Maryland football wrapped up its sixth practice of spring ball on Saturday after the team made the trip north to team up with Morgan State on ‘Baltimore Day,’ giving fourth-year running back Roman Hemby a chance to practice in front of his family and friends roughly 30 minutes away from his former high school.
“It feels really good just to be in this area. This is a community where I feel at home,” Hemby said after Saturday’s practice. “A lot of people here that have love and respect for me and have my best interests at heart. So being able to come in this community and be welcome in this community, it feels really good for me, especially because these are a lot of the people that are fans that support us and come in to our stadium week in and week out and we got to give us that home environment. So just being able to come back, show face in this community and show that we appreciate everything they do.”
While Taulia Tagovailoa’s departure left a void as the leader on offense, Hemby made the seamless transition into “a role of being a tone setter.”
“Just to be able to have some of these guys to fall back on during the season, I take a lot of pride in that just to be that guy to rely on throughout the season,” he added.
Hemby drew outside interest before solidifying plans to return for the 2024 season, giving him a chance to prove himself as a feature back within the Terps’ offense once again. After posting over 1,000 scrimmage yards in consecutive seasons, Hemby said he looks to mold his game after Saints running back Alvin Kamara.
“He can do a lot more than just run the ball. He’s really a good option in pass protection good option in the pass-running scheme and that’s how I want to be. I want to be able to have longevity in the league where I can do multiple things.”
While he added he’s “doing a little bit more like yoga” has improved his hip mobility in order to become that elusive back, Hemby’s goal of capitalizing on big play opportunities in the second level has been a focus in the individual reps during practice. “If you see our Indy drills or any of the drills that he shoots us over texts, like just training our brains to become used to those things to where when we see that guy, that safety in the open field, we’re able to make a move to where he can’t tackle us and we can go and make that 70-yard touchdown run.”
Maryland will look to tap into the developed rushing attack as offensive coordinator Josh Gattis hopes to create a more balanced offense behind a more consistent run game after averaging just over 100 yards per game last fall.
“I feel like we’re battle-tested. We’re one of those programs that we strive under the heat of battle…we love that type of thing. Competition is what this sport is all about honestly and a lot of these guys that I take the field with have aspirations to play at the next level and that’s just one step getting closer. We want to play the best of the best and we feel like the Big Ten is one of those conferences where week in and week out, you’ve got to bring it because you’re going to be playing the best of the best. So we definitely love the challenge and we feel like we’re ready and we’re ready to take it on.”
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