BearTerritory.net - Early look at the Terps

August 31, 2009

Chris Nguon
BearTerritory.net Senior Writer

Spotlight on Maryland

Last season's record: 8-5 overall, 4-4 in the ACC
Current record: n/a

Last season, Maryland was the definition of a jekyll and hyde team. The Terrapins went an impressive 4-1 against ranked opponents last year - including the victory over Cal in College Park - but still wound up in the Humanitarian Bowl. Why? Because head coach Ralph Friedgen's club embarrassingly lost to Middle Tennessee, barely beat Delaware in the season opener at home and were stumped 31-0 by Virginia.

Now, Friedgen must replace 30 seniors who graduated, including 10 starters, as well as wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, who left early and eventually became the first round pick of the Oakland Raiders. In one sense, having to replace that many players means bad news for the Maryland program. In another sense though, Friedgen does have some young talent to work with, along with the return of veteran quarterback Chris Turner and running back Da'Rel Scott.

The Terrapins are also breaking in a new defensive coordinator, who appears to have brought a more aggressive, attacking style to the table.

Washington Post: Terrapins Insider

Baltimore Sun: Tracking the Terps

Baltimore Sun: ACC Preview (PDF)

Quote of Note

The early spread in Vegas has Cal as 22-point favorites. As fans can probably guess, Maryland doesn't agree.

Here is what Washington Post beat writer Eric Prisbell recalled:

"Another reporter asked Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen about the spread the other day.

"Twenty-two?" Friedgen said.

He then paused and raised his eyebrows.

"Not much I can do about that, you know," he said. "We have had other spreads in which we won, too. Still got to play it on the field."

Asked if it the large spread will anger his players, Friedgen said, "I hope it does."

What Coach Tedford is saying ?

? on the notion that the early start time last year contributed to the loss: "I don't buy into that. We just didn't play very well. The humidity was a factor but the time was not. Our team was bright-eyed and ready to play. I'm sure Maryland will set their body clocks accordingly as well."

? on preparing for Maryland's defense and its new d-coordinator Don Brown: "There's a little unknown there, there's no question about that. Anytime you have a new scheme going in that you don't have any history with, it's pretty hard to prepare 100 percent."

? on looking at Brown's tapes from his other schools: "You see some schemes but I'm sure things have changed. anytime you open the season against a non-conference opponent with a new coordinator there's always going to be that chance of surprise. We just have to make sure we have our basis covered."

? on what he sees on tape of Maryland: "Schematically they've changed. last year they were a big zone team and from what I understand they are a big man, pressure team now, which is a little different from what they were last year."

? on Maryland in general: "They are always well coached. They play in a good conference and they have a lot of good athletes. You can expect that they will be fired up and ready to go. They are a good football program. It's going to be a good game I'm sure."

? on Maryland veteran QB Chris Turner: "He played well against us. He threw some really nice balls and was very efficient. He threw a great ball to Heyward-Bey over Syd for a touchdown. The running back played very well against us. The quarterback was solid against us."

Offensive player to watch: Da'Rel Scott

Cal fans saw first hand what the speedy Scott can do with the ball in his hands if he gets the corner. Scott returns this season as Maryland's unquestioned top player on offense and arguably one of the top ball-carriers in the entire country. The 5-foot-11, 200 pound Scott rushed for 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns last season, including the impressive 87-yard, 2-touchdown outing against the Bears in College Park last season.

Scott is fast and also has the power to fall forward for a couple extra yards when hit, so Scott is going to be a major test for the Cal defense come Saturday night, especially in regards to the Bears' linebackers, who will get a nice first test to open the season.

Scott battled some bumps and bruises throughout the year, but ended the season with a bang, rushing for 174 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries against Nevada in the Humanitarian Bowl.

Scott rushed for over 100 yards five separate times last season, with his top performance coming in the season-opener against Delaware, where he tallied 197 yards on 26 carries. Scott also rushed for over 100 yards against Middle Tennessee State, N.C. State, North Carolina and the aforementioned effort against Nevada.

Despite the fact that Scott is a returning 1,000 yard rusher though, there is news coming out of the Maryland camp that Scott could share time this season with rising sophomore Davin Meggett, who has "improved probably as much as anybody" according to Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin, as told to the Baltimore Sun earlier this week.

Baltimore Sun: Scott in danger of losing his starting job?

YouTube: Scott 2008 season highlights

YouTube: Scott ends season on high note

Defensive player to watch: Alex Wujciak

With Cal sure to rely heavy on the running game come Saturday, the 6-foot-3, 255 pound Wujciak is going to be a player to key on for the Bears' blockers up front.

Wujciak led the Maryland squad in tackles last season (133, 56 solo), which eventually earned him second-team All-ACC honors. Wujciak also tallied 8.5 tackles for loss and notched double-digit tackles in eight separate games last season. Now a junior, Wujciak is considered not only the top defensive player on the Terrapins squad but quite simply one of the better linebackers in the entire country.

Wujciak started all 13 games last season at middle linebacker and ranked 13th nationally in tackles per game. Wujciak possesses more athleticism than one might think and much like Cal linebacker Mike Mohamed, is always around the ball whether he's in on the tackle or not.

With last year's senior leader Dave Philistin - who recorded a game-high 13 tackles against Cal last season - now gone, Wujciak is the unquestioned leader of the Terrapins' linebacking corps.

Wujciak is one of 55 players on the Bednarik Award watch list. The award honors the top defensive player in the country. Wujciak joins Da'Rel Scott (Doak Walker Award) and punter Travis Baltz (Ray Guy Award) as Maryland players who are on pre-season watch lists.

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