COLLEGE PARK — The public got its first view of what coach DJ Durkin's first Maryland team might look like when the Terps open their season in two weeks against Howard during Saturday morning's open practice at Maryland Stadium.
The offense and defense showed much more of what they're capable of than during the Red-White spring game in April, when both sides of the ball mostly stayed in their base sets, and Durkin came away pleased with what he saw from the Terps.
"I thought it was good, a lot of good back and forth," Durkin said. "We did a lot of situational stuff, so you can always learn from the good and the bad. There's some things we did right. There's some things we made mistakes, so go back and watch the film and learn from it. That's the important thing. … They did a good job. It was good. It was a good day for us."
There are still plenty of questions surrounding some key positions on the team — Durkin has yet to tip his hand at quarterback — but many units that have been working together during the past two weeks stayed together during the scrimmage. And some players who appear to be well on their way to earning starting jobs made cameo appearances for the Terps.
Cornerback Will Likely was one of those players. He has been in a yellow noncontact jersey — "I'm 100 percent, 110," he said — for all of fall camp, and he played a few periods with the defense before watching from the sidelines. But the senior said he has seen the steps the team has taken since reporting for camp on Aug. 7.
"As far as secondary-wise, you've got a lot of new guys there, freshmen, so our goal every day is just to get better, so that's what we really have done," Likely said. "I know a lot of people say that, but I can truly say that we have gotten better every day, so that truly is a good sight to see."
Maryland will break camp late next week before settling into its game-week routine for the season opener. Saturday provided another chance for the Terps to emerge from the daily practice grind and have fans watching in the stands, and Durkin was appreciative of the couple hundred people watching from the Maryland Stadium bleachers.
"I say it all the time: This is us, this is our area," Durkin said. "We love the area we're in. We love our fans. Recruits, their families, everyone that's here. It's all part of it. This is our stadium, our team, and so we love everyone out here."
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