Lorenzo Harrison named Big Ten Freshman of the Week
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- After racking up 105 rushing yards and a touchdown in Maryland’s 28-17 win against Michigan State on Saturday night, Terps running back Lorenzo Harrison has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday.
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“Very excited for Lorenzo,” Maryland head coach D.J. Durkin said. “It’s well-deserving. He’s been playing very well for us.”
Through Maryland’s first seven games this season, Harrison leads the Terps in rush attempts (65), rush yards (502) and rush touchdowns (five). The Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic graduate is averaging 71.7 yards on the ground per game and 7.7 yards per carry.
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Harrison has helped the Terps’ backfield average 249.6 yards per game, which currently ranks third in the Big Ten. Maryland’s other tailbacks have also been productive this year, and while Durkin wants to maintain a healthy running back rotation, he has no plans on pulling the reins back on Harrison any time soon.
“We’ll keep rotating our guys back there,” Durkin said. “I think that’s a strength of ours. I think it helps all of those guys be able to stay fresh and run the way they are. So we’ll keep the rotation going but obviously he’s become very productive for us. He’s playing like a veteran and we want him to play like a veteran..We’re certainly not going to slow him down or put limits on him.”
The 5-foot-8, 193-pound Harrison currently ranks fifth nationally among true freshmen in both rushing yards and rushing yards per game. He’s on pace to break LaMont Jordan’s Maryland freshman record of 689 rushing yards in a single season, set in 1997.
Harrison’s shiftiness and ability to break tackles have helped him bust open many big runs for Maryland this season, which has led to several trips to the end zone for the first-year Terp. In fact, he became the first Maryland freshman in school history to score a rushing touchdown in each of his first four games.
“Just by stature, he’s a very tough guy to tackle,” Durkin said of Harrison. “He’s very thick and compact. He’s got great, explosive short-area quickness. He’s been blessed with a lot of talent and ability. He’s also a competitor and plays at a high level. He’s a guy that we point out for effort many times. When you have a guy with that kind of ability that plays with relentless effort, you have something special.”
Harrison and the Terps return to action on Saturday at Indiana. The game is set to kick at 3:30 p.m. on ESPNU.