Maryland saw true freshman WILL linebacker Branden Jennings go down in the first half of Saturday’s win over Kent State, but the former four-star product didn’t return to the field as fans became concerned about his status for Friday night’s game against Iowa.
Ahead of Tuesday’s practice, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley said on Tuesday that Jennings was a game-time decision against Iowa but he confirmed on Thursday that the former Florida standout had yet to practice this week, making him inactive for Friday. “Branden did not practice at all this week so he moved from a game-time decision to he’s out,” Locksley said on Thursday. On Tuesday, Locksley confirmed that the Marland staff “heard some fairly good news in reference to the MRI that, you know, there was nothing structural there,” but his absence for Friday’s matchup vaults veteran Ahmad McCullough into a bigger role.
The former Mount St. Joe’s missed all of fall camp with an injury as he spent the opening weeks of the season getting back into the swing of things. This season marks the return of McCullough back into the inside linebacker room, where the veteran linebacker started in a pair of games at the SAM last season before finishing fifth on the team with 2.5 tackles for loss. But with Jennings out, McCullough will step into a bigger role against the Hawkeyes.
“I’ve always wanted to play inside but just never really had that opportunity until now,” McCullough told Inside the Black and Gold on Wednesday. “So the transition has been smooth. I would say the biggest thing for me is just kind of like understanding the whole defense as a whole besides just understanding what I have to do. Just understand every moving part of the defense and why we run what we run.” McCullough has had opportunities to bask that in as he’s appeared in every game except the season-opener against Kent State, amassing seven total tackles over the last three weeks. To get to that point, though, McCullough admitted there was a bit of a curve to overcome in order to get situated and comfortable in the linebacker rotation after missing fall camp.
“Understanding why camp is so important, why spring ball is so important, why workouts, everything we do is so important until you get thrown in the fire without no preparation so yes, camp has been like one of the biggest downfalls that I feel like hurt me,” he added. “Kind of like going into this season as a mature player, older player, yes that's helped me kind of like understanding just being thrown in but overall camp has really been kind of like my Achilles heel just because I haven't had all the reps like the other guys. I haven't been able to see it feel it. The mental, being able to see it, being able to be in the actual play, yes I've got mental reps but it is no other feeling than being able to put your hands on someone else, seeing the runs, seeing the feel of the game so yeah, I feel like I liked that part of camp for sure.”
But a big reason why McCullough was able to get situated so quickly is working hand-in-hand with inside linebacker coach Brawley Evans, who McCullough admitted is “easy to communicate with. “We’re from the same kind of town, we relate, we have so much in common and he gets me as a player and I get him as a coach so from that aspect I feel like he knows how to relay the message to his players the way we can understand it. Kind of like dumbing things down, how you go to lectures and your professors talking but you go to the discussion groups and the teacher in that breaks it down for you to understand. I feel like you just know his players.”
Time will tell whether McCullough can fill the void left by Jennings in the starting rotation, but fans also saw another unsung hero emerge last week in walk-on linebacker Kobi Thomas. “Kobi Thomas did not take one snap with our defense last week, not one,” Locksley added on Tuesday.
“He was on the offensive field being the other team’s defense, but because of how we develop our players during training camp, because of what we do in our individual development, he was thrown in there and played pretty much the whole second half and play really clean for us.” The former DeMatha linebacker also posted four tackles in the win, including his first career sack for an eight-yard loss, as the defense adjusted to the minimized depth. First-year linebacker Gereme Spraggins has also found the field plenty through the first four weeks of the season and plays an even more integral role in the Terps’ rotation heading into this week. This week, the defense is going against a Hawkeye front that’s proven to be susceptible to inside pressure but all-Big Ten and starting center Tyler Linderbaum anchors a line that will be prepared against a Terrapin front.
“Experience sticks out and when we went through their stats and weight and size and everything and watched film, I feel like the number one thing that sticks out as a unit is they play well as a unit and they’re very athletic so the biggest thing and the main concern for us going into this game is to eliminate the outside runs. If we can eliminate that and have them throw and be in more of an 11 personnel game, that’s what we want because we kind of live in 11 personnel. When you get into 12 personnel, you talk about more gaps more of the defense have to kind of control you know, more eyes to leverage, more type of deal so if we can keep them out of 12 personnel and 21 and all that, I feel like we'll have one of them, you know, but going back to the linemen I think they just work well together. I feel like they just got great chemistry. As long as we come downhill, it’ll be no problem.”
Kickoff is set for Friday night at 8 PM on FS1.
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