On any given carry, there could be 99 yards and 11 opposing players standing in front of Keon Lattimore, but he sees one thing: the goal line.
“I’m looking to press that hole, I’m looking at the way the linebackers are flowing,” he said. “I’m reading my reads, my keys and my blanks, and after that I’m looking for the right cut, the right hole. Then it’s the end zone after that.”
The 5-foot-11, 223-pound Lattimore found the end zone a career-high three times against Villanova in Maryland’s 31-14 season opening win at Byrd Stadium last weekend.
Today, the Terps face Florida International at the OrangeBowl in Miami, which about 230 miles southeast of Lattimore?s hometown of Lakeland.
After Lattimore moved to the Baltimore area shortly before enrolling?and starring?for Mount St. Joseph?s. Lattimore emerged as one of the best players on the East Coast?so good that Miami, North Carolina State, Virginia and Maryland were among an array of schools who offered him scholarships.
“I knew he was a real high profile guy and he’s showing it,” said Florida International Coach Mario Cristobal, who was a former assistant at the University of Miami. “He’s the truth. He’s a real-deal guy.”
Cristobal?s Golden Panthers’ defense will try to stop Lattimore for the second consecutive season after Lattimore ran for 38 yards on 8 carries?an average of nearly five yards an attempt?in Maryland 14-10 victory last season.
“He’s just an explosive guy,” Cristobal said. “He can put a foot in the ground and get vertical right away. He’s going to make it tough to tackle him. He’s a two-dimensional guy. He’s a dangerous cat and we know that.”
Lattimore blossomed into a productive college player after dominating the high school level by amassing 1,937 rushing yards and 927 receiving yards during his final two seasons.
“I think I’m a little more comfortable with it now, considering coach Friedgen has opened up the offense so much,” he said. “He’s allowed his backs to catch the ball out of the backfield. He knows every player’s strength, he knows I was a receiver in high school. It?s important to show everyone that’s looking,” Lattimore said. “It’s my last time around. You can’t do it anymore after this. It’s my last time around at this level before going to the next level. When I get the chance, when the lights are on, my number is called, I’ll make the best of it.”
And so far, he has?proving that he may be good enough to join his older brother, Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, in the National FootballLeague next season.
“Now that we’re so close to it, we see it’s a possibility of it really happening, we always talk,” Lattimore said. “The most important advice that he’s given me is to stay focused, finish the season out. Nothing is set in stone.”
