparingly the following two weeks. Top safety reserve Kenny Tate sprained an ankle last week and will miss the rest of the season. CB Anthony Wiseman has a team-high eight PBUs and CB Cameron Chism has a team-best three interceptions. Seniors Travis Ivey, Jared Harrell and Deege Galt are veterans on the defensive line. The Terps are tied for second in the ACC in sacks (2.5 per game).

As you can see (click to enlarge), Maryland's defense is 69th. NC State is the worst defense FSU has faced this year. But Maryland is on par with BYU, and definitely worse than Wake Forest.

As for Florida State's offense? Click to go full-screen and you'll see FSU sits at 5th in the country. This is an elite unit.

Maryland has faced the #9 rated NC State attack. Without Ponder, I believe FSU's offense is probably top 25 but definitely not top 5. These ratings reflect performance to date. They can't account for the future impact of injuries. They also played Va Tech, who like NCST, also put 35+ on them. #27 rated Wake Forest put 30+ on these guys. But I don't remember any of those teams playing in a downpour.

Maryland Depth Chart

DE 57 Jared Harrell 6-5 265 Sr.-1V or 44 Derek Drummond 6-4 250 So.-1V
NT 96 A.J. Francis 6-5 315 Fr.-RS
DT 90 Travis Ivey 6-4 325 Sr.-2V
Anchor (DE) 56 Deege Galt 6-4 264 Sr.-SQ
SAM 54 Adrian Moten 6-2 230 Jr.-2V
MIKE 33 Alex Wujciak 6-3 255 Jr.-1V
WILL 42 Ben Pooler 6-3 235 So.-SQ or 59 Demetrius Hartsfield 6-2 230 Fr.-RS
CB 6 Anthony Wiseman 5-10 185 Sr.-3V (Starter lost for year)
FS 1 Terrell Skinner 6-3 214 Sr.-3V (Starter lost for year)
SS 4 Jamari McCollough 5-11 200 Sr.-1V
CB 22 Cameron Chism 6-0 185 So.-1V

FSU Depth Chart

WR 80 Jarmon Fortson 6-3, 223, SO & 9 Richard Goodman 6-0, 190, SR
LT 67 Andrew Datko 6-6, 283, SO
LG 57 Brandon Davis 6-2, 281, JR (Replacing AA Rodney Hudson)
C 60 Ryan McMahon 6-3, 282, JR
RG 79 David Spurlock 6-5, 285, SO
RT 77 Zebrie Sanders 6-5, 288, SO
TE 88 Beau Reliford 6-7, 241, SO (Starter Caz Piurowski lost for year)
QB 3 EJ Manuel 6-4, 223, FR (Starter Christian Ponder lost for year)
FB 24 Lonnie Pryor 6-1, 195, FR
TB 38 Jermaine Thomas 6-1, 190, SO & 23 Chris Thompson 5-8, 173, FR
WR 86 Rod Owens 6-0, 183, SR & 83 Bert Reed 5-11, 165, SO & Taiwan Easterling

And FSU's Injury Report:

Out
76 OT Garrett Faircloth (hip)
70 OT Antwane Greenlee (knee)
51 LB Aaron Gresham (knee) (For career)
44 LB Maurice Harris (neck; out for the season)
62 OG Rodney Hudson (knee)
97 DT Demonte McAllister (knee)
94 DT Justin Mincey (knee)
81 TE Caz Piurowski (knee; out for the season)
7 QB Christian Ponder (shoulder; out for the season)
74 OT John Prior (knee)
27 CB Xavier Rhodes (thumb)
11 LB Vince Williams (back)

Questionable
9 WR Richard Goodman (groin)
Mister Alexander is also banged up but FSU didn't list him.

Let's see what Phillip has to say about Maryland's defense.

Probably the worst in the ACC. The DT's are so-so, maybe the 7 or 8th best group in the ACC as far as DT's go. The DE's are awful. The rush end position (Harrell and Drummond) has yet to record a sack this season after 10 games. This group generates no initial pass rush. The strongside DE (Deege Galt) is a 100% effort type player and got a couple sacks by continuing to work and getting a sack after the play broke down, but this group is really awful. Our DE's are by far the worst in the ACC from what I have seen at generating pass rush. The DT's don't help with pass rush. They use a three man rotation of guys weighing 330, 325, 310 (Ivery, Kerr, Francis) so they are okay agianst the run, teams have not really gash us by running right at us, but they contribute nothing to a pass rush. Therefore you have four guys totally not capable of getting any pass rush. The D-Line is serviceable against the run, but you want to be more than serviceable when that is the strength of the unit.

I think he's pessimistic here. These guys actually do a decent job stopping the run. They are massive inside and have good but not great size on the outside. He is right though about their pass rush ability. Maryland's pass rush from the front-4 is just not there. In addition, FSU's offensive line is excellent in pass protection. I do have some concerns about Davis working together with the other guys picking up the blitz. Speaking of blitz...

LB: A solid, but not great unit. At MLB, 255 Alex Wujciak is big and strong and good in run defense. Hes not very agile or fast so you can pass on him, though he has improed his awareness there a little. Still, his pass coverage is the type thing that Jimbo will take advantage of. With Ponder you would have burned us like crazy passing over the middle with him cause Ponder is accurate. Wujciak is not fast or agile, buts aware and he took an inaccurate pass by Russell Wilson to the hosue on a 70 yard interception return the other week. Still hes probably one of the slowest MLB in the ACC if not the slowest. He leads the ACC in tackles and is fourth in the nation. Its hard to run against him cause he can off blocks well even if you get a O-Lineman to him cause of his size and strength. Running up the middle against us is maybe do-able, but with so many other weaknesses, teams don't even really bother to try. Adrian Moten one of the OLB's is very verstaile. Hes solid in pass coverage, blitzing, and against the run, but is not great at any of them. He leads the team with 6 sacks. I see him in the NFL eventually, not necessarily as a high pick, simply cause at the least he would make a good backup because hes no real weakness. Hes also a vocal leader of the D. The third LB is Demetrius Hartsfield a RS freshman. Hes got solid quickness and average straight line speed, and like a lot of freshman is inconsistent. At times he shows good instincts and an aggressive instinct that makes him effective. Other times he looks lost. As the season went on he got a little bit more consistent, his worst games as far as missed assignments were his first. FSU will be his second game back from injury after missing three games.

Moten is undersized and doesn't do a great job of getting off blocks. Otherwise, I agree with this. FSU has a very good run game that has been steadily improving since Rick Trickett took over the running back coaching duties. The backs now understand what hole to run through, an important part of being a running back.

The DB's are average to below average which is a surprise as many fans expected them to be good. We lost our top corner, Nolan Carroll, in the second game of the season. That hurt a lot. Sophomore Cameron Chism may have NFL talent but hes still learning the ropes. He's very good when the ball is in the air, has three picks, and is excellent in run help. That said he gives up some big plays and is susceptible to double moves and the like at this stage in his career (hes a true soph. who only played special teams last year). Wiseman the other corner is one of the worst starting cb's in the ACC. A three year starter who never has gotten an interception, hes a bad tackler, who is really bad when the ball is in the air. Hes is very suspectible to the long ball. Against the short ball, like slants, hes okay and will get some pass breakups, but hes such a bad tackler thats hes still not great there becaue those missed tackles turn into 40 yard players. The third and fourth corners, Richad Taylor and Trenton Hughes are about what you expect from backup corners. I think they are both slightly better than Wiseman, but there is inertia with returning starters and they are not that much better anyways. At S, we just lost Kenny Tate for the season at SS. With McCollough, who will be the strong safety agianst FSU, you got a saavy player capable in pass coverage, but not great in run help. At free safety you have Terrell Skinner, who had had a better junior year than senior year so far, except for the fact hes had his best two games of the season the past couple weeks so he may be coming on.

I have nothing to add to that. A huge thanks to Phillip for his help!

I watched a bit of Maryland this week. They blitz a lot. I feel bad for this defense. They get no pass rush, so they are forced to blitz. But their secondary has really struggled due to losing two starters and just generally not having a ton of talent. They are hurting either way.

So, how to attack Maryland's defense? We know that their front can't rush the passer but is very big. And we know that their best linebacker is a liability in coverage. They love to blitz. And we also know that they are incredibly thin on the secondary. So, how would you attack this?

I would spread them out and pass on early downs. This puts pressure on already thin secondary. It will tire out their big defensive tackles who certainly don't want to rush the passer. It will stress their excellent linebacker who is sort of a stiff. There is no reason to run right at Maryland, especially not without Rodney Hudson. FSU needs to run at the edges and attack the undersized outside linebackers or defensive backs. By throwing on 1st down, FSU can keep Maryland off balance. The bubble-screen game could play big in this contest. Anything to simplify the reads for freshman QB E.J. Manuel. Most teams don't blitz much on 1st down, making it an ideal down to throw on because of the added time in the pocket. Also, many teams are reluctant to blitz the spread because the blitz comes from a greater distance than against a traditional formation, thus taking longer to get there, being more readily identifiable, and affording the offense more time to react.

But undoubtedly Maryland will have some success with the blitz. I doubt Manuel stays clean in this game. But I do think he can hit a big play or two, interspersed with some less than desirable plays. I don't think FSU can run quite like they did against Wake Forest. FSU must pick up the blitz. And if Maryland goes a little more conservative, then Manuel needs to be in sync with the receivers.

Assuming FSU gets 68 plays, I think they can average about 6.75 per snap. That comes out to 460 yards. I like FSU to score 40 points. And to be clear, I definitely think rain is a disadvantage for the 'Noles here.

FSU 40, Maryland 24 Maryland is the worst team FSU has faced to date, and though I expect Manuel to look rough at times, I will still project the big win.

Chance of Victory: 88% (the exact percentage I predicted before the season).

Examining Maryland's In-State Football Recruiting History

Ben Broman — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:02:55 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Kenny Tate has been one of Maryland's few highly ranked in-state recruiting successes.

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It's a bye week, which means it's lots of random and kind of pointless research. Today's topic: in-state football recruiting. Sadly, this didn't prove a lot, so it's more my worthless thoughts than real information, but read on if you wish.

If you follow Maryland recruiting at all, you probably know that in-state recruiting has been less than stellar, both this year and in the past four or so years (the last real good year was in 2005, five years ago, when Maryland landed 7 of the top 10 in state; sadly, they included guys like Morgan Green, Jeff Allen, Anthony Wiseman, and the dreaded Melvin Alaeze; if Maryland turned out that performance a year later, we'd have Penn State's defense right now).

But I digress. Back to the relevant in-state recruiting stuff: the majority of good (not great) teams, which is what Maryland should try to be, land around 25% of their top 15 in-state players. For instance, Pitt has landed 28% of the top 15 Pennsylvanians over the past five years. Illinois, while they haven't reaped the benefits of it this year, have hit that 28% mark as well. Virginia Tech does, too. South Carolina gets 24% of theirs. Most elite schools can afford, both literally and figuratively, to recruit outside their states: Maryland can't. For Maryland, the key to winning should be in-state recruiting.

As part of diagnosing the problems with the program, it would make sense to analyze this, which Heather Dinich already blew apart. And while I already blew apart the offensive and defensive line recruiting, it's worth noting that in state recruiting can't be called disastrous, at least not historically. Maryland does have trouble pulling in top targets - they haven't landed a #1 in-stater since Wesley Jefferson in 2003 - but they aren't miles away from the Pitts and South Carolinas of the world, both of whom are currently in the top 25 and could be considered programs similar to Maryland (except for the AD, some would argue [I wouldn't, but that's irrelevant]).

In fact, the Terps have pulled away 20% of the top 15 the past five years - not an outstanding number, but not terrible and better than some top 25 programs, like Ole Miss. The problem has been landing the best of the best in-state, which very few non-elite programs can do, and developing the players they get.

For the first part, Maryland's last number one was, as was said earlier, Wes Jeff. He left early for a job in police enforcement. The only other top 2 player they landed were Melvin Alaeze, and we know how that turned out, and DeOnte Arnett, who is yet to prove himself (or have a chance to prove himself). They've also landed Tre Covington, who was a disappointment, and Kevin Dorsey, who hasn't made much of an impact in his first season, who were #3s. Other than that: nothing.

Like I mentioned earlier, Maryland's best in-state class was in 2005. Making up 70% of the top 10, it included guys like Anthony Wiseman, Morgan Green, Jeff Allen, Jamari McCollough, Jeremy Navarre, and Darrius Heyward-Bey. Of them all, Hey-Bey is the only one that really blossomed into a star. The others probably underachived based on their ranking (which we know isn't guaranteed, but more often than not is a good indicator).

The exact opposite happened for Penn State the following year. They grabbed almost the exact same class out of Maryland, only theirs included Navorro Bowman, who had over 100 tackles last year and is one of the best linebackers in the country, instead of McCollough; Aaron Maybin, who was dominant and a first round pick last year, instead of Allen; and Phillip Taylor, a starting DT, instead of Morgan Green.

I'm not trying to blame anyone here, especially not the players, but the results are pretty damning for someone. Is it that Maryland got bad luck? Did Friedgen and his staff fail at developing the players? I don't really know, but it wasn't really the recruiting at fault.

The lack of player development is pretty well seen in the starting lineup itself this year: only two starters on offense are actually from Maryland, and one of them is Paul Pinegar, a former walk-on. At least seven starters on defense are native Marylanders, but 9/22 isn't a great ratio.

Just to clarify, I'm not trying to say rankings are everything: Maryland's found plenty of in-state diamonds in the rough (like Davin Meggett), and that's necessary too. But I still hold that rankings are mostly important and a highly ranked player will turn out better than a lower ranked player 7 times out of 10, given the same coaching. Nor am I saying that the Terps should only recruit in-state; as long as they get the players, it doesn't matter where they're from. But if they really want to take the next step as a program, which will allow them to successfully recruit out of state on a regular basis, they'll need to start being stronger in-state.

But I digress again.

One of things that showed up in the offensive line recruiting breakdown was that this year was most dependent on 2006's recruiting (and because 2006 was so bad, 2007's to an extent as well), last year on 2005's recruiting, and so forth. Looking at 2006 and 2007's in-state years, it should come as no surprise that those were the worst of the past five years, and that 2005 (in 2008 we won eight games, remember) was the best. In 2006, the Terps only landed three top 15 players - Adrian Moten was one, but so were Drew Gloster (who missed a year and switched positions) and Pha'Terrell Washington (academic casualty). In 2007, it was just two, and Devonte Campbell, who's seen slow development, was among them.

But outside of that year, the in-state recruiting has been pretty solid. 2008 and 2009 were both solid bounce back yeas, grabbing five and four, respectively. Sadly, this year likely won't qualify with the likes of those.

While it's not over, unless Maryland makes a very strong push with some of the remaining uncommitteds, it's looking like Iowa and Wisconsin will have more top 20 Marylanders than Maryland will. Iowa and Wisconsin: these aren't really big draws, either football-wise or location-wise (although Iowa is undefeated, they don't have all that much tradition and it's in Iowa).

There is some good news, though: 2005, Maryland's stellar recruiting season, occurred with James Franklin as recruiting coordinator. That was his last year as RC; he would leave shortly after to become the Packers' WR coach. He was replaced by Dave Sollazzo, who has been average at best. Franklin is now back, but has a lot of stuff on his plate as OC, leaving less time for recruiting. Perhaps, if he is instituted as coach, he hands the playcalling over to an OC and acts as a program CEO, giving him more time to get out on the trail and pull the recruiting back in. Hopefully.

Maryland-Virginia Report Card and Helmet Stickers

Ben Broman — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:56:51 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

2 months ago: Maryland running back Gary Douglas (20) fumbles the ball against Virginia during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009, in College Park, Md. Virginia won 20-9. Maryland offensive lineman Paul Pinegar (71) recovered the ball.(AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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As Kevin Cowherd said, ugly weather, ugly game, ugly result.

QB: C-

I like Chris Turner a lot, and I can respect what he's done as QB for the better part of three years, but he's been having a rough go of it lately. Yesterday was no exception.

First off, his arm was noodle-y and weak, most evidenced by the Torrey Smith underthrow. Second, he was rarely on target, even with open receivers. And this wasn't just the rain: Jameel Sewell looked better than he did for most of the game. Worst of all, he rarely even looked Torrey Smith's way. Like I said in the recap, Smith was isolated, one on one coverage, with no safety over the top several times, and he was never even glanced at. Turner's gotta get some of that blame.

There were some good things - he did lead some good drives, and looked good running - but they were overshadowed yesterday by the bad. Besides, when you don't put the ball in the end zone, it's tough to give credit for good drives.

RB: C

Strangely, the running game looked really good yesterday. Davin Meggett played well for the first time all year. Gary Douglas looked shifty and displayed some of the natural running back ability that people had been praising him for since spring. Caleb Porzel looked very good in his first real reps, and should be out there a lot more, especially with Douglas' injury. He's got moves, and is quick as hell. Great change-of-pace guy.

So, good performance, right? Oh, forgot about the fumbles. Those three fumbles, one from Meggett and two from Douglas, were absolutely killer and probably were the direct reason for Porzel's increased playing time. Without them, Maryland probably wins. This grade would've been a B+ if not for the fumbles.

WR: C-

Kerry Boykins...sigh. The kid's got talent - no denying that - but I'd be surprised to see him on the field again any time soon. Two huge first down drops and a fumble that resulted in ten lost yards is not a recipe for playing time.

Everyone else was pretty average. Torrey Smith didn't get many looks, so it's tough to judge there. Adrian Cannon and Ronnie Tyler looked like their usual selves: solid but unspectacular. Outside of Boykins, I think the only drop came from Corey Jackson or Tommy Galt, both of whom aren't really renowned for their hands anyway. Average performance with one bad outlier.

OL: C

It's a C kind of day for the offense, I guess. This was actually one of the better days for this offensive line, believe it or not. They held a decent UVA defensive line to just one sack, and Turner wasn't under immense pressure all day. He still got rid of the ball early, but sometimes that looked more like him being jumpy than actually having to get it out fast (I can certainly understand that, but I won't punish the OL for it). This was also the first time the running backs had some real holes to run through. Perhaps best of all, they didn't commit a plethora of false starts and holds, like they usually do. It wasn't a dominating day, but they looked pretty good compared to their usual selves.

DL: C+

This will be the only time all year I say this, so make sure you pay attention: Maryland won the battle in the trenches. This is not a drill.

The line wasn't outstanding, and Rashawn Jackson gutted them a few times, but they actually outplayed the other side. Travis Ivey, Jared Harrell, Isaiah Ross, and Deege Galt all had tackles for loss, and Galt and Harrell added sacks. Rashawn Jackson was able to get about four yards consistently, but there were times he was stuffed in the backfield and the line actually controlled him to an extent. It's a shame they couldn't take advantage in this in form of a win, but at least there's some progress.

LB: A-

Rainy, cold, sloppy...sounds like the perfect conditions for Alex Wujciak. He had fourteen tackles, two for loss, and a sack; definitely one of his best performances this year. Adrian Moten added two sacks of his own and defended his claim to best pass rusher. Demetrius Hartsfield played despite a broken hand and looked surprising good doing it; he wasn't an impact player, but he did get seven tackles and didn't make any bad plays. Ben Pooler is still a work-in-progress, but he had easily the best hit of the night, absolutely destroying Sewell on a blitz

It's no coincidence the LBs had this kind of game after the DL them some protection from blockers getting to the second level.

DB: B+

It's kind of sad that the defense put up such a good performance - I don't care if it was aided by the rain, I'm taking what I can get - and Maryland didn't win, because I don't think they'll be able to do this again all year. The defensive backs, from Cameron Chism to Anthony Wiseman, actually played pretty well. Maryland had five sacks - three of them were coverage sacks. Despite being rainy, I don't remember any CB or S getting beaten badly. Even Wiseman kept on his man consistently.

Also, there's no reason for Richard Taylor to not be the nickel back. He had two great plays in coverage and brings leadership and experience. As for other individuals, Kenny Tate and Antwine Perez still have some kinks to work out, but Jamari McCollough and Terrell Skinner had great games at safety.

Special Teams: C

A below-average performance from a usually very good unit. I'm not going to blame Nick Ferrara for missing those two FGs, but I'm not going to just forget about them, either. Conditions were terrible and the kicks were tough, but if he makes even just one, Maryland maybe wins the game. They also kicked away from Torrey Smith, so the kickoff returns were limited. Even punt returns had minimal impact. Can't really say much good outside of Ferrara's first three FGs.

Coaching: C-

Torrey Smith needs to get the ball more. A lot more. That is all.

Okay, that's not all, but that's the biggest thing. There's also the strange case of the abandonment of the running game midway through the third quarter, when it was working great. On the good side, they did call the Chris Turner draws perfectly.

Helmet Stickers:

Adrian Moten, LB - Wait, isn't an offensive player supposed to go here? Yeah, but the performance was so bad I'm not even going to give anyone on offense a helmet sticker. Here you go, Adrian.
Alex Wujciak, LB - Another double-digit tackle day for Wujciak.
Nick Ferrara, K - Hey, he did make three field goals,
Richard Taylor, CB - More of a feel-good helmet sticker than anything else, Taylor looked solid in his first real playing time in six long years.

Maryland-Wake Forest Report Card and Helmet Stickers

Ben Broman — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:20:59 -0000

That was a terrible game. Time to read a terrible grades post.

QB: D

No, they won't all be Fs. That's a copout. I'm going legit here. Unfortunately, that probably means they'll all be Ds.

It's not like Chris Turner had a ton of time to throw, so it's tough to really pin the woes of the offense on him, but he certainly wasn't great. He needs to realize he has to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible when the blitz comes; you'd think after four games he would've realized that. At the very least, he should call an audible when he reads blitz, like Riley Skinner did several times early in the game. We also got to see his woefully underpowered arm on a few occasions. Not one of CT's better days.

RB: D

For yet another week, it's not like they really had that much to do. Davin Meggett had 6 carries, and that led the backs. Making it worse, there were no real holes, either, so they were pretty restricted. Da'Rel Scott's presence wouldn't have made a difference, to be honest. At least Gary Douglas got in the passing game, which is where he can do some major damage.

WR: C-

Torrey Smith did have ten catches, but he only had seventy yards. That translates to doing absolutely nothing after the catch. Adrian Cannon showed some of the big play ability that many of us had expected from him early on with two TDs. Other than that, there wasn't much positive to draw from, but that's partly from Turner's arm; he underthrew one ball criminally and missed an open LaQuan Williams in the endzone. Still, they could've done more with the opportunities they had.

OL: F

If the OL was better, Turner has time to throw and the RBs have holes to run through. It's not breaking news, but there's the root of the offensive troubles. Wake had no problem controlling the game by getting to Turner, and probably should've had more sacks than they did (4). They also clogged up basically every hole for Meggett or Douglas to run through in the few attempts they had.

It all goes back to the OL.

DL: F

I'm now reminiscing about how we used to be, about four weeks ago, when the lines were ridiculously bad. Remember those days? Well, they're back.

The defense had trouble getting to Skinner even with a blitz, let alone with just the front four. A team that was previously unable to run the ball simply gashed the defensive line and had some truck-sized holes. Nothing positive to draw from this performance, sadly. The line took one huge step back after all that improvement.

LB: D+

Alex Wujciak looked good again; slow and unathletic, but good. He was back in the double-digits for tackles. Darin Drakeford got in on the action a bit too, with five tackles; that's his first real action of the season. He needs to be getting seriously enhanced reps at this point. Demetrius Hartsfield didn't look nearly as good as he had in the past few weeks, unfortunately. Really, it didn't matter what they did, though; the line was so bad that they were screwed either way.

Surprisingly, Adrian Moten didn't fare too well. He only had two tackles, not even a full TFL. He was hurt, so I'm not criticizing, but he's usually pretty impactful regardless of the line's performance. His quiet play hurt tonight.

DB: F

Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.

Anthony Wiseman got picked on like a second grade nerd all day long. Wake Forest is still probably eating Wiseman toast this morning for breakfast. Insert other Anthony Wiseman joke here. He can't be the #1 corner against UVA.

Cameron Chism wasn't much better. Falling down in coverage is unlucky, but somebody's gotta take the blame there. He also missed a couple of tackles and got straight up beaten a few times.

The safeties were just as bad, if not worse. Kenny Tate, Jamari McCollough, and Terrell Skinner were basically invisible. I'm not even sure Antwine Perez played. None of them helped out against the pass, which was burning the D, and run support was nonexistant. Not a good day for this group.

Special Teams: B

Nick Ferrara looked awesome again; he could be the best since Novak, maybe even better. 50 yarders aren't easy. Torrey Smith had the 85 yard return, which set up the only first half TD. Not much else happened, but it wasn't a particularly bad day for the ST.

Coaching: F

How, in god's name, does a team come out this flat and emotionless in a game that actually has ACC ramifications? How?

Oh, and when did we decide that running the ball isn't even worth trying anymore?

Also: why do we continue to run the QB draw again and again? Haven't we learned? It has lost its effectiveness, puts Turner at even more risk, and maxes out at about six yards. Not at all worth it.

Oh, and good decision to leave Turner in instead of give Jamarr Robinson some much needed reps after the game got out of hand. Not like we're going to need to know if he can play in a couple months.

Helmet Stickers:

Adrian Cannon: I mean, he did have two TDs.
Alex Wujciak: Well, he had double-digit tackles.
Nick Ferrara: 50 yarder!
Torrey Smith: Ten catches, plus an 85 yard kickoff return. Probably regained his lead in the all-purpose yards battle.

Maryland-Wake Forest Preview: This Game Actually Matters

Ben Broman — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:14:11 -0000

I'll be traveling tomorrow and Saturday, so the preview comes early this week. Sorry bout that. Hopefully I'll be back in time to make a game recap post, but no promises there. Heck, I'm just hoping to catch the game at all.

But enough about me: let's get to the game.

Wake Offense vs. Maryland Defense: Wake's offense revolves around Riley Skinner and a strong, consistent passing attack. Actually, they're one of the best in the country through the air. Skinner is usually mistake-free, and he has a strong, accurate arm. His main target is Marshall Williams, who has been stellar so far. He'll challenge Cameron Chism (at least, I hope it's Chism), and he's far better than any WR Maryland has seen so far (yes, even Jacoby Ford). So yeah, that doesn't look too good.

But there is hope: despite being experienced, Wake's line has been banged up and their weaknesses were evident against NCSt last week. It'll be up to the improving DL to get to Skinner and force mistakes, which Skinner does tend to make when pressured. Don Brown should be dialing up the blitz packages all day long.

Wake's rushing game has been below-average recently; if not for a 76 yard TD run, both their main backs - Josh Adams and Brandon Pendergrass - have had mediocre seasons statistically. Both are capable backs, Adams especially, so I'm not sure if they've been underachieving or if it's a result of the offensive line. Either way, though, this is a point of weakness in a pretty strong offense. Exploiting the offensive line and forcing the Deacs to run the ball is the way to win this one. Of course, that's easier said than done.

Maryland Offense vs. Wake Defense: So far, the Deacs have been less than impressive on defense. They aren't hemorraging yards, and they've played a lot of quality opponents, but they aren't as good on D as they are on the offensive side of the ball. They're especially vulnerable through the air, which is a good sign for a team that doesn't have their star running back.

Wake does have a young but solid corner in redshirt freshman Kenny Okoro, who has only made one start but is leading the team in interceptions. He, though, like Chism, is vulnerable to mistakes just like any other young corner, and there isn't a shutdown back in the secondary. Brandon Ghee, the other starting CB, is leading the team in tackles, but that's not a good thing; that means he gets picked on...a lot.

Also, their defensive line seems to be below average, at least against who they've played. There's not an impact player among the bunch (maybe Boo Robinson...maybe), and they're one of the worst teams in the country in both sacks and tackle for loss.

That, combined with the poor passing stats, leads one to believe that the problem on defense lies more on the line than in the secondary (though, as I'm still yet to see a game, I'm not sure how right that is). Because Maryland is without Bruce Campbell, this area won't be an advantage for Maryland, but it shouldn't be a big weakness.

Of course, Maryland is probably even more one-dimensional than the Demon Deacons, so selling out against the pass is a definite possibility and could really hamstring Maryland unless Davin Meggett or Gary Douglas step up.

Players to Watch:

Riley Skinner, WF, QB - Kind of obvious, but Skinner is a vet and a winner. Wake should have a shot in every single game as long as he's around.
Marshall Williams, WF, WR - Wake's top receiver, he's one of the more complete wideouts in the conference. He will be a big challenge for whomever Maryland throws up against him.
Kenny Okoro, WF, CB - He's a playmaker, but a young one. I expect Adrian Cannon to be matched up with him, so Maryland shoud push him and force him into a mistake.
Hunter Haynes, WF, LB - Wake's best linebacker, Haynes really needs to step up his game and be a solidifying presence in a weak Wake defense. Also, he's amazingly good in NCAA10.
Chris Turner, UMD, QB - Turner has to be mistake-free on Saturday. Maryland has absolutely no ground game to fall back on, so he's got to be great.
Gary Douglas, UMD, RB - Yeah, Davin Meggett is starting, but I'm very eager to see Douglas, who has looked good in limited time. He might be the key to replacing Da'Rel Scott.
Jamari McCollough, UMD, S - Wake will be testing Cameron Chism and Anthony Wiseman deep all game long. They will get beaten eventually, and McCollough will have to clean up the mess.
Demetrius Hartsfield, UMD, LB - If Brown unleashes the beast that is Hartsfield, he could have a very good day against a Wake offensive line that's been having injury trouble and position-switching the last couple games.

Prediction: Maryland is good enough to win, and you'd like to think they will. But you can feel it on this one: coming off an emotional win, going to an away game, conference implications...I hope I'm wrong, but I feel a big loss on the horizon. Wake 31, Maryland 14.

Maryland Minute 9.13.09 - Injury Notes on Carroll and Campbell, Maryland Favored By 10

Ben Broman — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:03:51 -0000

Notes on Nolan Carroll And Other Injuries - D1scourse

Bad news all around:

"Apparently he had broken his leg in high school in a similar place and was hit just above where he broke it before," Friedgen said. "When he went to make a tackle and Derek Drummond was in pursuit. ... [Nolan] swung his leg around and it looked like Derek kicked him in the shin."

...

In short, it was a freak play --- precisely the sort Maryland can't afford to have. Already, Maryland was without tackle Bruce Campbell (turf toe/right foot) and safety Jamari McCollough (left ankle), and Friedgen said neither will likely play next week against Middle Tennessee.

Fridge also mentioned that Dexter McDougle will probably burn his redshirt. Kind of wished it was Travis Hawkins, but I'm sure McDougle will do well.

WaPo: More Torrey Smith Love
If you haven't gotten enough of Torrey Smith from me, the Washington Post has even more.

Terps Favored By 10 Over MTSU
Seems a bit high to me...anybody else?

Four Highest Risers on Summer Circuit Are All Maryland Targets

And the first three are Tobias Harris, Terrence Jones, and C.J. Leslie.

Harris is the best scoring power forward in the 2010 class. His ability to make a variety of shots and also play the role of a distributor and powerful rebounder remind me of Carmelo Anthony.

Jones is the best passer of all the 2010 power forwards. The lefty has top-notch vision and the strength to make any pass on the court. Like Harris, Jones also knows how to get the ball in the basket.

Leslie is one of the most dynamic athletes of the 2010 power forwards and is the best shot blocker of the bunch. His improved focus and competitive desire were the two most impressive aspects of his game this summer. Also a strong ballhandler and creator, Leslie will become an elite prospect if he improves his finishing ability.

The fourth was Tony Mitchell, who is listing the Terps but probably isn't a big target.

Tobias Harris Visit Update
Per Zags:

After hosting in-home visits with John Calipari of Kentucky, Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech and Mike Brey of Notre Dame in recent days, the 6-foot-8 Harris and his family will host Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Louisville’s Rick Pitino today.

...

UConn coach Jim Calhoun was supposed to come to Long Island, too, but Tobias said he "is not coming because of the Hall of Fame thing." Tobias later said UConn probably wouldn’t end up coming in for a visit, "but they are still in." He has already visited the school unofficially.

Awesome news that Calhoun isn't making the trip. That's gotta be a killer for UCONN.

Ralph Friedgen Has Psychic Powers
Faked? Probably. Cool? Yep.

During a James Madison timeout designed to freeze Ferrara, Friedgen revealed into his headset that he'd dreamed the Terrapins would win Saturday's game against James Madison on an overtime field goal attempted on third down. Which was convenient because at that moment, Maryland faced a third and six in overtime against a James Madison squad that had proved peskier than the Terrapins anticipated.

The rest of the post is a good piece about Ferrara, who I'm starting to like a lot.

Hey, Did You Hear Maryland's Not Doing Well?
Scout's here to remind you.

The Fridge already knows that his successor on the sidelines will be current offensive coordinator James Franklin. Many around College Park are starting to hope that the assistant doesn’t have to wait much longer to shed the coach-in-waiting label. A week after getting ambushed by Cal, the Terrapins needed overtime to get past James Madison.

Position Battles Revisited

Ben Broman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:04:43 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Davin Meggett has played his way into contention for the starting spot at RB.

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As we entered fall practice, there were quite a few position battles brewing - actually, I counted ten - and while some have yet to be settled, progress has been made in all of them. As we're now only a week away from kickoff (one week!), all position battles - minus kicker - will probably be solved within the next few days. Here's an overview, to see how they turned out:

Backup QB: Redshirt sophomore Jamarr Robinson entered camp defending his #2 spot from true freshmen C.J. Brown and Danny O'Brien. But the position battle ended after just a couple days of practice, as Robinson proved he's come a long way since the start of spring. O'Brien and Brown fought it out for #3, and O'Brien has a slight lead, but neither should burn their shirts. Winner: Jamarr Robinson.

RB: This wasn't a position battle before camp, but Davin Meggett has challenged All-ACC performer Da'Rel Scott for the top spot. And Gary Douglas has probably surpassed Morgan Green for the #3 spot. Oh, and there's the two high-octane freshmen RBs, D.J. Adams and Caleb Porzel. There's a ridiculous amount of talent here, so the position battle is a good thing. Winners: Meggett has pulled even with Scott, but Scott will still start. Gary Douglas' great camp has moved him past Morgan Green. The freshmen will probably redshirt.

Z WR: At first, there was a huge glut of very similar players fighting for the Z spot, with not a lot of separation. But after Torrey Smith - former starter at X - moved over to the position, the problem was solved. Smith will start at Z, Adrian Cannon will take his spot at X, and Ronnie Tyler will man the slot. Former Z leader Tony Logan was passed by Quintin McCree at the position, while Kevin Dorsey - another contender at the position - moved up to X. Winner: Torrey Smith

TE: One of the few positions without a lot of clarification. There hasn't been much news on where guys stand right now. All of the major contenders - Tommy Galt, Lansford Watson, Matt Furstenburg, and Devonte Campbell - have improved in camp, but none have separated themselves. Winner: Probably Tommy Galt, with Lansford a close second

LG: Originally given to Lamar Young, the position delved into battle after a very strong showing from former walk-on Andrew Gonnella. Gonnella and Young have been tied for most of camp, but after Young's been less than 100% due to a shoulder injury, Gonnella probably wrapped the position up. Winner: Gonnella.

RT: RT has been one of the fiercer battles in camp, but it's probably done now. R.J. Dill and Tyler Bowen appeared to be the frontrunners at the start of camp, but another former walk-on - Paul Pinegar - outlasted both and seems to have locked the spot up. Bowen might've been a contender, but has been injured for most of camp, and Dill is a close second to Pinegar right now. Winner: Pinegar.

DE: I still don't know what happened here. It's confusing, to say the least. It started out with Derek Drummond, DeOnte Arnett, and Masengo Kabongo fighting for playing time. Then former anchor Jared Harrell and Masengo Kabongo switched spots; Harrell is now tied with (probably leading, actually) Drummond, while Kabongo is neck and neck with Deege Galt at anchor. Then there's the possibility to Tony Tucker, whose addition would mess up the whole equation even more. Winners: Probably Harrell and Kabongo, but only because I haven't heard much of Deege Galt.

Nickel CB: Corner was, initially, a bit of a crapshoot. But after a couple weeks, it's been pretty well narrowed down to just two contenders: Cam Chism and Trenton Hughes (Richard Taylor, Brandon Jackson-Mills, and Michael Carter are fighting for the fifth corner spot). While I don't know exactly which one is leading, and I haven't really heard much about either lately, I wouldn't feel uncomfortable wagering on Chism. Winner: Don't really know, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't Chism.

S: One of the good position battles, safety is an issue because there's too much talent. Jamari McCollough might've been the defensive MVP last year. Kenny Tate might be the most exciting, naturally gifted player on the defense, if not on the team. Antwine Perez is a former five star, and just as talented as Tate. Terrell Skinner was great last year, and is a huge playmaker. So, how do you solve this? Play them all. Winner: Maryland - you can expect a lot of three or even four safety sets.

Punt Returner: Really, it's been more of Tony Logan vs. himself than Tony Logan vs. anyone else, because there is no other legitimate contender at the moment. While I'd like to see Caleb Porzel back there, there's the issue with burning his redshirt. As it stands, unless Logan does really poorly - and there's no indication that he will - the spot is his. Winner: Logan.

Kicker: Your guess is as good as mine. Mike Barbour and Nick Ferrara are completely tied right now - you can't even really argue for one being ahead of the other. My gut is telling me Ferrara, but I have no idea what the coaches think. Winner: ?

Position Battle: SS

Ben Broman — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:26:01 -0000

There are a few positions that you really don't need to worry about on this year's version of the Terps - positions with a lot of solid, productive players; positions like RB or WR. Safety is another one of those positions: the Terps are loaded. Their stable includes two five stars, last year's team leader in interceptions, and arguably the biggest defensive playmaker last year. That team leader in interceptions and one of the five stars are fighting for the strong safety spot - both these guys could be starters on almost any other team in the nation. This will be a very hard-fought, but even more entertaining battle.

The Contenders: Jamari McCollough, Kenny Tate

Jamari McCollough: The leader right now, McCollough is the veteran of the bunch. A fifth year senior, he led all Terps with five interceptions, including that mega-clutch one that sealed the deal against North Carolina. Even if he's leading now, he wasn't at the beginning of the summer, so it's clear the staff has no problem starting a younger guy. He's more a cornerback playing safety, but he does it well, and received some votes for defensive MVP, if I recall correctly. It'll be tough to dethrone him.

Kenny Tate: Tate has the looks of an animal in the making. At first, everyone was a bit concerned about his move to the defensive side of the ball, but he's proved to be a very good safety. He was ahead of McCollough early in the spring, He's athletic, has great size (6-4, 225), tough, and versatile - in other words, the prototypical strong safety. He'll see plenty of PT, even if he doesn't start.

Prediction: McCollough is the safe, reliable choice, but Tate is more naturally gifted. The interesting thing, and ultimately the X-factor, is that Don Brown has considered sticking Tate at a variety of positions - everything from safety to corner to linebacker. That could complicate his chances to be a traditional starter. McCollough will start at the beginning of the season; Tate will see the field, though, and may ultimately steal the starting spot by the midway point if Brown has no qualms sticking him there permanently.

Position Battle: FS/SS

Ben Broman — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:20:22 -0000

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Funnily enough, safety was an area of concern not too long ago. Now, there’s a plethora of talent there - if you could have too much talent at a position, this would probably be that amount of talent. All four of the players vying for the two jobs are great safeties, making this one of the tougher decisions the coaching staff will have to make. Two positions are actually being fought over - FS and SS - but they're so similar I decided to combine it into one post.

The Contenders: Terrell Skinner and Antwine Perez (FS), Jamari McCullough and Kenny Tate (SS)

Terrell Skinner: Skinner was one of the best Terps on defense last year, so I doubt he’ll lose his job this year. He was hurt for awhile, but even through that he was consistently solid, putting up 63 tackles on the year. I even picked him as the defensive MVP last year. It wasn’t a spectacular year, but he performed exactly the way the Terps needed him to.

Antwine Perez: Perez was a five star safety coming out of high school, headed to USC. After he was recruited over, he transferred over to Maryland. As his high school ranking indicates, he’s extremely talented. He doesn’t have the game experience of Skinner, but Skinner doesn’t have his talent. Skinner played so well last year, though, that Perez will really have to impress the coaches in practice to steal his spot. He'll probably have to function like he did last year - as a backup for both the safety positions.

Jamari McCullough: McCullough, currently the leader at strong safety, had one of – if not the – most memorable plays of the season last year: the game-sealing interception against North Carolina. But outside of that, the guy actually had a pretty good year. He led the team with 4 interceptions and still found time to make 37 tackles. He didn’t even start last year and he put up those numbers. That’s pretty damn good.

Kenny Tate: Everyone’s favorite safety, Tate originally was a highly touted wide receiver who switched to safety to provide depth for last year’s team. He did pretty well, so they decided to keep him there, especially with the wide receiver corps as crowded as it is. Tate is uber-talented (and I hate the prefix "uber"), but also versatile – there’s been talk of him moving to cornerback or even getting some time at linebacker. While I think it’s outlandish for him to go to LB, it’s worth keeping in mind how versatile he is. Now that he has a year under his belt, however, his PT should increase somewhat dramatically at his home position of safety.

Skinner and McCullough will probably be the starters of the group, but they may only be starters in name. The four should cycle through a decent amount until one of them shows they deserve more playing time.