COLLEGE PARK — For all the changes that took place on Maryland's two-deep depth chart between the start of spring practice and the end of preseason camp this summer, there haven't been that many changes since the 2016 season began.
Most of those that have occurred have been due to injury, particularly in the secondary.
Senior safety Denzel Conyers and all-Big Ten senior cornerback Will Likely have been lost with season-ending ACL tears, and the status of sophomore safety Darnell Savage Jr. is up in the air for Saturday's game at Indiana after an apparent knee injury last week against Michigan State.
That makes the battle at cornerback between sophomore JC Jackson and freshman Tino Ellis all the more intriguing, given Likely's absence at the slot corner. Right now, Jackson has jumped back ahead of Ellis, who earned his first start two weeks ago against Minnesota.
Ellis, who came to Maryland as a four-star receiver, started ahead of Jackson in a 31-10 loss at home to the Gophers. Afterward, defensive coordinator Andy Buh noticed a change in Jackson's attitude in practice for Michigan State.
"Competition brings out the best in everybody," Buh said Wednesday. "As you noticed a week ago [against Minnesota], he [Jackson] didn't start. Tino got most of the game. The result of that was him [Jackson] practicing a lot harder, being more locked in and focused."
Jackson's Maryland debut was delayed by one game after he was forced to sit out the season opener because of an undisclosed academic issue. He initially lost his starting job to junior college transfer RaVon Davis, but quickly showed his value with an interception against Central Florida.
But Jackson got burned for a long touchdown at Penn State after slipping on a wet field.
That opened things for Ellis, who, after playing well against Purdue and getting his first collegiate start at home against Minnesota, found himself back in a fight for the starting job with Jackson in the days leading up the to last week's game against the Spartans.
After winning th job back in practice, Jackson had one of his best games since coming to Maryland this summer as a junior college transfer. The former four-star prospect who initially went to Florida forced a fumble deep in Maryland territory and also knocked away a potential touchdown pass from Spartans' receiver R.J. Shelton in the near corner of the end zone.
"He won the job back during practice and he played that way in the game," Buh said. "It's real simple. Our guys know that every seat is hot; you got to earn your seat at the table on this defense. It's a good battle. We're bringing the best out of one of the better players and we're developing a guy that can be better than all of them in Tino. …The competition is the motivation."
The competition will continue for another day here before moving on to Round 8 – Jackson vs. Ellis - in Bloomington.