Terps Football Q&A with David Glenn, ACC Sports Journal

Hurricane Irene is currently introducing herself to the Maryland coast. On Labor Day September 5th, the University of Maryland will be hosting the Hurricanes of Miami to begin their 2011 College Football Season. With that game on the immediate horizon, Baltimore Sports and Life has reached out to David Glenn from The ACC Sports Journal for his thoughts on the Terps.

You can find Mr. Glenn’s work at:

http://www.accsports.com/
http://www.accsports.com/blogs/david-glenn.php
http://www.ncsportstalk.com/
http://www.ncsportstalk.com/NC-Sports-Talk-Network/Meet-David-Glenn.aspx
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/DavidGlennShow
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ACCSports

Baltimore Sports and Life thanks Mr. Glenn for taking the time to contribute.

Baltimore Sports and Life: “New Offensive Coordinator Gary Crowton was most recently at LSU, with an offense that was fairly conservative. In several interviews Crowton has attributed that to a desire from LSU Head Coach Les Miles to be committed to the run. Prior to his time with the Tigers, he had installed the offense at Oregon, and had been the Head Coach at Louisiana Tech and BYU, with each of those teams having offensive success. Crowton has said he wants an offense capable of getting the ball to Maryland’s athletes in space. Maryland averaged 32.2 ppg last year (29^th overall). Will the Terps score more in 2011?”

David Glenn: “There are a lot of variables in play here — how fast will the Terps play under Crowton is one of the big questions — but my guess is no. It’s not easy to average 30-plus points per game. Maryland has done it only four times (all under Ralph Friedgen) in the last 25 years. The Terps had better hit 60 points against Towson and someone else this year, as they did against Morgan State and Wake Forest last season, if they’re going to average more points than they did in 2010. My guess is they’ll fall short of that.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Two offensive line players (Pete DeSouza, and Justin Gilbert) are attempting to work back from injury. Even without them, the O-line appears deeper and more talented than in recent years, with a number of good talents backing up the starters Garcia, Gonnella, Fulper, Cary and Dill. What are some of the changes the offensive line will have to make to a spread offense?”

EDIT: Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times reported today that DeSouza is unlikely to play at all in 2011.

David Glenn: “It all depends on what version of the spread the Terps are going to implement, and how much of an emphasis they will have on it. Maryland has done a good job since the hiring of Randy Edsall of being evasive about exactly what they’re planning to do scheme-wise this fall. The devil is in the details, as the saying goes, and that applies to the offensive linemen and everyone else.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “After redshirting in ’09, O’Brien emerged as a force last year, throwing for 2,400+ yards, and 22 TDs. O’Brien has been the pick of a number of writers as the 1^st-Team All-ACC QB. Where does he need to become more proficient?”

David Glenn: “Besides directing a brand-new offensive system, which is a serious challenge, the most important task for O’Brien is going to be developing a game-day rapport with his new receiving corps. Torrey Smith and Adrian Cannon were multi-year starters for the Terps at wide receiver, and they caught far more of those O’Brien passes last year than anyone else. Maryland still has plenty of veterans on hand at wide receiver, but it will be extremely difficult to find anyone like Smith, and Cannon was pretty solid. It will be up to O’Brien to make sure the timing and chemistry are good with the new guys.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Maryland loses former 1st-team All-ACC RB Da’Rel Scott but returns the duo of Davin Meggett and DJ Adams. How do Maryland’s RBs compare to the rest of the ACC?”

David Glenn: “As long as Meggett stays healthy — and, remember, there are serious injuries at tailback in the ACC every single year — the Terps should be fine at that position. Meggett actually had more yards than Scott last year, and Adams obviously has a great nose for the end zone. That one-two punch of Meggett and Adams probably would rank right in the middle of the ACC. Boston College (Montel Harris), Clemson (Andre Ellington), Miami (Lamar Miller), Virginia Tech (David Wilson) and even Wake Forest (Josh Harris) have some special talents at the running back position this season.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Maryland ended last season ranked in the Top 25 and is bringing back large portions of that team. However, the Terps are going through the changes that come with a new coaching staff. Did the change to Coach Edsall (and his new staff) impact your expectations of the Terps for this fall?”

David Glenn: “Yes. That’s always the case with a coaching change. One thing to remember is that Maryland lost an extraordinary number of underclassmen during the offseason, via transfers and dismissals and other forms of attrition. Some of that would not have happened if the previous staff remained in place, so of course the coaching change impacted the way most people view this year’s Terps. Edsall’s approach may be best for Maryland in the long run, but there’s no denying that it damaged the team’s depth in the short term, too. Some of those who left would have helped this year’s team.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Several players — such as JR WR Kevin Dorsey, JR WR Kerry Boykins, FR WR (Florida transfer) Adrian Coxson and JR TE Devonte Campbell — were highly regarded recruits who are needed to play a bigger role this year. Does the lack of returning production at WR/TE scare you, or do you think there is enough skill to succeed?”

David Glenn: “There is enough talent at those positions to get the job done adequately, but it’s almost impossible to avoid some kind of dropoff when you lose someone the caliber of Torrey Smith. That’s not a criticism of this year’s players. It’s just that Smith was one of those rare guys who, as such an extraordinary talent, could mean the difference between winning and losing almost by himself. It will be more difficult without him.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “The Terps will be using more of a 4-3 front, and similar to the offensive line, the defensive line looks deeper than it has been for some time. I’m particularly excited about David Mackall getting moved to LE.  Asst. Head Coach and Defensive Ccoordinator Todd Bradford comes to Maryland from Southern Miss. Prior to his time with the Golden Eagles, Bradford was on the other side of the ball, as the Offensive coordinator at BYU under Crowton. What are your impressions of the MD defensive line, and Coach Bradford?”

David Glenn: “Having focused on the ACC for more than 20 years, I haven’t crossed paths with Coach Bradford, although I’m certainly aware of his body of work. Looking at Maryland’s defensive line, I don’t have nearly as much optimism as you described. Joe Vellano is an outstanding tackle. A.J. Francis has a chance to be very good, too. But there are a whole bunch of unproven players at end, and I just don’t see the quality depth at this point. Maybe the team will develop that depth, but I don’t see it yet. I think one of the keys to Maryland’s season is defensive end. The Terps need Mackall to be an impact player, and they need to find other reliable players there, too. The preseason injury to Justin Anderson, a versatile tackle/end, complicated matters quite a bit.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “We spoke above about Bradford moving Mackall to LDE. In another move to increase the overall team speed, Bradford has also moved Kenny Tate from safety to LB. The projected starting LBs are Tate, Hartsfield and Drakeford (with Kearse and Ronson backing up). Is the biggest question with the LBs the depth behind the starters? Did you like the move of Tate to LB?”

David Glenn: “Yes and yes. Maryland’s starting group at linebacker is fine, but the Terps have absolutely no proven depth there. That’s obviously a serious concern. Regarding Tate, I know most college coaches would love to have him at almost any position on the field. He’s going to be good wherever the Terps play him. The move to Star is really just an example of the trend in college football toward getting more speed on the field. Lots of teams use the third linebacker position as sort of a super-sized safety. It will be fun to watch how Maryland utilizes Tate’s skills at Star, because he’s really good.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “By all accounts, Florida State is the favorite in the ACC Atlantic. Early takes on Maryland’s other divisional foes (Boston College, Clemson, NCST, Wake Forest)?”

David Glenn: “Rather than duplicating an extraordinary amount of work here, I’ll just encourage folks to check out our extensive previews of every ACC team at ACCSports.com. I agree with the assessment of FSU as the Atlantic favorite.”

Baltimore Sports and Life: “Will Maryland challenge FSU for the ACC Atlantic title?”

David Glenn: “I will be absolutely shocked, and extremely impressed, if that happens. Maryland has a chance to be a good, solid football team this season, but I don’t see the Terps as a serious challenger for the ACC title. For that to be even a possibility, they will have to stay relatively healthy and win all of their close games, and that’s easier said than done. We’ll see how it plays out.”