Maryland wrapped up their month-long spring practice with Saturday's spring game as the Red Team outlasted the White Team 14-3 thanks to a pair of early touchdowns, but a handful of Terps flashed today on the field. Breaking down the top performers from Saturday:
WR Jacob Copeland:
Every Maryland fan should be excited with Jacob Copeland with the amount of talent that he possesses and the production he is going to give this team. Today was just a glimpse of what he can do as he hauled in five receptions for 70 yards which included a 22-yard catch where he extended up high to go up and snatch the ball. Copeland won the Bernie Faloney Spring Game MVP and has felt a smooth transition being implemented into this offense. “Everything is love, ever since I touched down.”
RBs Roman Hemby/Colby McDonald:
With just 12:45 in the 1st quarter, Roman Hemby took the football 43 yards for the first touchdown of today’s game and once the hole opened on the left side of the offensive line, Hemby bursted through and showcased his agility and quickness that Maryland fans are going to love. “I feel like this previous year I was able to learn everything and get my feet under me and now I’m just letting my athletic ability takeover.” Hemby finished his Spring Game performance with ten rushes for 59 yards with that one touchdown. Unfortunately, Challen Faamatau got hurt on his first play after a 13-yard gain. He was seen on the sidelines in crutches so as it doesn’t look goof, this RB room has depth and needs guys such as Colby McDonald to step up and today he did just that. McDonald had a phenomenal day on the field as he rushed 18 times for the white team for 102 yards and even got a carry for the red side as well. With a combination of two explosive running backs in the backfield, it’s going to be one scary offense.
TE Weston Wolff
New go-to tight end Corey Dyches moved to the receiver room this spring in order to provide depth at a position that Maryland is thin at this spring, but the move gave him a chance to focus on his receiving threat. That gave tight end CJ Dippre a chance to lock himself in as the primary blocking tight end, but Saturday was the first time fans caught an extended look at freshman TE Weston Wolff, who tied Jacob Copeland for a team-high five receptions for 45 yards. The former Venice (FL) product even hurdled his defender for a highlight play in the first-half, while Wolff also checked out wide given his receiving threat. The 6-foot-4 second year player moves into a prominent role behind Corey Dyches this season as the next receiving tight end in the room.
Offensive Line:
The Terps offensive line on both teams were a sight to see as the second unit especially did a great job pass and run blocking for quarterbacks David Foust and Eric Najarian. A specific area on the first and second units on the offensive line was the left tackles and left guards. The amount of holes open for Roman Hemby and Colby McDonald was very encouraging and depth is going to be extremely important as the 2022-2023 wears on these men in the trenches.
Other notes
-QB Taulia Tagovailoa finished 9-of-14 for 144 yarsd and one touchdown, along with three sacks. Walk-on QBs David Foust and Eric Najarian split duties for the White Team with Foust finishing 13-of-22 compared to Najarian's 7-of-12, while walk-on Zach Jackson finished 2-of-3.
-Maryland split punting duties last year between Anthony Pecorella and Colton Spangler depending on whether Maryland was looking for power or accuracy, but on Saturday, both finished with nearly an identical punt average. Spangler averaged 38 yards on a pair of punts, while Spangler averaged 38.3 on six punts.
-RB Colby McDonald was the lone running back to eclipse 100 rushing yards on Saturday and finished with 143 all-purpose yards
-First-team OL (L-R): Jaelyn Duncan, Amelio Moran, Johari Branch, DJ Glaze, Spencer Anderson
-Second-team OL (L-R): Andre Roye, Sean Wilkins, Aric Harris, Ja'Khi Green, Max McCree
-OL Johari Branch paved a big hole for RB Roman Hemby on his 43-yard TD run; OL Jaelyn Duncan blew up CB Corey Dyches
-RB Colby McDonald, walk-on WR Robert Smith both finished with four catches for 42 yards; H-back Joe Bearns finished with three catches for 11 yards
-CB Tarheeb Still fielded punts in a non-contact jersey, WR Jacob Copeland, WR Tai Felton, CB Deonte Banks field kick returns.
-RB Challen Faamatau left the game in the first-half due to a lower leg injury; LT Jaelyn Duncan also left Saturday's scrimmage early with an undisclosed injury
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