The Terrapin football team’s second intrasquad scrimmage of preseason camp Sunday saw some big plays early and then dragged on late.
The first-team offense played mostly against the second-team defense and the second-team offense played mostly against the first-team defense as coach Ralph Friedgen wanted to see how certain reserve players played against the top guys on the depth chart.
The offenses had more success than they did last Saturday in the first scrimmage of the spring, and Friedgen said he thought the running game was better than what it has been so far.
Running back Gary Douglas had a big day, finishing with 17 carries for 122 yards mostly against the first-team defense, and Friedgen said the redshirt freshman is battling with Morgan Green for the Terps’ third running back spot behind Da’Rel Scott and Davin Meggett.
“He has probably more elusive moves than any back we have. He has very quick lateral movement,” Friedgen said. “We definitely wanted to see him and Morgan get a lot of reps today to see who it’s going to be for that No. 3 guy. He made a good account of himself.”
Wide receiver Torrey Smith also played really well after Friedgen singled him out earlier this week as a player who wasn’t performing up to his potential.
Smith finished with 2 catches for 39 yards and a touchdown, and also caught about a 60-yard touchdown pass in the early part of the workout before the team started tracking stats.
He said he felt relieved to be done with his online summer course that ended this week and been weighing on him.
“It felt good to just focus on football instead of class,” Smith said. “It’s hard during camp trying to focus on class because football is the priority.”
True freshman defensive back Eric Franklin also made an impression, intercepting two passes and dropping a third after he didn’t quite get his hands up in time. He led the defense with eight tackles.
Friedgen said he is hoping Franklin can be the Terps’ fifth safety. He got some extra reps today because starting strong safety Jamari McCollough sat out the scrimmage with an undisclosed minor injury.
Defensive tackle Travis Ivey also didn’t participate, but Friedgen said Ivey should be back to full participation in practice this week. Linebacker Alex Wujciak, center Phil Costa, left tackle Bruce Campbell and wide receiver Adrian Cannon only played a few snaps today because Friedgen said he has been satisfied with their play so far in camp and he wanted to see other guys get more reps in those positions.
When Campbell was in the game, he picked up a fumble and rumbled down the field for about 25 yards. Defensive players looked very hesitant to try to tackle the 6-foot-7, 310-pounder.
The Terps will be back on the field for another day of two-a-days tomorrow.
TERP NOTES: The Terps made it through another scrimmage without any major injuries. Defensive tackle Carl Russell left with an ankle injury and did not return, but Friedgen said it shouldn’t be too serious.
Friedgen was pleased with true freshman running back Caleb Porzel, and said he thinks Porzel will end up seeing the field this season instead of redshirting.
“I got a feeling we’ll play that kid somewhere just because he’s so electric,” Friedgen said. “I need to get in a guy that can get the ball across the goal line.”
Friedgen said Mike Barbour had the starting kicking job just about wrapped up until he missed three in a row at the end of the scrimmage and opened the competition again. It looks like that competition is between Barbour and true freshman Nick Ferrara, as other contender Nick Wallace has earned himself a place in Friedgen’s doghouse.
“I can only work in so many. [Wallace] has been inconsistent and I’m trying to find a guy who can be consistent,” Friedgen said. “I only got 13 days left to find a kicker, so I can’t be wasting time on guys who really haven’t shown me anything”
Greg Schimmel is The Diamondback’s Terrapin Football Team beat writer. He can be reached atschimmeldbk@gmail.com You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Greg_Schimmel.