Maryland football’s spring game Saturday afternoon didn’t feature all the players coach DJ Durkin expects to contribute in the fall. The incoming freshman class won’t arrive until this summer and the staff held some players out with injuries.
But the exhibition featured production from many of last year’s reserves, a welcome development for Durkin as he enters his second season hoping to improve last year’s 6-7 record.
Quarterbacks Tyrrell Pigrome and Max Bortenschlager split the majority of the snaps to lead Maryland’s offense to a 40-35 win over the defense, while wide receiver DJ Turner and running back LaDerrien Wilson produced multiple long gains to cap the spring slate and enter their second preseason with confidence.
“They had a good attitude, good mentality about it, went out there and competed well,” Durkin said. “We went out there and made each other better.”
UNC transfer quarterback Caleb Henderson was perhaps the leader to replace former quarterback Perry Hills throughout the spring, but he suffered an ankle injury this week and didn’t play.
So, Pigrome, the primary backup in 2016, operated the first-team offense and finished 6-for-14 for 70 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Bortenschlager, who also started a game as a rookie last year, went 7-for-16 for 152 yards and a score.
Durkin commended the sophomore pair’s poise. Pigrome, for example, didn’t let his two first-half turnovers, including an acrobatic snag in the end zone from safety Antoine Brooks, affect his demeanor.
Bortenschlager, meanwhile, rebounded from a slow first quarter to complete several long passes downfield, an aspect the Terps admit their offense lacked last season.
“I like where we’re at with the spot,” Durkin said of the quarterback competition, which will continue through fall camp and include incoming four-star Kasim Hill. “We have some good answers there.”
Their production against Maryland’s defensive units, which didn’t blitz or pressure the quarterbacks wearing yellow non-contact jerseys, helped open plays for its role players.
Running back Lorenzo Harrison led with 79 yards on five carries, including a weaving 56-yard touchdown in the opening frame Durkin described as “Lolo [doing] what he does,” while running back Ty Johnson logged 57 yards on eight rushes.
But Wilson, a redshirt freshman, saw extended action after the top rushers rested through the second half.
The Saint Cloud, Florida, native had eight carries for 56 yards and a short touchdown plunge in the second quarter, emerging as another option in the Big Ten’s fourth-best backfield a year ago that stands to become more competitive with its rookie additions in a few months.
“I wish I was skinny like I used to be so I could chase them down faster,” defensive lineman Cavon Walker, “but I do my best I can to get them guys down.”
Durkin has admitted throughout spring practices the downfield passing game lagged behind its rushing attack last season, but he felt the Terps displayed better balance on Saturday.
Wide receiver D.J. Moore snared an early one-handed touchdown from Pigrome, while Turner posted 126 yards on six catches to lead all receivers.
Turner, a sophomore DeMatha Catholic High School product, made two catches in 2016 before missing the final four games for violating the student-athlete code of conduct related to the campus BB-gun incident in November.
Now, Turner admits he’s more comfortable reading defenses as a potential slot receiving option this season and, like his other rising reserve counterparts, feels the speed of the college level has become more manageable.
“I had to come out here and make a statement,” Turner said. “I definitely had a chip on my shoulder because of the suspension and me not playing as much last year, so I had to come out and make a name for myself.”
