Terp Safety Kearse Burns Redshirt, Fellow True Freshmen Mackall, Robinson Shine

Last week, two true freshman burnt their redshirts. This week, they were joined by safety Desmond Kearse. All three, surprisingly, looked great.

Kearse's debut was expected, and it happened on the second play of the game. Though he notched only one tackle assist, twice he seriously pressured Morgan State QB Donovan Dickerson, once directly leading for a sack for Joe Vellano. A super-athletic safety/OLB combo, Kearse was at his best when rushing the passer and pressuring Dickerson, which he's clearly natural at.

Meantime, last week's debutantes Matt Robinson and David Mackall actually shared the lead for Maryland in tackles. Robinson forced a fumble on a backwards pass (that he almost intercepted and housed); both quietly notched seven tackles.

As far as redshirt burns go, so far, so good. Certainly a lot better than last year's continuous stream of true freshmen seeing the field. Not only have all three seen real, non-special teams time, they've actually looked pretty good during it, too.