The Terp football team began the process of closing its spring practice season with a media luncheon this afternoon at Gossett Team House.
Coach Ralph Friedgen gave his usual run-down of the positional battles without getting too specific and unsurprisingly, went on at length about how much he enjoys coaching this particular group of guys.
More interestingly, he addressed preparing for a spring game that will be a little different than previous years.
While Friedgen still has a full slate of events planned for Friday and Saturday, including a public autograph session beginning at 12:30 pm on Saturday, construction to Byrd Stadium will cause some changes.
There will be no public address announcer for the game. It will not be broadcast on television or radio as in past years, and coaches will not be able to take their normal posts in the booth, eliminating a veritable trial run for the season.
Yet some things won’t change.
“What I’ve learned in the time I’ve been here is we kind of simplify things,” Friedgen said. “We don’t know whose going to be there. In the past it’s been on TV, so we don’t show a lot.”
Friedgen has once again made an effort to reach out to local teams to bring in a large crowd to the free admission game, and the team pumped crowd noise into Tuesday morning’s practice as they sometimes do in the fall.
For his young team, which Friedgen said has gotten more scrimmage reps this spring than any other to give them needed experience, it will still provide a good measuring stick.
“One of the things that always surprises me is they get nervous,” Friedgen said. “They get jitters in that game. I’m anxious to see how all our young players react in that situation. I think it gives a lot of experience because I’d like to find out now before the first game next year.
This year’s game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. For those of you keeping score at home, the red has won the last three contests, including a 27-3 win in last year’s game.
Terp Notes: Cornerback Nolan Carroll, who was taken to the hospital with a neck injury following a scary collision with running back Da’Rel Scott during Saturday’s scrimmage, may be available for the Red-White Game. Scott, however, will miss the game with an ACL strain and none of the other players who have missed significant time with injury are expected to play, including defensive tackle Travis Ivey, who is still feeling the effects from a concussion.
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