Diamondback Blogs

Obum Akunyili is a freshman defensive lineman. Originally recruited as an offensive lineman, Akunyili was buried on the depth chart before being moved to a depleted scout-team defensive line. Affectionately referred to as “Boom” by teammates due to a somewhat long first name - Obumnemeoburomnemeochukwuneme - Akunyili has shown much more promise as a defensive tackle and the switch has become permanent. Born in London and raised in Nigeria, Akunyili moved to the United States to attend high school, but his parents stayed behind. So, Akunyili was a Thanksgiving-day guest at center Edwin Williams’s household. “Boom” sat down with us for this week’s edition of Meet the Team.

Terrapin Trail: When coach Friedgen was talking about his Thanksgiving guests on Tuesday, he mentioned that you and [center] Edwin [Williams] go at it pretty hard in practice, so he was surprised to hear that you were going over to his house for Thanksgiving. What do you think of that?

Obum Akunyili: Me and Edwin are actually real good friends. We go home after games and I hang out at his place with him and Dane Randolph a lot. I moved from offensive line to defensive line this year, so they were my mentors, the people I looked up too when I was on offense. So now I’m on defense, and I just get fired up going up against them ’cause we can laugh about it after. I won’t say we play around on the field - things get pretty aggressive out there. Sometimes we’ll swing at each other, but I think I make him better every week.

TT: Which do you prefer: offensive of defensive line?

OA: I prefer defensive line. It lets you air out your aggression. Not that technique is not involved, but it’s more about aggression than overthinking. On offensive line, you mess up and it’s a sack. You’re scared of messing up, but defensive line, they love the aggression, running to the ball. You miss a tackle, you still help your teammates get the tackle.

TT: There’s 29 letters in your name. Can you even pronounce it?

OA: You serious? Yea, but it’s a great icebreaker in conversation, like, “hey, guess what my name is?” Some of the guys have fun with it. [Quarterback] Chris Turner, he can say the whole thing. It’s good times.

TT: Is there a story behind the name?

OA: In Nigeria, on my passport, the name is so long they wouldn’t let me put the whole thing in, so my official name is, “Obumneme.” So I came to America, and that was really hard for Americans, so people have nicknamed me “Obum,” and Obum was working fine. Then some people find that hard too, so it’s just “Boom,” and it sounds a lot more like a football name. And the worst are the ones that can’t even say that and just want to call me “O,” but that’s where I draw the line. I’m not being called a letter in the alphabet.

TT: Is there anything specific you’ll be looking forward to having at Edwin’s for Thanksgiving?

OA: We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Nigeria, so I’m just happy that I have something to do besides football. Just bring on the turkey and the bread and I’m good.

TT: It’s interesting because I asked Edwin earlier, and he said he isn’t the biggest turkey guy, so is there going to be a problem?

OA: Pfft, well, we might fight over that too. I mean, we don’t fight off the field, but there’s always a first time for everything.

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Figured I’d take a break from the turkey-eating and Terp-basketball watching to note this development that just popped into my e-mail in-box.

Wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (leg) and linebacker Trey Covington (back) are both listed as questionable for Saturday’s game at Boston College. Neither has had an injury history this season, but it will be interesting to see their capabilities Saturday.

It’s been an easy week for the Terrapin football team on the media side with no availability the last two days, and the Terps get the benefit of adding a pair of key players to the injury report this week without having to address it before game time.

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CANCUN, Mexico - Admittedly, I just love using that dateline.

Playing on the Galactic Ballroom floor at the Moon Palace Golf Resort and Spa that held no more than 300 people maximum, the Terp women’s basketball team rebounded from a halftime deficit to beat South Dakota State, a program that has been in Division 1 for just five seasons, 68-56.

The Terps were down 25-24 at the half, but suddenly seemed to remember their tremendous size advantage down low and stopped forcing up shots. After shooting just 36.7 percent from the field in the first half, the Terps turned that around to 56.3 in the second.

Guard Kristi Toliver scored 16 points to pace the Terps, but did so on just 7-of-18 shooting with five assists and five turnovers. Forwards Marissa Coleman and Demauria Liles and center Lynetta Kizer all added 15 for the Terps, with Kizer and Liles also contributing 10 boards.

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At his weekly press conference, Ralph Friedgen seemed to have recovered slightly from the disappointment he expressed after the Terrapin football team’s loss to Florida State last Saturday. Friedgen said he was pleased with his players’ demeanor and effort during their Monday practice, and that he felt his team would respond and play well, as they often have following dispiriting losses, against No. 20 Boston College this weekend.

Friedgen said his team would have their hands full with a Eagles squad that will be playing for a spot in the ACC Championship game. The Fridge seemed particularly impressed with the Eagles’ secondary, which leads the nation with 21 interceptions, and defensive line, led by senior tackle B.J. Raji, whose listed weight of 323 pounds fell under question.

“If he’s 323, I’m about 180,” Friedgen said.

Friedgen said he had spoken with his team about the implications this game could have. The Terps have no shot at the ACC Championship, but a win over BC would tye them with the Seminoles, who own the tiebreaker over the Terps, for the Atlantic Division’s best record and help secure a better bowl bid. Lose, and they risk falling into the middle of the ACC-pack, and drawing a lower-tier bowl game.

“I wish I could tell you what to expect from this team,” Friedgen said. “This is a special group of kids to me. I’m very disappointed for them. I really wanted them to win this thing. But like I said, that’s not going to help us against Boston College.”

Luckily for the Terps, they are playing a ranked team after losing to an unranked team. Going back to last season, the Terps have defeated their last six ranked opponents and followed their first three losses this season, all to unranked teams, with victories over ranked opponents. They’ll try it a fourth time this Saturday. The one difference: those losses came on the road, and the victories came at home. This time, they lost to Florida State at home, and will need to respond on the road in Chesnut Hill, Mass.

“Yea, I think we have noticed that trend now,” tight end Dan Gronkowski said. “Now that BC is ranked, the trend continues I guess - losing to an unranked team and playing a ranked team back to back. It’s what we’ve been doing all year, so we just got to keep it up now.”

But according to one, always-entertaining player, the Eagles might not be the Terps’ greatest nemesis this week. They might find that, oddly enough, on their Thankgiving dinner plates.

“The tough thing is probably not stuffing yourself on Thursday,” center Edwin Williams said. “Not eating too much so you won’t be able to perform on Saturday. That’s probably the first challenge.”

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Some observations compiled during the Terrapin football team’s 37-3 loss against Florida State…

-This game didn’t exactly go as planned.

-The Seminoles did not tackle well early on the Terps’ opening drive. Lansford Watson would have been wrapped up after about a two-yard gain on 3rd-and-2, and he turned it into 32 yard gain. Interesting attempt at trickeration two plays after Watson’s catch. Quarterback Chris Turner threw a lateral to Danny Oquendo, who threw a pass back to Turner on the other side of the field. Turner was open but he couldn’t make the catch. The Terps were eventually forced to punt.

-Obi Egekeze missed a 45-yard field goal wide right on the Terps’ second drive. On a night as cold as tonight, kicking the football is probably like trying to kick a rock.

(The botched trick play and missed field goal turned out to be a sign of things to come)

-Dave Philistin saved a touchdown by making a diving tackle on Seminole quarterback Christian Ponder who was running an option late in the first quarter. The Seminoles had a lot of room to run up the middle on that drive, and eventually ended up scoring on a 7-yard pass to Preston Parker to make it 7-0.

-Chris Turner underthrew Darrius Heyward-Bey on the Terps’ first offensive play after Parker’s touchdown. Turner hasn’t looked as sharp as in recent weeks. He’s been rushed and knocked around by the Seminoles.

-Da’Rel Scott got stripped cleanly and Seminole linebacker Derek Nicholson returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 early in the second quarter. It started looking then like the Terps were destined for another letdown. Turner throwing a pick on a tipped pass on the next possession didn’t instill any confidence either.

-Linebacker Alex Wujciak is playing an excellent game for the Terps. He’s making big tackles, knocking down passes, and keeping the defense fired up.

-Myron Rolle just trotted onto the field with about six minutes left in the second quarter. He won a Rhodes Scholarship earlier in the day. You may have read about that.

-It looked like the Terps were onto something when they were driving shortly before the half, but Turner threw into triple coverage and was picked off by Toddrick Verdell. Antone Smith’s 1-yard touchdown run a few plays later made it 21-0 and had several cold fans heading for the exit.

-An eight-minute drive ending in a short field goal to start the second half didn’t help the Terps’ attempt to come back.

-Da’Rel Scott’s 41-yard run late in the third quarter was the Terps’ first positive play in a long time, and it was probably their last hope to really get back in the game. They needed more than the 34-yard field goal they settled for.

-The crowd has seriously thinned out by the start of the fourth quarter. When Scott fumbled again with 13:19 left, thousands more poured toward the exits.

-This game was a disaster from beginning to end. What could have been a magical night turned into a depressing, premature end to anything meaningful in an up-and-down season. All that’s left now is another mediocre bowl game.

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