Maryland wrapped up spring ball on Saturday with the Red Team topping the White Team 14-3 inside The Shell.
Maryland entered Saturday limited with playmakers given guys like Jeshaun Jones and Dontay Demus were sidelined, but the staff’s cautious approach saw a handful of marquee names not in action. Junior receiver Rakim Jarrett was dressed but inactive along the sideline, as was defensive lineman Mosiah Nasili-Kite, left guard Mason Lunsford and linebacker Fa’Najae Gotay. But Maryland was still able to flash excitement starting off with running back Roman Hemby, who broke off a 43-yard touchdown run on the fourth play of the game.
“It’s always competitive out there so on my end, I just want to make a play,” Hemby said after the game. “[Offensive] line blocked perfectly. Coach [Elijah] Brooks has been talking about making that one person miss and who can ring the bell.” Running back Antwain Littleton was also inactive on Saturday while veteran Chalen Faamatau left the game early with a lower body injury and was seen on crutches in the second half, but head coach Mike Locksley was pleased with the depth created in the running back room.
“Obviously you saw Roman Hemby in the bowl game and you saw him today. Colby McDonald, really talented player for and then with the development of Antwain Littleton and also Challen [Faamatau] coming back, that’s one of the few positions of strength that we feel we have the type of depth we’re going to need to get through the season but also the talent in that room and that’s not even talking about the addition of guys like Ramon Brown who will be coming in.”
Wide receiver Tai Felton followed up Hemby’s touchdown with a 13-yard touchdown reception just five minutes later, but it was newcomer Jacob Copeland who emerged as the go-to for Taulia as he finished with a game-high 70 receiving yards on five catches before being named the Bernie Faloney Spring Game MVP. “To see him play fast, to see things kind of slow down on the field to where he could go out and what you see is his natural ability and why he was a heavily recruited guy out of high school,” Locksley added.
Five of Taulia’s nine completions went to the former Florida receiver as they gain familiarity. “He’s been helping me out through the spring and the chemistry has been going well and everything else has been playing out smooth so I feel like as long as where we stopped at today, once we keep elevating from there, it’s going to be a great year for us,” Copeland added.
Jack Howes punched in a 32-yard field goal for the White Team to get them on the board right before halftime, trimming the deficit to 14-3.
While the special teams bounced back in the second scrimmage after a lackluster performance in the first, the unit managed a blocked field goal in the opening minutes of the third quarter before a re-do for Harrison Beattie went sailing left of the goal posts.
Freshmen linebackers Jaishawn Barham and Caleb Wheatland left their mark with a handful of bone crushing hits, including a great read by Wheatland to sniff out the halfback screen to Colby McDonald in the final quarter. But it was veteran linebacker Ahmad McCullough who was named the Ron Solt Most Valuable Lineman Award, awarded to the top performaer among the outside linebackers, offensive and defensive lines. The former Mount St. Joseph linebacker led all defenders on Saturday with six solo tackles.
“He’s a physical player,” Locksley added. “Ahmad has been known around here as one of those guys that plays the game the way it should be played. Very physical, you know, last year played a lot of minutes for us as the inside linebacker.”
With spring ball now in the rear view mirror, Maryland looks ahead to a bit of a break before the rest of the 2022 signees arrive ahead of summer workouts. But for Locksley, there’s no fast-forward to fall camp as he admits the 2022 Terps still have “a lot of work to do”
“The 22 version of our football team got a lot of work to do but it was great to see the turnout we had here today. Maryland Day, which is when this game should be played. It was great to see we had weather to work with us today, wasn't cold, beautiful day to play football, but really, really excited for our players that they were able to come out, play in The Shell, kind of in front of a true game like environment. Obviously we scrimmaged, but to see him under the lights per se was good and it's good for our program and we're excited.”
The spring game came just one day after Maryland announced an extension for Locksley through at least the 2026 season, as Inside the Black & Gold accurately reported. The fourth-year head coach added “it’s always good when people recognize the work that you do,” before explaining how the extension gives he and his staff a chance to see their vision come to fruition.
We've got staff throughout Jones Hill House, obviously, my relationship with my boss, Damon Evans and Dr. [Darryll] Pines is really important and it's great to be recognized that they see us making the necessary progress. As I said, we're not even close to scratching the surface, the best is ahead for Maryland. For me, it's rewarding to know that I have an opportunity to continue to dream big here at the University of Maryland, to continue to work to take the next step to put this program back to where we can compete for Big Ten championships and really excited and thankful.”
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