COLLEGE PARK — Maryland cornerback JC Jackson, a former four-star recruit who started his college career at Florida, didn't play in Saturday's season opener against Howard because of what an athletic department spokesman described as an "academic matter."
No other details were provided.
Jackson was in uniform at Maryland Stadium and participated in the team's warmups, and the spokesman said that he practiced during the week leading up to coach DJ Durkin's first game.
It isn't clear whether this is an eligibility issue dating to the year Jackson spent at a junior college after leaving Florida or whether Jackson was being benched by Durkin for something that occurred at Maryland.
Classes began Monday.
Jackson was touted during preseason camp as one of the most athletic players on the team, and his arrival was going to allow Durkin and defensive coordinator Andy Buh to make All-Big Ten cornerback Will Likely into more of a nickel back.
Jackson's enrollment this summer had been delayed by what Durkin called an "administrative" issue, but he was cleared to practice as soon as he arrived. A team spokesman said that Saturday's benching was not related to the initial issue.
Jackson's career at Florida had been derailed by legal troubles after he was charged in a home invasion and robbery. Though he was eventually found not guilty, Jackson was not allowed to remain at the school.
Gilman reunion
While all three players took different roads — and two are playing different positions — former Gilman standouts Kenneth Goins Jr., Shane Cockerille and Melvin Keihn were together for a game for the first time in nearly four years.
According to Cockerille, who played linebacker Saturday after being used at safety, fullback and quarterback during his first two seasons at Maryland, it marked the first time they were together since Gilman's Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championship win over Calvert Hall in 2012.
"It felt good," said Keihn, a redshirt sophomore outside linebacker who played in his first game for the Terps after transferring last year from Virginia Tech. "I told Kenny and Shane in the hotel [Friday], every time we're on the field we've got to make plays."
Goins, who has been moved to running back from fullback, scored the Terps' first touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run. Cockerille and Keihn each had five tackles, with two of Keihn's resulting in losses.
"Just like our high school days, we've got to go out there and have fun," Keihn said. "It meant a lot. They were one of the reasons I decided to come back home and come to Maryland. It felt good, knowing that when I turn around, Shane is right there. When I make a mistake, he is there to clean it up."
Like father, not like son
At 6 feet 2, 225 pounds, Maryland running back Trey Edmunds is not quite as big as his father, former 6-6, 248-pound Terp tight end Ferrell Edmunds.
The younger Edmunds also did something Saturday his father never did during his standout career nearly 30 years ago: The graduate transfer from Virginia Tech scored twice for the Terps, first on a 3-yard run on Maryland's second possession and a little more than two minutes later when he picked up a blocked punt deep in Howard territory and ran it in 13 yards for a touchdown.
"A lot of people don't understand, our coaches emphasize special teams so much," Edmunds said.
Edmunds said that the season opener was "definitely special" for another reason: It marked the first time his father had been back to College Park since he left in 1988 as a third-round draft choice of the Miami Dolphins.
"I tried to look at it as another game, I tried not to get too high or too low whenever I play football," said the younger Edmunds, who also went over 1,000 yards in a college career that began with him rushing for 675 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns as a freshman for the Hokies.
The elder Edmunds, who played for seven years in the NFL, still ranks in the top 10 in Maryland history in two categories: 10th in receiving yards (1,641) and tied for 10th in touchdown catches (10). He is also 11th all time in receptions (101).
Ferrell Edmunds was introduced to the crowd as an honorary captain moments after the first touchdown, and father and son had a quick get-together.
"We exchanged words, we hugged each other, it was kind of emotional," Trey Edmunds said. "Good kind of emotional, though."