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When you are coming off of a 2-10 season, it leaves a lot of room for improvement.  In fact, the Terps would probably be hard pressed to put in a worse defensive effort than 2009.  Let’s hope they aren’t up for that challenge.  Though there was plenty of finger pointing to go around, the Terp Secondary certainly didn’t do much to help the cause.  But that was 2009 and this is 2010. 

How bad was it?  Well the Terps finished 12th in the ACC in scoring defense.  For those who aren’t familiar with the ACC, there are only 12 teams in the conference, so you can draw your own conclusion.  The Pass defense gave up 21 TD’s and 245.5 yards per game.  They took away 10 interceptions (though some of those can be credited to the LB Corp) but that still leaves 2.1 TD’s for each INT.  Speaking of interceptions the Terps finished 8th in the conference, which is a little better than they did for scoring defense, but still not exactly a team strength. 

Junior Cameron Chism looks to tighten up the pass defense, he led the team with 4 interceptions which accounted for 40% of all INT’s for the Terps last year.  He also recorded 66 tackles.  Kenny Tate is also looking to take a step forward.  The converted WR will enter his junior year and has an additional year of experience under his belt.  Kenny had one interception, 1.5 sacks and 47 tackles last year.  He will probably have to build on those numbers if the Terps are going to have success stopping the pass. 

Joining Chism and Tate is Antwine Perez.  The USC transfer (who maybe knew about the recent penalties USC was about to get) has yet to live up to the hype, but that could all change quickly for the Senior.  Perez last season had 1 sack and 45 tackles.  This was after sitting out a season, so there is hope that he can carry a larger load moving forward.  Junior Trenton Hughes looks to make the next step this season.  He played in all 12 games last year, and is looking to become a bigger factor in his 3rd year.  Finally Junior Austin Walker joins the list of DB’s who played in 11 or more games. 

Of course it doesn’t take long going through the Terps list of DB’s to see that there is plenty of young talent available, and it is almost inevitable that someone will step up out of no where.  Who that is, well we will have to wait and see, but you can believe the fate of the Terps in 2010 is going to fall heavily Chism, Tate, and Perez. 

So there is a quick look at DB’s for the Terps, we have a lot of key guys coming back and there is reason to believe that this unit will put together a better campaign this year than last.  Let’s certainly hope so because if the DB’s were to regress or fail to tighten things up, a Bowl Game is probably not going to happen.

With ACC Media Day going on, it is time to get moving on taking a look the Maryland Football team.  I am going to start with the special teams for a couple of reasons.  One, they are the unit with the most locked in players, and secondly, they are one of the smaller units, and I have a lot going on tonight.

So lets first start with the kickers.  We here at Turtledroppings have always felt the kickers are the heart and soul of the team.  Well, not really, but Nick “Das Boot” Novack was one of our favorite Terps of all time.  So lets look no further than place kicker to get this seasons previews going.

Nick Ferrera , now a sophomore, will be the starting kicker, as he was last year.  Hopefully, he doesn’t have to fill in as the starting punter as well, like last year.  If we focus on the kicking, as a freshman, I think all of us fans are truly looking forward to watching his career for the next three years.  During his first season for Maryland he hit 18-25 fg’s including a career long of 50 yards.  He was also 25-25 on extra point attempts.  That was enough to garner his some Freshman All-American awards.  If that wasn’t enough, as previously mentioned, he also filled in for an injured Travis Baltz.  During his punting duties he averaged 39.8 yds per punt, and had three downed inside the 10.  Considering he was a freshman filling in, those numbers were nothing to sneeze at.  Mike Barbour will back up Ferrera on the place kicking, and kick off duties.

Back to punting, Travis Baltz returns from a broken finger (the second of two injuries for Travis last season).  While he is healthy, he is one of the conferences top punters averaging 40.7 per punt last season, and 40.9 for his career.  As a senior, I think we can expect the same quality punting we have seen over the previous three seasons.

See how easy the special teams are?  Now we get to look at kick returners, and Maryland has the top in the ACC with Torey Smith.  He had over 1300 yards last season averaging 25 yards per game while scoring two touch downs.  When your offense is ineffective, your special teams can get things going.  With Torey Smith back there, there is always a threat for a big play.  Expect to see more of the same this year, and this year only.  Smith is on pace to graduate this December, and he has already looked to get a grade from the NFL scouts.

The one possible question on special teams could be punt returner.  Likely,the position belongs to Tony Logan, who manned the position most of last year.  Redshirt freshman Dexter McDougle impressed during the spring at both punt returner and kick returner.  If Logan has any trouble catching the ball McDougle would be the first to step in.  McDougle is likely to get some touches on kick off when, not if, the opposing team tries to keep the ball away from Smith.

So there you have it a quick look at who is going to be handling the special team jobs for the Terps.  One thing the  Maryland Football program has had under Friedgen is quality special teams, and with so many players back at these positions, this, along with linebackers, may be the easiest unit to preview.  Be sure to keep checking in as we work our way through the entire Maryland Football Depth Chart.

While I am starting to work on the special teams breakdown, there are a few notes from the ACC Media day that are news worthy for you fans of Maryland Football.  First of all, for the first time in what seems like eons, there is not going to be a question at quarterback for Maryland.  Ralph Friedgen has said Jamar Robinson is the starter.  Sure there is competition, but for the first time I can remember, there is not an open competition heading into August.  Go get em Jamar.

The next bit of news is, the Terps were picked by the media to finish 6th in the Atlantic Division.  I am going to go out on a limb, and say none of us are going to be surprised by that one.  For those that really care they did garner more points than UVA, so overall, you are looking at an 11th place finish if you take the Carolina centric ACC Media for their word.

Sure there is more info out there, but to me they were two quick nuggets to look at for the Terps coming out of media day.  I  for one am very excited to see Jamar Robinson named the starter.  It can’t help but give him some confidence, and hopefully that translates into some wins.

Ahh, ACC Football Media Day starts Sunday.  That can only mean one thing.  Summer camp is about to get underway, and we here at Turtledroppings are going to start to ratchet up our coverage of Maryland Football.  There is a lot to look forward to this season, and there are a lot of questions.   Hopefully things will turn out better than last season, but there needs to be a lot of improvement in order for that to happen.

In the coming days (and likely weeks) we will begin to take a look a the positions for the Terps, and start to break down the depth chart.  Every other day or so, starting Monday night, we will start with special teams, and work our way through until we end with the quarterbacks.

Just incase you can’t wait for us, and need a little more Maryland Football, you can tune into the ACC’s website at 3:11 pm on Sunday and see the player interviews with Torey Smith and Alex Wujciak.  I am guessing the ACC’s Media Day will not be anything like the circus that was SEC media day.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Running Back Caleb Porzel is transferring from the University of Maryland.  I’m always bummed whenever someones career at Maryland doesn’t pan out as planned.  But sometimes you have to face the facts.  Porzel has talent, but we don’t have many touches to go around in the back field.  Da’Rel Scott, Davin Meggett, and D. J. Adams are definitely going to be getting the bulk of the carries and Meggett and Adams aren’t going anywhere, so as fans, this shouldn’t affect the 2010 or 2011 team too much, but still, you always want to see players come through College Park and enjoy their time as Terps.  We wish Porzel good luck in his endeavour, where ever he ends up finishing his career. 

Extra Droppings:

Maybe I haven’t given Debbie Yow enough credit, I watched the University of South Carolina win the NCAA Baseball World Series, and as they celebrated, the announcers said that it was only the 2nd National Championship the University has ever won (other was woman’s track).  So 20 Natty’s in the past 15 or so years seems a little more impressive…at least when the bar is South Carolina.

When it comes to assistant coaches in basketball, you never really know the importance.  Sure they help in the day to day things in practice, but when it comes down to a player picking a school, does the assistant really help?  Well, if they do, Maryland might be in for some good things coming out of Baltimore in the near future.  The Baltimore Sun has a nice article on new assistant Bino Ranson.  He has some really good AAU ties in Charm City, and that can only help.  Does that mean we will have the Sun’s all City team as a starting line-up?  Not likely, but it greatly increase the odds of landing some of the top talent from Baltimore.  You have to think Keith Booth still has some clout up there, and now you are adding another reason for the coaches of Baltimore kids to get them in touch with Maryland.

All that said, it still comes down to the head coach sealing the deal.  I think Gary is doing a pretty good job at getting out there a little more than he did in the past, so things should be getting back to the way we remember them in Maryland.  That’s right NCAA tournaments and getting to the second weekend!

Again, Turtledroppings welcomes you aboard Dino, and from the looks of that AAU summer schedule you are going to watching, we like the way things are starting.   Now if we can land a couple of the studs from Baltimore, things should come together nicely.

The message boards have been alive with rumors of a possible Maryland-Texas Football game for a few weeks now, but I had been reluctant to mention anything about this because after all it was a rumor.  You can say what you want about college football message boards, but it seems to me, they tend to be correct more often than not.  The jury is out still on this one, but this past week the Baltimore Sun is now starting to float this rumor, which to me gives it even more credibility.  So could this be another “I told you” so for the Maryland Message Boards?  Well we don’t know yet, but I’m thinking it does.  Let’s take that jump and assume it is.

If the Maryland-Texas match up is indeed true, this is great news.  I know in terms of W’s and L’s it isn’t going to help us, but you want to talk about your ultimate nothing to lose and everything to gain situation, it doesn’t get any sweeter than this.  We get exposure, and assuming the rumors are true, get a Texas team that is going to have to fly from Austin to Washington DC. That can’t hurt.  Even if the worst case scenario pans out and we get routed off the field, there isn’t going to be anyone talking about it a week later.  It will quickly be forgotten. 

Then there’s the tailgating, I can hardly wait for that tailgate.  This isn’t going to be a Saturday full of a Maryland fans with grills and and a handful of Wake Forest fans milling about, this is going to be absolutely huge!  I just hope the Longhorn fans are cool and bring way too much BBQ to feed just themselves. 

Regardless, kudos to the Maryland Athletic Department for pulling this off (if they do).  I have mostly heard that this would be a game held in Fed Ex Field, which is fine with me, but I have also heard this will be a part of a home and home, so if we do indeed make it two, I’m going to start booking my flight for the Lone Star State now, because that will be an experience I don’t want to miss.  It sure beats a series vs. UConn.   

Extra Droppings:

Though Germany isn’t my favorite World Cup team (USA #1, Netherlands #2), I did find myself rooting for them throughout the entire Tournament due to my ancestry.  Now with that being said, does anyone else get a little bit nervous when they show scenes from Berlin with thousands of German’s waving flags and gathering in the squares?  I know it’s been a while, but still.

The fourth season of Terrapins Rising airs tonight on Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic.  Show time is 9:30pm.  There are a lot of new faces this year and I’m excited to see what schemes the offense and defense will be running.  This is a chance to get a sneak peak at this years squad who will hopefully win get MD back to a prominant bowl game.  In the Westminster area it’s HD channel 251.

Check out the website:

http://www.umterps.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/071210aab.html

Former Terp Greivis Vasquez played in his first Summer League game last night, and helped the Memphis Grizzlies to a 89-85 win over the Atlanta Hawks.  In his first game he played 17 minutes scoring 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from 3).  He did contribute 3 boards and 4 assist to go along with 3 turnovers in 17 minutes.  You can catch him again today at 8 pm on nba.com.

I would really expect him to bounce back with a much better performance today. That is just a gut feeling I have.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, and ESPN have come to an agreement on a new 12 year Television rights deal for football and basketball.   Though the financial details have not been released, it is considered to be worth $1.86 Billion according to this article on ESPN.com.  If that figure is correct, the deal would double the current contract payout per team.  This deal is scheduled to start with the 2011-2012 season.

The big news is this means, the ACC will not look to start an ACC network.  I for one would have liked to have seen that, but at the same time, am I really going to sit around and watch an ACC wrestling match or swim meet?  Not likely.  The deal with ESPN, also allows Raycom to continue to show regionally broadcast games, and if a game is broadcast by both entities, it will no longer be blacked out on ESPN.  Viewers will have a choice.  For me that is great, since my local Raycom affiliate in Boston is not in HD on Directv.

Now the real question is, will Maryland be in the ACC to see the benefits of this contract through, or will they find their way to the Big 10 network?