Recruiting Snapshot: Maryland

Potomac (MD) Bullis quarterback Dwayne Haskins

2015 Team Ranking: #48. The Terps signed two 4-stars, fifteen 3-stars, and one 2-star.

Cream of 2015 Crop: The Terrapins stole Gaithersburg (MD) Quince Orchard defensive tackle Adam McLean from Penn State after he decommitted in November of 2014. McLean is a 6'2", 290 lb. prospect who's a 247 Composite 4-star, the #14 defensive tackle, and #124 overall, and you can see his highlights below. The only other 4-star is Washington (DC) Friendship Collegiate interior offensive lineman Quarvez Boulware, the #256 overall player in the 2016 class.



2016 Team Ranking: #21. The Terps have two 4-stars, five 3-stars, and two 2-stars.

Cream of 2016 Crop: Potomac (MD) Bullis quarterback Dwayne Haskins had offers from all over the country, including Michigan, before pulling the trigger for the Terrapins last week. Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Ohio State, and Texas, among others, were all after the 247 Composite 4-star, #5 pro-style quarterback, and #61 overall player. I had Haskins as the #4 quarterback on my wish list for Michigan (LINK). Meanwhile, Olney (MD) Good Counsel linebacker Keandre Jones doesn't have the same caliber of offers, but he's the #11 outside linebacker and #146 overall.

Michigan vs. Maryland Awards

Devin Gardner

Let's see more of this guy on offense . . . a healthy Devin Gardner. Gardner had some very nice throws, and he had several that were just a little off target. Most of all, though, he looked healthier, which means that he can be dangerous on the ground. That adds an element to Michigan's attack that has not existed for the last several weeks. A healthy Gardner gives Michigan a chance. He ran for over 80 yards in this game, including a 24-yarder and then a 15-yard touchdown. When Gardner is on, he looks like Colin Kaepernick. Hopefully he can stay healthy and break out a big game like he did last year against Ohio State.

Let's see less of this guy on offense . . . De'Veon Smith. Smith has no speed element to his game, and he doesn't break enough tackles to warrant being the main guy. Michigan gave Smith 10 carries in this one, which earned them 28 yards. Meanwhile, Drake Johnson (14 carries, 94 yards) and Justice Hayes (6 carries, 36 yards) combined for 20 carries and 130 yards. Michigan's offensive line isn't great, but there are some holes occasionally. I am looking forward to next season, when Derrick Green will hopefully be healthy and Ty Isaac will be in the mix. There's also a chance that Green could return for the Ohio State game after missing the last several weeks with a broken collarbone.

Let's see more of this guy on defense . . . Willie Henry. I'm assuming Henry has been playing a limited number of snaps because of the hand injury he suffered several weeks ago, so I don't know if anyone deserves blame here. But without Frank Clark on the roster, I think Henry is arguably the best defensive lineman on the roster. He played a little bit against Maryland, but he didn't show up on the stat sheet and we're seeing a lot of Matt Godin. Godin did okay and even notched his first career sack, but he's not Willie Henry.

Let's see less of this guy on defense . . . Matt Godin. I don't know who else to pick, so I'll choose the guy who would be replaced by Henry. You can't argue with that pristine logic.

Play of the game . . . Joe Kerridge's fake punt run. It showed some creativity in play calling that we haven't often seen from this Michigan staff. Granted, it was perhaps the most boring kind of fake punt possible. Baby steps. Kerridge rumbled for 52 yards before being taken down inside the 10 yard line. I'll just throw this out there, but if that were Ben Gedeon, I think Gedeon would have scored. But hey, that will probably go down as Kerridge's biggest play of his career (he had only 1 career carry for 3 yards going into the game, and his longest catch was a 17-yarder against Indiana a few weeks ago), so hopefully he enjoys the memory.

MVP of the game . . . Devin Gardner. There aren't many options here. Nobody really stood out on defense as they gave up two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the offense stalled out regularly, as usual. Gardner looked more like the player from the second half of the 2013 season, someone who was dangerous on foot (14 carries, 82 yards, and 1 touchdown) and potentially through the air (13/24 for 106 yards and 1 interception), though his receivers dropped numerous balls.

Maryland 23, Michigan 16

Joe Kerridge

Goodbye, Brady Hoke. I thought Hoke's fate was sealed a few weeks ago, but this was Hoke's chance to redeem himself in front of a home crowd that had to brave a late start, some cold weather, some rain, and some ugly football. The sloppy way in which this one played out was indicative of Michigan's last couple seasons. The only real question at this point is whether Michigan fires Brady Hoke this week, or whether they allow him the dignity of finishing out the season before dropping the guillotine. I don't see a reason to let him go right now. Michigan doesn't have a suitable replacement on staff, recruiting wouldn't be affected in a positive way, and there's no home game next week for which to please ticket buyers. Furthermore, through it all, I think Hoke has been a class act and seems like a good guy. I think Michigan should let him coach out the week and fire him next Monday, but I still wouldn't be totally surprised if he got the Will Muschamp treatment.

Big gaffes. Michigan made some stupid plays and decisions down the stretch to seal their fate. Unfortunately, this has become the 2014 team's modus operandi. A punt return touchdown was called back for a pointless block in the back. A field goal turned into a touchdown when cornerback Jourdan Lewis took out the kicker, giving Maryland an automatic first down. (Regardless of what some bitter Michigan fans say, it was clearly a roughing the kicker penalty and worthy of 15 yards, whether you think Maryland kicker Brad Craddock exaggerated or not.) Worst of all was Brady Hoke's clock management at the end of the game. Michigan's drive stalled with roughly four minutes remaining in the game, and Hoke waited most of that time before calling his one timeout. By the time he did, the Terrapins just had to run one running play before allowing the final 34 seconds or so to run off the clock.

Speaking of bitter. Maybe I'm bitter, too, but how was Maryland head coach Randy Edsall allowed to do what he did at the end of the game? With a little over 30 seconds remaining, he rushed out onto the field. When the officials stopped him, he turned around, threw his headset in the air, and started celebrating in the middle of the field. I fail to see why a coach is allowed to celebrate on the field before the game is over, but maybe I'm just old-school.

Joe Kerridge fun time. Redshirt junior fullback Joe Kerridge had himself a pretty good game. It's not often that fullbacks get attention, so here's some for him. Kerridge has turned into a solid blocker. He also has good hands - as evidenced by his one-handed catch for 7 yards. The most memorable play of his career so far, though, is probably the fake punt run from the first quarter. Michigan was set to attempt a quarterback sneak on 4th-and-1 when running back De'Veon Smith inexplicably false started (seriously, a running back false starting on a quarterback sneak is among the dumbest things you can do on a football field). On 4th-and-6, Michigan would surely just punt the ball. Instead, they snapped it to upback Kerridge, who plunged through the line and then got to the left sideline on his way to a 52-yard run. He couldn't quite get past the punt returner for the touchdown, but that play got Michigan inside the 10 . . . so they could settle for a field goal.

This is the Devin Gardner I like. I can't say that Gardner played a brilliant game, but this was the best he has looked since the first few games of the season. His ankle finally looked somewhat healthy, which allowed him to use perhaps his best asset - his ability to tuck the ball and run. He ran the ball 14 times for a net of 82 yards (5.9 yards/carry), including a 24-yarder and a 15-yard touchdown. Passing the ball, he was 13/24 for 106 yards and 1 interception. He looked decent throwing the ball at times and was victimized by a few drops, including a Freddy Canteen drop that would have been a touchdown, a Jake Butt seam route that may have been a touchdown, a near-catch by Bo Dever that turned into the interception, and your standard Devin Funchess drops. Remember in 2011 when Michigan's receivers - mainly Junior Hemingway - bailed out Denard Robinson on numerous occasions? This year is the opposite of that.

Devin Funchess isn't really trying. Funchess and Blake Countess are the two biggest disappointments this season, but at least Countess seems like he's trying out there. Funchess, on the other hand, seems lackadaisical most of the time. For being 6'5" and 230 lbs., he doesn't have a great desire to dominate people who are smaller than him. It's the same mentality that got him moved away from tight end. He didn't try very hard to block, so the coaches moved him to wide receiver. Now he doesn't try very hard to catch the ball, and when he does, he goes down way too easily. I don't think I can say this about any other regular during Hoke's tenure, but Funchess looks lazy and too often self-centered. (I know there is the occasional  effort to, say, snatch the ball away from a Penn State safety or chase down a Northwestern safety who dared to intercept the ball - but those plays just hint at what he can do if he does that whole "trying" thing.)

I'll give Funchess a pass on his last "drop." Maryland safety Jeremiah Johnson pretty clearly interfered with Funchess when Michigan was trying to drive the ball for a game-tying touchdown near the end of the game. Johnson's left hand got to Funchess's left hand when the ball was still a few feet away. The big guy may very well have dropped it on his own, but he never really got the chance.

Walk-ons. Fans complain when starters are out there on special teams, so I hope they're not complaining today. Dennis Norfleet finally returned a punt for a touchdown only to see it called back because walk-on safety A.J. Pearson blocked a Maryland player in the back for no good reason. The Maryland player wouldn't have made the play, anyway, but that's kind of the point. Walk-ons are walk-ons for a reason. Sometimes they overreach because they're trying to prove themselves, and sometimes the game just moves too quickly for them. Of course, starters are capable of committing penalties, too, but they don't have those things working against them. Meanwhile, Bo Dever's failure to reel in a catch resulted in a William Likely interception. The ball was thrown behind Dever, but he still got both hands on it.

Speaking of Bo Dever, why Bo Dever? Wide receiver recruiting/development has failed in a big way if this is what Michigan has to throw out there. I have been supportive of wide receivers coach Jeff Hecklinski the past few years because of the work he has done with Junior Hemingway, Roy Roundtree, and Jeremy Gallon, among others. But this season has been ridiculous. Let's take a look at Michigan's contributors at the position:

• Devin Funchess (Jr.): Recruited as a tight end, couldn't block, moved to WR, generally lackadaisical, too many drops, physical specimen
• Amara Darboh (RS So.): Recruited as a wide receiver, mediocre speed, mediocre route runner, great hands
• Dennis Norfleet (Jr.): Recruited as a kick returner/running back, can't block, can't catch anything other than a screen pass
• Jehu Chesson (RS So.): Recruited as a wide receiver, best blocker at position, questionable hands, seems to play less and less
• Freddy Canteen (Fr.): Recruited as a wide receiver, decent speed, has done zilch
• Bo Dever (RS Fr.): Not recruited, slow, supposedly decent hands
• Da'Mario Jones, Jaron Dukes, Maurice Ways don't play at all
• Drake Harris is injured

Two of Michigan's early-season starters (Funchess, Norfleet) weren't recruited as receivers, a large contributor wasn't recruited at all, and three able-bodied guys are mired on the bench. Meanwhile, nobody in the receiving corps is exceeding expectations.

Did Michigan miss Frank Clark? Yes, I think they did. His replacement, Mario Ojemudia, had an okay game (5 tackles, .5 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup), but Ojemudia is not a match for Clark. Clark was consistently overpowering offensive tackles, and he had reached a point where he was not committing the immature mistakes that plagued him early in his career. Ojemudia lacks the same strength, and there were a couple times where he ran too far upfield and allowed Maryland quarterback C.J. Brown to take off and run. I think Clark would have slowed down the running of Brown (18 carries, 87 yards, 1 touchdown). Obviously, it's nobody's fault but Clark's - I respect Hoke for booting him immediately, and I think Ojemudia did what he's able to do. It just sucks for Michigan and for his (alleged) victim that he's such a moron.

Can Michigan beat Ohio State and go to a bowl game? Yes. Ohio State lost earlier this season to a Virginia Tech team that is currently 5-6 after a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest by a score of 6-3. Ohio State almost  lost to a 3-8 Indiana team yesterday, but they pulled it out with a 21-point fourth quarter. There are some chinks in the Buckeyes' armor, particularly defensively. Indiana running back Tevin Coleman had 228 yards rushing on 27 carries, including touchdowns of 90 and 52 yards. Unfortunately, Michigan hasn't had a running back like Tevin Coleman in a very long time. Even so, Drake Johnson has shown a decent burst (14 carries, 94 yards yesterday), and a healthy Devin Gardner gives you a chance on offense. The Buckeyes will be the overwhelming favorite, especially when they're playing for a chance at the playoff, but anything can happen.

Preview: Michigan vs. Maryland

Taylor Burton is Miss Maryland 2014

Rush Offense vs. Maryland Rush Defense
Despite a preference for running, Michigan is #78 nationally with 154 yards/game on the ground. They average 4.51 yards/carry, good enough for #57. The offensive line is improving, and head coach Brady Hoke claimed that the Northwestern game was their best performance of the season. The leading rusher is De'Veon Smith (487 yards, 5.1 yards/carry, 6 touchdowns), who finally overtook Derrick Green, a player that has been out since the Rutgers game. Smith looked good when he was decisive and hitting the hole hard against Northwestern, and he looked bad when he was trying to dance in the backfield. Drake Johnson (6.2 yards/carry, 2 touchdowns) has seen an uptick in his carries over the past couple weeks, but a fumble against Northwestern sent him into the doghouse. Maryland is #99 in rushing defense and gives up 198 yards/game, but their 4.32 yards/carry mark against them is #69. Junior strong safety/cornerback Sean Davis (6'1", 190 lbs.) is their leading tackler with 94 stops, and senior inside linebacker Cole Farrand (6'3", 245 lbs.) is second with 91. Sophomore outside linebacker Yannick Ngakoue (6'2", 250 lbs.) leads the team with 12.5 tackles for loss, and undersized fifth year senior defensive tackle Andre Monroe (6'0", 265 lbs.) is just behind him with 11. The only defensive lineman in the two-deep that is bigger than 275 lbs. is senior Darius Kilgo, the backup nose tackle in the Terrapins' 3-4 look. This should be a manageable front to handle, talent-wise, and Michigan has some experience going against 3-4 defenses from the season opener against Appalachian State.
Advantage: Michigan

Hit the jump for the rest of the preview.

Poll Results: How will Maryland and Rutgers affect the Big Ten?

Last week I asked the question of how the addition of Maryland and Rutgers would affect the Big Ten overall.

Negatively: 58%
Positively: 28%
Not at all: 18%

I don't think most Big Ten fans are happy about Maryland and Rutgers entering the equation, but I do imagine that it will be good for those two schools themselves.  I can see why they jumped on the idea.  New Jersey produces a ton of football talent, and now those kids can stay right at home and play while their families watch from the stands.  Playing in the Big East didn't have the same ring to it, which is why so many of those kids would go far away to play ball.  Michigan, for exampled, pulled in several kids from New Jersey over the past few years - Anthony Lalota, Marcus Witherspoon, J.B. Fitzgerald, Brandon Smith, etc. And while things didn't work out that well in Ann Arbor for, well, any of them, both Lalota and Witherspoon went back home to play for the Scarlet Knights when they couldn't hack it at Michigan.  Smith didn't quite make it back to New Jersey - he just transferred to Temple.  Fitzgerald was a career backup at Michigan.  If given the chance, I wonder which of those four would still have chosen Michigan if their home-state Rutgers team played in the Big Ten already.

Maryland also has fairly fertile recruiting grounds in the forms of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.  Kids from those areas go all over the place to play, but mostly the Big East and the ACC up until now.  Maryland, though, got a couple national recruits (Stefon Diggs, Wes Brown) to stay home in the 2012 recruiting class, and perhaps they might stay home a little more often in the future.  There's less incentive for kids from the eastern seaboard to go to places like Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State.  So while this move might benefit the programs at Maryland and Rutgers, it might thin out the talent in the rest of the conference.  I still don't think a bunch of elite kids will be committing to the Terrapins, because they simply don't have the history and track record to be extremely enticing.  But those second-level kids, the low 4-star and high 3-star type of kids might prefer a chance to start at Maryland rather than ride the bench and play special teams in Columbus or Ann Arbor.

Of course, this is a very narrow look at the effect of conference expansion on recruiting, but overall, I do not see this as a positive trend for the Big Ten or college football in general.  At some point the NCAA has to put a limit on conference size . . . or perhaps the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, and Pac-12 will become the new Division I, while the other members of the current FBS will become a de facto Division I-AA.

Schools in the News: Maryland, Rutgers, Cal, and Tennessee

Stefon Diggs took a very roundabout way of playing for a Big Ten team

I was going to put together two separate pieces on the guys who are committed to the Big Ten's newest members (Maryland, Rutgers) and the two FBS teams who recently fired their coaches (Jeff Tedford at Cal, Derek Dooley at Tennessee).  Instead, I'll just combine the two separate posts into one.

First of all, let's take a look at the guys Michigan could poach from Cal and Tennessee's 2013 recruiting classes:

Cal: No current commits have Michigan offers
Tennessee: QB Riley Ferguson from Matthews (NC) Butler, WR Paul Harris from Upper Marlboro (MD) Frederick Douglass

Ferguson might not be a bad addition considering how thin the quarterback ranks are at Michigan, but Michigan likely won't bring in a second quarterback to pair with Shane Morris.  Harris would be a welcome addition, and he has said that he would reconsider Michigan, but I don't see him getting interested enough to commit to the Wolverines.  Cal has pulled in a few Michigan offerees over the past couple years, but generally, Michigan doesn't compete against the Golden Bears very often.

Now I want to take a look at the recruiting classes and rosters for Maryland and Rutgers.  I don't expect that Michigan will pull any of these guys away from the two new additions, but these are the types of kids Michigan has lost to these teams over the past few years:

2013 Maryland commits: QB Shane Cockerille from Baltimore (MD) Gilman
Current Maryland roster players: RB Wes Brown, WR Stefon Diggs, LB Clarence Murphy,

2013 Rutgers commits: ATH Nadir Barnwell from Piscataway (NJ) Piscataway
Current Rutgers roster players: S Johnathan Aiken, WR Leonte Carroo, OT J.J. Denman, DE Darius Hamilton, RB Savon Huggins, OT Chris Muller, S Sheldon Royster, WR Miles Shuler

I don't really care about the money behind the additions of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten, because I care about the game of football, not the business.  I understand that the Big Ten is trying to grab viewers and markets in D.C., Baltimore, New Jersey, and New York.

However, I think these new entries dilute the strength of the football product on the field.  The Big Ten already gets all kinds of flak for not winning enough bowl games, not winning BCS championships, etc.  Rutgers was a totally irrelevant football program prior to Greg Schiano, who is now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; this year they're hovering toward the bottom of the top 25 and it remains to be seen what they'll do as Schiano's recruiting classes filter through.  Maryland had a few good years under Ralph Friedgen recently, but Randy Edsall has them floundering at 4-7 after winning just two games last year.

Maryland puts very few guys in the NFL (Darrius Heyward-Bey, Shawne Merriman, Vernon Davis, uhhhh...) and Rutgers is in the same boat (Ray Rice, Kenny Britt, Mohamed Sanu, uhhh...).  So they're mediocre teams who produce good NFL talent only occasionally.

Meanwhile, I think this potentially hurts the traditional Big Ten teams' recruiting in those areas, including Michigan's.  Some kids from those areas used to want to play in the Big Ten rather than the Big East or ACC, which is partly why they considered teams like Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State.  Now those kids won't have to leave their home states for the big stage.  Kids from the recruiting hotbeds of the District of Columbia, Baltimore, and various New Jersey cities will be able to stay home, play nationally televised games, and attempt to beat the Michigans and Ohio States of the world.

I also hate the overall idea of expanding the Big Ten to 14 teams.  It's ridiculous to have a conference with that many teams, because there will literally be decade-long gaps when Michigan won't play a team in its own conference.  Michigan has no history of playing against Maryland or Rutgers; the Wolverines are 3-0 against Maryland (games were played in 1985, 1989, and 1990) and have never played the Scarlet Knights.  Excluding fledgling Big Ten member Nebraska, I have great memories of games against every team in the Big Ten, even including watching Antwaan Randle-el at Indiana.  Traditions will be created and "Big Ten" fans in 2030 might have fond memories of the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights, but for the next 20 years, these games will seem out of place.

Overall, I'm probably just a curmudgeon who hates change.  Older Big Ten fans probably hate the presence of Penn State in the conference, but I grew up with it, so the Nittany Lions don't bother me (except, you know, Jerry Sandusky).  But I can't help wondering what the future of college football holds.  It seems like it's headed in the direction of a major fracture.  These conferences will continue to get larger and larger until perhaps the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC create their own beta version of the NCAA, while conferences like the ACC and the Big East could create a pseudo-Divison II.  The one constant is change, but the problem is that we want things to stay the same.

Self-Indulgent Post of the Week: A Visit from Todd Bradford

Maryland defensive
coordinator Todd Bradford

As a football coach and fan, I had an interesting experience today.  University of Maryland defensive coordinator Todd Bradford (official Maryland bio here) stopped in to our school to visit our head coach.  When he walked in, I immediately recognized him from the Nike Coach of the Year Clinic, which I attended back in March.

As coaches often do, he was in the area doing some recruiting.  I had a few minutes to chat him up.  We talked a little bit about his presentation at the coaches clinic, I asked him how his spring practices went, etc.  He had some interesting things to say about the team's preparation.  Maryland opens the season on September 5th with a televised night game against Miami, which ought to be exciting for the Terrapins, who don't frequently get a chance to play in prime time.

Coach Bradford asked if I'm from the area originally, and I told him I was from Michigan.  He asked where, and when I told him, he said, "Yeah, I know where that is.  I used to coach at Eastern Michigan.  Ypsilanti."  I said I went to school right next to Ypsilanti at the University of Michigan.  His response was, "I always wanted to coach there.  That's a great place.  I used to work their summer camps, you know, but once I went to Wisconsin [where he coached defensive backs from 2000-01], I couldn't work the camps anymore, since they're in the Big Ten."

We talked a little bit longer about recruits at my school and in the area, but obviously, that's not conversation that should be relayed here.  Shortly afterward, I left him with the head coach and carried on with my day.

As you might know, college coaches spend a lot of time on the road trying to create relationships with local programs and schools.  There was a great article about the life of college basketball recruiters in last week's issue of Sports Illustrated.  We've heard about Darrell Funk, Mark Smith, and Fred Jackson making school visits in recent weeks, and those are the types of things they do when spring practices and the fall football season aren't in full swing.  They hit the road and visit every school they can, hoping that relationships built will help them land a recruit or gain some support in the coming months and years.

Nothing earth shattering happened and the more interesting parts of the conversation should remain undisclosed, but it's not every day that you get some one-on-one time with an ACC coach.

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