Maryland offensive coordinator Walt Bell believes sophomore quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome, the Terps' starter for their opener at Texas Sept. 2, is a much different player than the one who made the first start of his collegiate career against Minnesota last October.
Pigrome's numbers against the Gophers -- 18 completions for 161 yards and 24 rushes for 80 yards during a 31-10 loss-- don't necessarily tell the tale of how much Pigrome struggled that day. He missed a wide-open D.J. Moore on a crossing route on third-and-short on the Terps' opening drive of the game to force a punt, and his next pass was intercepted. Maryland's offense punted seven times before scoring. Most of Pigrome's production came in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach, and the vast majority of his 24 runs weren't designed.
"The ability to play that poorly as a true freshman, as an 18-year-old kid when all your family's watching, expecting to see the same kid that threw for 400 and ran for 100 in the state championship game, when that doesn't happen, that can rattle you a little bit," Bell said during the Terps' media availability Aug. 30. "Some people don't handle that well. He handled it as well as he could. I'm sure there were some dark moments there, but that growth hopefully has led to what we'll see on Saturday."
