2012 record: 4-8 overall, 2-6 ACC
Spring Practice opens: March 2
Spring game date: April 12
2012 in review: The Terps started the season 4-2 and looked like the ACCs biggest positive surprise when their quarterbacks all went down with injuries, eventually forcing coach Randy Edsall to use freshman linebacker Shawn Petty under center.
Maryland lost its last six games to destroy the good will it built up with those early wins. The mood in the program isn’t what it should be.
Biggest hole to fill: There is no way Maryland can replace defensive tackle Joe Vellano. He may have been the best at his position in the ACC, and was one of the top DTs in the nation.
He’s a true football player to the core. His father played and raised his son to be a stud linemen, and he is. Second-team All-ACC as a sophomore, first-team and an honorable mention All-American as a junior, and this past season he was all-everything again.
Vellano was involved on 61 tackles as a senior, 14 for a loss of yardage, had six sacks, intercepted a pass, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. His attitude and leadership are even more impressive than his numbers.
Watch out for: Redshirt freshman Abner Logan would have played quite a bit last year if not for so many veterans also playing the position, so the staff opted to redshirt him for the season.
From Cambridge, Mass., Logan was rated by SuperPrep as the No. 4 player in New England two years ago and was ranked among the top 50 outside linebackers by 247sports.com. He chose Maryland over offers from Boston College, Penn State, Syracuse, Northwestern and N.C. State.
Logan was an accomplished running back in high school and also played basketball and ran track. Coaches have raved about Logan’s work in practice and believe once he’s on the field on a regular basis he will develop quickly into a consistent playmaker.
