COLLEGE PARK — The messages on social media began popping up the moment DeMatha running back Lorenzo Harrison announced early in his junior year that he was committing to play at Maryland.
They were mostly directed at Harrison's coach, Elijah Brooks, coming from already disgruntled Terps fans. They didn't exactly offer congratulations on the first player to orally commit to Maryland for 2016.
"They were just saying, 'Hey Coach Brooks, you're sending us all your worst players,'" Brooks recalled in a phone interview Tuesday. "I thought in my head, 'You guys have no clue what this kid can do for you guys.' They just saw a small running back with a three-star rating and thought they were getting the short end of the stick."
Midway though Harrison's freshman season at Maryland, the doubters have all disappeared.
After starting out near the bottom of what has largely been a five-player rotation at running back, Harrison has emerged as Maryland's leading rusher (502 yards) and one of the most productive freshmen in the country (7.7 yards per carry and five touchdowns).
The 5-foot-8, 193-pound Harrison has gained more yards than any true freshman in the Big Ten; only redshirt freshman Mike Weber of Ohio State has more (683 yard on 115 carries with four touchdowns) among first-year players in the league. Only Ohio State's Curtis Samuel has a higher yards-per-carry average (8.2) among all running backs in the Big Ten with at least 500 yards.
Among freshmen nationally, Harrison ranks behind only Weber, Texas A&M's Trayveon Williams (727 yards on 91 carries with five touchdowns) and Oklahoma State's Justice Hill (565 yards on 109 carries and four touchdowns). His yards-per-carry ranks seventh nationally among running backs with at least 500 yards.
With sophomore Ty Johnson, who has been even more explosive (10.3-yard average on 47 carries) at times than Harrison, the Terps one of the best running attacks in the Big Ten (249.6 yards per game), ranking third behind Ohio State and Michigan.
While first-year coach DJ Durkin said Tuesday that he plans to stick with his running-back-by-committee approach Saturday at Indiana, Harrison is making those decisions as to how much Durkin will use each more difficult.
"Like anything else, a lot of those decisions are based on productivity and how guys are doing," Durkin said. "[Harrison and Johnson] are both being very productive for us. We'll continue a healthy rotation. … The depth at that position is a strength of ours."
Yet it's becoming more obvious that Harrison is the team's breakout star this season, with Johnson also playing a leading role after showing flashes as a freshman. Harrison needs 187 yards in Maryland's last five games to break Terps all-time leading rusher LaMont Jordan's freshman record (688 yards).
In Maryland's 28-17 victory over Michigan State last week, Harrison carried 17 times for 105 yards, both season highs, and scored his fifth touchdown. Johnson, who has 20 fewer yards and 18 fewer carries than Harrison, had 115 yards on just nine carries against Michigan State.
Though many questioned the Spartans defensively, Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said, "Give Maryland credit. Those running backs made people miss. We had them dead a couple of times and they snuck out and got first downs or got the edge."
Even before he became the first Maryland freshman in history to have rushing touchdowns in each of his first four games, Harrison showed early in preseason camp that he might be ready to be part of the rotation at what Durkin said was his deepest position.
"That second or third practice where we tackle to the ground, and nobody could get him to the ground, you knew he had a chance to be something special, especially with what we do on offense," offensive coordinator Walt Bell said Wednesday.
After that, Bell said, "It was how fast could we get him ready to contribute at a high level."
The answer: Though Harrison was the fifth player to take a handoff in Maryland's season opener — cornerback and return specialist Will Likely got his first offensive touch before Harrison — he still finished as the team's leading rusher with 67 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.
The next week at Florida International, Harrison's first carry resulted in a 40-yard touchdown. He then had 15 carries for a team-high 78 yards and a touchdown in a double-overtime win at Central Florida.
In his first Big Ten game, a 50-7 win over Purdue, Harrison rushed for a 62-yard touchdown and was completely overshadowed by Johnson, who carried seven times for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Even in the team's two losses, Harrison played reasonably well.
"It's one thing to contribute in spurts, [be] a four-, five- or six-rep-a-game guy, just here or there. But for him to now be a 30- to 40-snap-a-game guy, being counted on in protections, [running backs coach Anthony Tucker] has done a great job with him," Bell said.
Bell also credits Harrison's work ethic and what Brooks has described as his former star's "even-keel" personality.
"He also has done a really good job in the way he practices," Bell said. "He has very, very, very few bad days from a mood standpoint, from a workmanship standpoint, which is very rare for a freshman. At this time of year, they typically hit the wall."
Bell said Harrison's stature and previous status as an overlooked high school player also plays into his success. Harrison was ranked the 55th-best running back in the country and was the lowest rated of the four DeMatha players to come to Maryland this season.
"In terms of his motivation, he's a prideful kid. He's got a chip on his shoulder," Bell said. "I think lot of that has to do with he's a diminutive guy, he's a little bit smaller. He's got a lot to prove, which I like. I'm the same way."
Not that Harrison has been perfect. His fumble at the end of the first half last week could have been costly had the Spartans not botched a fake field-goal attempt. Both he and Johnson have at times been tackled for big losses trying to change direction.
"For him, it's football maturity — when to get north and find a dirty four yards or when it's time to do what he does," Bell said of Harrison. "As a coach, there's a fine line. We don't want to rein him in too much. … You don't want to limit the creativity."
The kinds of plays he has made don't surprise senior running back Kenneth Goins Jr. (Gilman).
"When he's out there, you know he's going to make somebody miss, he's going to make some type of play," Goins said Wednesday. "He's out there just having fun. He doesn't really like to talk about it that much."
Exactly what Harrison thinks of what he has done so far at Maryland isn't known to those outside the Maryland locker room, his circle of friends and his family. In accordance with Durkin's rule that prohibits the media from talking with freshmen, Harrison was not available for comment.
Brooks is not surprised by what Harrison has accomplished so far and the manner in which he has done it.
"He was always a runner who gave second and third effort," Brooks said. "He probably had the best feet of any back I've ever coached. The one thing we continued to work on was his speed. His first year, we would often get on him about breaking long runs and getting caught."
Brooks also said that, as with many great running backs, "Lorenzo's extremely durable; he gets stronger as the game goes on. I'm not sure what they have planned. But the more carries he gets, the better he is. As the game goes on, he gets a feel for the game."
As for his size, Brooks doesn't believe that's a problem.
"He can take the contact," Brooks said. "Defenders have a tough time getting a shot on him. He doesn't absorb many big hits."
At Brooks' suggestion, Harrison started running track after his freshman year at DeMatha to work on his speed "to be able to finish his long runs." Harrison even tried hot yoga to improve his flexibility, particularly in his hips. On one touchdown run as a senior, he used both.
After running into a pile at the line of scrimmage around his team's 10-yard line, Harrison bounced to the outside, raced down the sideline, kicked off one would-be tackle around the 40 and then sliced between three more at one time just past midfield en route to a touchdown.
Bell said what coaches call "top-end speed" — the ability to break free and run away from defenders — is not a problem for Harrison.
"He's always been a fast guy," Bell said. "To me, there's three kinds of speed: too slow, fast enough and real fast. And he's fast enough."
Good enough, too.
Maybe even great.