Football News

It was a big week for the football team as Coach Friedgen and staff as the Terps picked up their 8th, 9th, and 10th verbal commitments for the Class of '08. First, on Thursday, WR Kerry Boykins chose the Terps over ACC rivals Virginia and North Carolina. Rivals.com rate Boykins quite highly, tabbing him not only as a four-star prospect, but also as the #22 WR in the country and the #5 prospect in the state of Virginia.

Later that night OL RJ Dill officially chose the Terps over Connecticut. Rivals rated the three-star prospect as the #61 OT in college and the #28 in Pennsylvania. And finally, another three star player joined the Terps today. Gary Douglas, the #21 player in North Carolina as well as the #50 RB in the country joined the Terps as their first running back commitment in the class of '08.

The Terps '08 recruiting class is still very much a work in progress, but with about half the class filled, it looks very promising. The coaching staff has already locked up 3 four-star players plus two more three-star prospects. After getting their first six recruits from Maryland or DC, the staff has collected the following four prospect from other states along the East Coast. With many promising prospects still looking at the Terps the best might be yet to come.

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The ACC had their media day for football this week. The preseason rankings and all-ACC teams were released. Maryland was picked to finish 5th in the ACC Atlantic, ahead of only North Carolina State. The Terps' two representatives on the all-conference teams are Darius Heyward-Bey and Andrew Crummey.

While it would have been nice to see the team ranked a bit higher, it's understandable that with so many questions the media isn't looking too favorably on the Terps just yet. In reality, Maryland could finish fifth. But the Atlantic should be wide open, and any of the top five teams could finish in any order without qualifying as too much of a surprise. As the time draws nearer I'll like a little more in depth at the conference and where Maryland fits into the picture. Camp opens on August 6th.