Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen has a default answer whenever he’s asked about playing true freshmen.
It goes something along the lines of “I’m gonna do what I’ve gotta do to win games.”
It’s tried and true. And, really, what else should he say?
But with only three regular-season games and a bowl left, that philosophy gets tweaked a little bit.
Two guys in particularly would seem to be affected.
There’s A.J. Francis, who still has a chance to factor into a reshuffled defensive line. And there’s Demetrius Hartsfield, who might be one injury away from playing at weak-side linebacker in some capacity.
The Hartsfield scenario seems more likely, but the Terps considered his redshirt while pondering whether to moveAdrian Moten to LEO after Rick Costa’s indefinite suspension
“At this point in the season, if we can afford to redshirt him, we will,” Friedgen said. “I don’t know if we will, but if we move Moten to play the LEO position then we would probably have to play Demetrius.”
There’s also the matter if Moten pretty much being a one-armed man at this juncture. He’s still capable as a linebacker, but as a rush end against an offensive tackle – that probably won’t work out too well.
So Moten stays at weak-side linebacker. And if everything works out in the next few weeks, Hartsfield keeps his redshirt.
