Profiles in Terpage: Clarence Murphy, real-life superhero

Clarence Murphy, Junior (RS), Outside Linebacker, #98

Stats:

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 245

Twitter: Couldn't find any

Collegiate Stats: Four tackles (three assisted) in eight games

High School Stats (Senior Year): 75 tackles, 12 sacks, three deflected passes

247sports composite Ratings: Three stars, 38th-best strongside defensive end in the nation, 121st-best player in Florida

Who Maryland beat: Michigan, Wisconsin, South Florida, Florida International, Florida Atlantic

High School: Hollywood Hills

Hometown: Hollywood, Fla.

High School Highlights:

How'd He Get to College Park?

Murphy was thought to be a package deal with star teammate and cornerback Tony Grimes coming out of high school, and there was a time where it looked like they would go to Michigan together. Neither made his way that far north but they both showed an affinity for state schools beginning with ‘M'. Thanks to former defensive coordinator Don Brown,  Murphy committed to Maryland. Grimes ended up at Ole Miss.

Murphy chose Maryland because they were the first big school to recruit him, and he soon became very comfortable with Brown and Dave Sollazzo, who are no longer with the program. Other schools to offer the defensive linemen included Michigan, South Florida, and Wisconsin.

After his great senior season, in which he led Broward County in sacks, he was named first team all-County and played in the 2010 USA vs. The World game. He is also, as Pete reminded us in last season' profile, a super hero:

"We had an incident where a car overturned in a canal," [coach Scott] Barnwell said. "[Murphy] was with me and helped me rescue a baby and two people trapped in the car. There was a 2-year old in the car seat. The door had broken through and the car seat became wedged. On the other side, there was a lady unconscious in the water. It was kind of a nightmare - I can't even tell you. But [Murphy] completely ripped the car door right off that was trapped. I don't know how he did it, but he did it. It's a wonderful thing that he did. That's the kind of kid [Maryland is] getting in the program."

Murphy redshirted in 2010, and entered the 2011 season on top of the depth chart at one of the two defensive end positions. Instead, fellow Floridian freshman Keith Bowers got the nod, and as a redshirt freshman, Murphy played in just two games - recording one tackle against Miami and two versus Temple. He played in the season finale against North Carolina as a sophomore and appeared in five games last season picking up a solo tackle against Old Dominion. He was also a two time defensive scout team player of the week as a sophomore.

Murphy is currently listed second on the spring depth chart sitting behind Yannick Ngakoue and ahead of Yannick Cudjoe-Virgil. However, Cudjoe-Virgil was injured for the spring and it's likely that he will move ahead of  Murphy when the team begins practice in August.

Nickname:

"Boddicker"

Career Highlight:

Recording his solo tackle against Old Dominion in the second game of the 2013 season.

Dream Season:

Murphy beats out one of the Yannicks and earns some playing time as a back-up.

2014 Prospectus:

As noted above, Clarence Murphy is slotted as the back-up  at WILL, but with Yannick Ngakoue locked in as the starter and Yannick Cudjoe-Virgil - who showed a real ability to get into the opponents' backfield in his limited playing time at the position, it's likely that Murphy will drop down a spot. Given his limited playing time to this point this wouldn't be a surprising outcome.

Yannick Ngakoue Played in all thirteen games as a freshman and seems firmly entrenched as the starter at the position. Murphy's main hope of seeing playing time this year is to beat out Cudjoe-Virgil for the back-up slot. However, with the relative performances of the two players to date, Murphy will clearly have to step up his game to compete for playing time, especially with four-star freshman Jesse Aniebonam coming in to the position.

Up Next:

Our next player shares his first name with a member of Michigan's Fab Five.

Standings:

Daniel Hamilton further solidifies third place.

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timmyw3: 6

Daniel Hamilton: 4

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