On game day, Torrey Smith is a whirlwind of dreadlocks, speed and big-play catches. None of this provides a hint of the hurdles the former Maryland Terrapin had to overcome to become the deep threat the Baltimore Ravens needed to make it to the Super Bowl.
Maryland football coach Randy Edsall digested the prospect of the Terrapins moving from the Atlantic Coast Conference to the Big Ten, a move that would fundamentally alter the approach his program takes moving forward.
Maryland is the last team standing in the ACC without a conference loss. It's only mid-October. It's only after two games.
A full understanding of Maryland defensive end Joe Vellano does not stem from his quickness and savvy, though it is a defining trait for his success.
Mike Locksley spent last autumn in quite a new way. He watched his 15-year-old son's football games every week. He took his daughter to school. He embraced the quality family time that admittedly eluded him for more than two decades.
The familiarity between Maryland football coach Randy Edsall and his players is substantially better as he enters his second season.
College athletics is sashaying toward a tipping point. I say "sashaying" because it suggests a certain obliviousness, a lack of self-awareness, and the folks in college sports have always scored high in those particular categories. High enough to qualify for an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
BORN: October 23, 1969.
Maryland’s nine football assistant coaches earned at least 19.5 percent more than the previous year’s staff this fall according to contracts obtained through an open records request.
After the football games have ended and the leftovers have been stored comes Black Friday, which is supposed to be followed by another uber-shopping spree, Cyber Monday.
Well, now what? Maryland's football season arrived at its long-since-ordained final stop Saturday, a 56-41 loss at N.C. State that featured a wasted 27-point lead in the last 21 minutes and served as the final piece in an ugly 2-10 year.
The last realistic accomplishment the Maryland football team could hope to achieve this season was ruining someone else's postseason aspirations.
Maryland's record slowly has come ever-closer to aligning with the forgettable 2-10 mark of two years ago.
Continuing to get better. Whether in the wake of an opening-week victory or the onslaught of losses against major-college opposition that's followed, it remains a consistent mantra from Maryland coach Randy Edsall.
On Friday nights, Cavaliers football players hold a brief practice in the stadium they'll play in the next day.
"I see his hands improving and I see someone very confident in what he does," said Friedgen, who was fired after the 2010 season. "When you can beat a guy like Champ Bailey twice, that can only help your confidence. Around the league, everyone knows that to beat the Ravens, you have to stop Torrey."
Torrey Smith overcomes tragedy, becomes Ravens' big-play guy →
In the spring of 2010, the switch was made, and then-coach Ralph Friedgen said speed and strength could serve Hampton well on the defensive line.
