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Jamarr Robinson probable on Maryland injury report

Both quarterback Jamarr Robinson and wide receiver Torrey Smith are probable for Maryland entering Saturday's game against Duke, according to the injury report the team is required to submit for conference games.

Robinson missed last week with an injured throwing shoulder. Smith limped into the end zone during his touchdown in Saturday's defeat of Florida International.

Meanwhile, left guard Andrew Gonnella (ankle) is probable as well.

The full rundown:

OUT FOR SEASON

QB C.J. Brown (collarbone)
LT Justin Gilbert (left knee-ACL)
LB Ben Pooler (knee-ACL)
TE Lansford Watson (knee-ACL)
DE Marcus Whitfield (knee-ACL)

OUT

S Desmond Kearse (knee/ankle)
LB David Mackall (concussion)

PROBABLE

G Andrew Gonnella (ankle)
WR Emani Lee-Odai (quadriceps)
QB Jamarr Robinson (shoulder)
WR Torrey Smith (leg)

Sizing up Maryland's turnover turnaround

If one thing defined Maryland's descent into the abyss of an awful 2009 was its unflinching ability to make life incredibly difficult for itself in the early going.

There were all sorts of problems, such as a shaky offensive line and a limited pass rush in the first month of the season. But nothing stood out like turnovers --- just scads of them, each almost invariably leading to points for an opponent.

Things have changed in 2010, for reasons worth dissecting in a moment. But first, it's worth observing just how different things are. Maryland is off to its best start vis-a-vis turnover margin since 2001 --- by more than one a game over the first four contests of the season.

Fulper a factor on Maryland's offensive line

Keen-eyed offensive line watchers likely noticed a few extra series for Bennett Fulper last week.

Fulper started four games a season ago as a true freshman before shoulder surgery cut his season short. While he wasn't part of the Terrapins' first unit in September, he typically received a series or two in place of Justin Lewis at right guard.

Then last week, Fulper had a brief cameo at center to give Paul Pinegar a break.

"We thought he played pretty good," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "That's a plus for us. We want to get him in the game. The fact he can play both guard and center really does help us."

It's tempting, in fact, to look ahead to how Fulper might be used in his final two seasons. Pinegar is the only senior starting on the Terps' offensive line, so it would seem like an ideal fit for the Gretna, Va., native.

Offensive coordinator James Franklin seemed mildly annoyed when the topic of Fulper's fate in the future was broached, but did at least offer a comment certain to be in the discussion for quote of the year at the end of the season.

"Yeah, he's the center in waiting," Franklin deadpanned.

Franklin, of course, is Maryland's head coach in waiting --- and certainly has a sense of humor about his title.

Inside Lacrosse announces 2011 pro stadium events

Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, UMBC and Virginia are among the lacrosse teams included in two tripleheaders hosted by Inside Lacrosse next season.

Perhaps most notable is the the events --- March 12 at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium and April 3 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. --- feature different matchups than in previous years.

First up, the schedules:

March 12, Baltimore

Georgetown vs. Syracuse, 11 a.m.
Cornell vs. Virginia, 1:30 p.m.
Johns Hopkins vs. UMBC, 4 p.m.

April 3, East Rutherford, N.J.

Rutgers vs. St. John's, 1 p.m.
Johns Hopkins vs. North Carolina, 4 p.m.
Duke vs. Syracuse, 6:30 p.m.

Five quick thoughts on these matchups:

1. Cornell, Georgetown and UMBC have yet to be a part of one of these events. It's good to see some new names on a big regular season stage --- especially Cornell, which has made the NCAA semifinals three times in four years (and did play in a doubleheader in Foxborough last April).

2. A Duke-Syracuse regular season game is fantastic. Fans can only hope this isn't a year too late, since the Blue Devils lost two classes of seniors from their national title team.

3. Virginia's trip to Baltimore will be less tense than its last one. Mainly because it has to be, since the Cavaliers were last at M&T Bank Stadium when former midfielder George Huguely's arrest in connection with the death of Yeardley Love was a defining national story. It's no less of a tragedy now, but there won't be quite so much scrutiny when Virginia visits Charm City in March.

4. The games not listed here are just as important. Hopkins-Princeton, Maryland-Duke, Virginia-North Carolina, Hofstra-Delaware, Army-Navy and Maryland-Hopkins all move back to campus this season. As Syracuse-Virginia showed the last couple years, an added bonus of playing in these events for a couple years is also a greater appreciation for rivalry games when they are not played at neutral sites.

5. Mid-March will work better for the Face-Off Classic. True, it technically isn't the start of the season. But the odds of getting mild weather are probably better on March 12 than Feb. 28 (which is when the event was held in 2009). That's a plus for both fans and organizers, even if it now lands on the eve of college basketball's Selection Sunday.

Picks at the wire: Week 5

After getting tripped up by the Triangle schools last week (and ending September with a 28-10 record), it's time to turn things around.

Trouble is, there's more than a few games in the ACC this week that will make that difficult.

Nonetheless, let's see what can be done over a seven-game schedule ...

* Miami at Clemson (Noon, ESPN2): Hurricanes 27-24 (OT). These teams have had three one-possession games since Miami joined the ACC. Clemson is coming off a bye week following an overtime loss at Auburn, while the Hurricanes made a decent claim of emerging as the ACC's standard bearer with a rout of Pittsburgh last Thursday. Look for Miami to back that up in Death Valley, but not without a close call.

* Florida State at Virginia (Noon, ACC Network/Raycom): Seminoles 28-10. This one doesn't look terribly exciting on paper, and it probably won't be all that much fun to watch, either. Florida State's defense reset after its humbling trip to Oklahoma. Last week, the Seminoles recorded their first conference shutout since ... the last time they played Virginia. The Cavaliers are 2-1, but things are about to get a little dicier with conference play on the way.

* Virginia Tech at N.C. State (3:30, ABC regional): Hokies 26-24. This is a really fascinating game that will slip beyond the notice of a lot of fans nationally. There's the Tyrod Taylor-Russell Wilson duel, but each guy will be going against an intriguing defense. Virginia Tech just blanked Boston College, while N.C. State (still a bit of an unknown variable) was good enough to keep Georgia Tech at bay for all but about three minutes.

* East Carolina at North Carolina (3:30, ESPN3.com): Tar Heels 38-27. In case you are wondering: No, Gary Wichard and John Blake won't glide into Kenan Stadium attached to matching parachutes with dollar signs painted on them to deliver the game ball. But an up-tempo game does favor T.J. Yates and trusty tight end Zack Pianalto. Carolina won't score as much as Virginia Tech did a couple weeks back, but it should leave with a win.

* Duke at Maryland (6, ESPN3.com): Terrapins 38-34. Can Duke stop Maryland? Probably not, since it can't seem to stop anyone. Can Maryland stop Duke? That's the real question. If the Terps can get off the field with a little more efficiency, this could be a rare relatively easy conference victory for Maryland. But that's a big if.

* Georgia Tech at Wake Forest (7, ESPNU): Yellow Jackets 28-14. Georgia Tech hasn't looked like its usual self in the first month of the season, while the last two weeks are arguably the ugliest back-to-back games of Jim Grobe's tenure. This game probably doesn't have the stuff of being a visual masterpiece, so let's just go with Paul Johnson and his trusty Mr. October (Al Groh) and move along.

* Notre Dame at Boston College (8, ABC regional): Eagles 16-14. This one's a puzzler, other than the fact Boston College (a) will have a new starting quarterback and (b) it probably won't matter a whole lot. The Eagles are going to have to skate by with their defense winning some ugly games --- perhaps a more extreme version of their highly fortunate 2008 season. That might not hold up in the long term, but it might be enough to pick off a victory over a Fighting Irish bunch trying to break through under new coach Brian Kelly.

Week 3: 5-3 (2-1 ACC)
Season record: 28-10 (2-3 ACC)
Preseason picks record: 29-9 (3-2 ACC)
Preseason picks changed in Week 5: Miami-Clemson, Notre Dame-Boston College

More on the quarterbacks

Read enough on Maryland's quarterbacks?

No?

Then head over to CSNWashington.com and get another look at the Terrapins' situation under center in my latest contribution.

The headline begs the question: Is this a quarterback controversy?

Not at the moment, mainly because either Jamarr Robinson or Danny O'Brien was all but unavailable the last two weeks. It's tough to really stir the pot if there was only one credible option to use. That was the case for the Terrapins in their last two games.

For now, if anything it's a coaching controversy, because that's where the scrutiny is cast when your plan is to play multiple quarterbacks.

As for how it evolves into a quarterback controversy --- as in, turn much of the attention to the players' deeds, not the decisions of coach Ralph Friedgen and offensive coordinator James Franklin --- two things probably need to happen. The first is to outright commit to one guy. The other is for Maryland's offense to sputter once that occurs.

Disagree? Feel free to weigh in. But be sure to take a look at the other side of that link first.

Franklin's eyes in the sky

A few readers have wondered exactly how effectively Maryland offensive coordinator James Franklin can call plays when he is stationed on the field (where he moved in time for last year's game at Duke and has remained ever since).

This is a sort of delicate topic, but not for obvious reasons. Franklin is somewhere between amused and puzzled at the frequency of questions concerning where he is on the field. It isn't quite at the "Jerome Bettis is from Detroit" level, but it's often enough.

Regardless, the "who is on the headset with Franklin" was different enough he indulged the topic last night.

"John Donovan is my main man in the booth," Franklin said. "He's as smart as any guy I've been around. He's a smart coach, a smart guy, gives you great information in the booth. When Ralph was calling the plays from the sideline, that was his guy in the booth. He's really good at it. He's just an extremely smart guy, Hopkins guy. He's just extremely smart."

And there you are.

Left tackle a newer experience for R.J. Dill than you'd guess

R.J. Dill made his first career start at left tackle Saturday, a tidbit that would be noteworthy even if it was just the sophomore's first look at the position in college.

However, the 6-foot-7, 300-pounder was really in for a new experience with the position swap after Justin Gilbert was lost for the season.

"I've never played left tackle in my life," Dill said. "We ran the ball right a lot in high school."

There is a first time for everything, and it happened Sept. 18 when he swung over from right tackle in the third quarter of Maryland's 31-17 loss at West Virginia.

Coincidentally, West Virginia offensive lineman Nick Kindler played left tackle on the same line as Dill at Trinity High School in the Harrisburg, Pa., area.

Dill went the distance at left tackle against Florida International, settling into a role he will likely maintain for at least the rest of this season.

At least now, he has a bit of a sense of what's in store now that the Terrapins (3-1) are entering conference play Saturday against Duke (1-3, 0-1 ACC).

"I think part of it was getting your legs underneath you," Dill said. "Any game you have to work to get in the flow of things, but it's no different. It's the same old game. I'll work pretty hard to get the technique right this week."

Out of town Q&A: Duke

It's Wednesday, and that means a look at the out-of-town Q&A.

Today's guest is Bill Cole, a long-time writer for the Winston-Salem Journal. Bill was gracious enough to lend his insight on Duke (1-3), which will visit Maryland (3-1) on Saturday.

(He's his latest on the Blue Devils).

Let's get to the look inside the Blue Devils. ...

1. Duke is giving up 44.5 points and 466.3 yards a game after the first month of the season. Do the Blue Devils have a chance to look competent on that side of the ball, or is a series of high-scoring affairs their best chance to succeed this year?

BC: The defense is going to have to improve drastically to keep every game from becoming a shootout. Duke has more speed on defense this season because of Coach David Cutcliffe’s recruiting, but it hasn’t been able to mask weaknesses and shortcomings as Cutcliffe thought it would. A lack of playmakers the likes of Michael Tauiliili and Vincent Rey, who were tackling machines at linebacker, has hurt also.

2. Was Saturday a serious setback in quarterback Sean Renfree's development, or is it being viewed as merely the sort of hiccup a first-year starter might encounter?

BC: It appears to be an exception. Cutcliffe said that Army confused Renfree by changing its defensive coverage, leading to two interceptions in his first five passes. The start was only Renfree’s fourth at Duke, so he is still learning. Renfree was disturbed when looking at the game video and said he hardly recognized the player wearing his jersey because of body language. He was more concerned with his attitude on the field in the game and how he responded to the interceptions. He’s going to be a good quarterback, so I tend to write off last Saturday as a bad day.

3. Duke's running game was feeble at best a season ago. Is the improvement this year a product of Desmond Scott or an improved offensive line (or both) and does it seem like the rushing attack can remain capable deep into ACC play?

BC: Duke has two good young backs: Desmond Scott, the starter at tailback, and Josh Snead, the top reserve. Both run hard, especially Snead. It appears that Duke can keep running the ball all season because the offensive line has improved also. Both elements are much better than in past seasons.

4. Conner Vernon emerged as the top receiver in the ACC during September. Has he displaced Donovan Varner as Duke's No. 1 wideout, or is his production more reflective of extra attention Varner has attracted this year?

BC: Yes and no. Teams are paying attention to Varner, but Renfree seems more comfortable throwing to Vernon. (This is like the scene out of Airplane: Victor, what’s your vector?). Renfree promises to keep distributing the ball to all receivers, but it does seem that he considers Vernon his go-to guy. He constantly looked for Vernon in the Army game. Varner was not a big factor in the passing game then.

5. Duke made progress during David Cutcliffe's first two seasons, but matching last year's 5-7 mark seems highly unlikely after a 1-3 start. Has attention already started to dwindle in Durham, and do the Blue Devils have much of a chance to salvage their season if they can't win at Maryland on Saturday?

BC: Attendance dropped about 12,000 from the Alabama game to the Army game, but that’s somewhat understandable, given the Alabama football devotion. By the third quarter of the Army game, fans were leaving with the score 28-7. Interest is still higher than in the past, but it will disappear with each loss. I don’t see much of a chance for Duke to have a winning season now, unless an upset of Maryland sparks a run. Duke still has games against Miami, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and UNC left. Right now, there are no games there that you can look at and say that Duke would be favored to win.

Thanks again to Bill Cole for taking time to share his knowledge of Duke football.

Wideout Torrey Smith still hurting, expected to play

Torrey Smith limped into the end zone in Maryland's defeat of Florida International on Saturday.

And while the wideout shrugged off any injury on Saturday, coach Ralph Friedgen acknowledged the junior is not completely healthy.

"He's been limited in practice, but we anticipate him playing," Friedgen said on the ACC teleconference Wednesday. "It hurts him when he slows down. We're hoping he'll be ready to practice today or tomorrow and we'll see. He didn't practice yesterday."

Needless to say, Smith is arguably the most crucial piece of the Terrapins' offense. Smith has 355 yards and five touchdowns, both of which account for more than half of Maryland's total in September.

Regardless of what degree of "anticipating" Friedgen is doing this week, it's safe to say he's doing a lot of "hoping." Don't be shocked if Friedgen makes a reference to a rosary in connection with Smith's health at some point or another. A little bit of prayer probably wouldn't hurt Maryland at this stage if it helps keep their top offensive weapon on the field.