COLLEGE PARK — DJ Durkin came to Maryland with a reputation of being more than a little animated on the sideline as an assistant, both in practice and in games when he wasn't coaching from the press box.
While that side of Durkin was evident during the spring and summer practices leading up to Saturday's season opener, it didn't seem to be as much during a 52-13 win over Howard.
Durkin certainly did his share of celebrating the early touchdowns at Maryland Stadium as the Terps scored on their first four possessions as well as on a blocked punt to take a 35-0 halftime lead.
Except for when one of his players was blocked from behind in the fourth quarter and two game officials walked Durkin back to the sideline after he went on the field to complain, the 38-year-old coach never seemed to get too upset.
Even when the Bison scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to take away a chance of Maryland completing its first shutout in three years, Durkin did little more than pace and crouch and cajole between the respective 40-yard lines.
Asked afterward whether his change in demeanor was something he had thought about in becoming a first-time head coach, or simply the result of being comfortably ahead from the start, Durkin said, "Probably a little bit of both."
"We make it hard on our players during the week," Durkin said. "We get after them pretty good because you're trying to create an environment of adversity of a little bit of panic in practice to where they can be suddenly in a game and go be able to execute."
There is a difference come game day, according to Durkin.
"To me, that's [the players'] day to enjoy themselves," Durkin said. "Obviously there's time when something requires a reaction to, but you want those guys to play, enjoy it and let loose and not worry. You want to make sure their locked into the preparations. When the ball's kicked on game day, it's, 'Go play. Go play hard, go play fast, don't worry about anything.'"
Senior running back Kenneth Goins Jr. (Gilman) said that Durkin "was probably going crazy over there," but knows that "he tries to stay out of our way on game [day]. He doesn't really want to mess with us unless there's something wrong."