McFarland finding way in crowded backfield
Redshirt freshman puts himself in running back mix
COLLEGE PARK – As Maryland heads toward the end of spring football practice with Saturday’s annual Red-White spring game, one thing appears clear about the rotation of running backs third-year coach DJ Durkin and new offensive coordinator Matt Canada plan to use.
With senior Ty Johnson as the marquee player, it’s a deeper pool of talent at the position than the Terps have had in quite awhile — maybe in their history. At least part of the reason is redshirt freshman Anthony McFarland.
How big a part won’t be evident until the season begins Sept. 1 against Texas at FedEx Field, though the 5-foot-8, 195pound McFarland has already started to think about that day. In truth, it is something he has thought about for many years.
“It’s going to feel good, playing in front of my family, my friends. I’m from here, [so] every time I step on the field, even my first game, it’s going to mean a lot to me,” McFarland said Thursday after practice. “That’s kind of my dream and what I always wanted to do and dreamed for.”
McFarland, a former four-star prospect who sat out last season while fully recovering from the leg injury that kept him out his senior year at nearby DeMatha Catholic High, has shown throughout the spring that Durkin made a prudent decision redshirting him.
Asked how different it feels this spring than it did last summer, McFarland said: “It feels a lot different. Coming in last year, still coming off my injury from high
school, I kind of had to sit back and understand I wasn’t ready to come and play like they wanted me to.
“There were days when I first came in, I was down because I knew I wanted to play. But at the end of the day, guys like Ty and Jake [Funk] and good leaders of the team came and wrapped their arms around me and told me that everything was going to be OK … and keep working.”
McFarland acknowledged that the inactivity led to his weight shooting up with his own version of the “freshman 15” that seems to affect many new college students. It wasn’t until winter workouts, when he started to drop the pounds and get his speed back, that McFarland started feeling like himself.
“When I was hurt, that was like a depressing time for me. All I was doing was lifting and putting bad things in my body,” he said. “I had to mature and get better and understand that I had to treat my body right. I felt my twitches [in his legs] come back to normal.”
With both Johnson and junior Lorenzo Harrison III, a former DeMatha teammate, being given fewer reps in the spring so that Durkin can better assess the depth behind them, McFarland’s quickness to burst through holes and his ability to make defenders miss in the open field will add to a rotation that also features Funk, a junior, and sophomore Javon Leake.
“They’re all pushing each other, and Anthony really finally looks his old self right now,” Durkin said after a practice last week. “He’s been tremendous at practice … And now he’s finally looking like the guy that we all knew who he is. He’s explosive. He’s dynamic.”
Said senior center Brendan Moore: “He can make some people miss, man. That guy, he can get a little sauce on people. It’s pretty crazy if he gets a linebacker or a safety squared up. It’s going to be hard to take him down.”
Still, based on what Johnson has done in leading the Terps in rushing the past two seasons and what Harrison demonstrated early in his freshman year before being suspended, as well as in spurts last season, McFarland is going to have to be patient. It is not something new to him. DeMatha coach Elijah Brooks recalled Thursday how he told McFarland the same thing when he was coming out of middle school. At the time, the Stags had three Division I prospects at running back in seniors Taiwan Deal and Mark Allen, as well as Harrison, a sophomore.
“At the time, Anthony knew the obstacles he would face, but he chose DeMatha because it was the most realistic situation to what college is going to be,” Brooks said. “He knew that he was going to be an All-American [in high school] and he was going to be courted by all the top universities around the country and no matter you go, they have talent.”
It didn’t faze McFarland, then or now.
Nor does he come into his first healthy college season bigheaded.
“Ever since I was a kid, I was used to playing against players just as good as me … so I never want people to think I’m coming in thinking I want to be that guy. I just want to make plays and help Redshirt freshman Anthony McFarland’s elusive style adds to Maryland’s talented mix of running backs. my team win football games,” McFarland said. “It’s one of the big reasons I came here.”
By his sophomore year at DeMatha, as he was rushing for 1,124 yards and averaging better than 10 yards a carry, the offers started pouring in. Ranked the No. 3 running back in the country as a junior, McFarland eventually chose Maryland over Penn State, Alabama and Georgia.
Even after he broke his leg before his senior year, McFarland knew he wanted to be a Terp.
“Everybody knows I was up here all the time after school,” he said.