Chris Turner

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Initially, the University of Maryland football team gives the impression that Chris Turner is all it has at quarterback. But as time goes by, there is a sense that the sophomore quarterback is all the Terps need. Turner, the third-stringer thrust into the starting roll after academic and injury casualties, will start again for the Terrapins on Saturday night when they host Virginia on Homecoming in a nationally televised game on ESPN2. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen confirmed Turner will be the starter, but made it sound like he didn't have any other choice since original starter Jordan Steffy is unavailable.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. ? In his first career start, Chris Turner threw for 255 yards, and Lance Ball ran for three touchdowns as Maryland barely held on for a 28-26 victory Saturday over Georgia Tech. Travis Bell sent a 52-yard field goal attempt wide right with 54 seconds remaining. Andrew Gardner was whistled for holding on the previous play, knocking the Yellow Jackets back 10 yards and preventing them from lining up for what would have been a 40-yard try. Turner had three passes of longer than 40 yards in the first half, including the first touchdown pass of his career, a 78-yard strike to Jason Goode.

Who will emerge to take the place of departed quarterback Sam Hollenbach at the University of Maryland? That's been the big question for Terps football coach Ralph Friedgen this spring. Tens days after the Terps wrapped up spring practice with the annual Red-White game, the question remains unanswered. Friedgen spoke to members of the Terrapin Club at Fountain Head Country Club on Monday night, but he never gave a certain answer as to who would take the snaps for the Terps when they open against Villanova on Sept.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - To Josh Portis, practice is a necessary evil. In fact, it is both necessary and evil at the same time. That's the world Portis is living in during the University of Maryland's football training camp. He is a player in the competition for the Terrapins' starting quarterback positions with Jordan Steffy and Chris Turner. By the same token, he is limited to what he can show. Portis, a cousin to the Washington Redskins' Clinton Portis, transferred from the University of Florida for a chance to be the Terps' quarterback.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Ralph Friedgen has had the University of Maryland football team traveling the road to respectability since becoming its head coach eight years ago. This season, the journey will continue and shift into the fast lane. Outside the usual talk of experience and depth during Monday's annual media day, one special five-letter word was added. Speed. "We've been trying to upgrade our speed since I got here," Friedgen said. "It is kind of like the situation we had when we had Steve Suter here.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Assessing the success of Maryland's season depends on whether you see the Humanitarian Bowl as half empty or half full. The Terrapins capped an up-and-down ride with a 42-35 win over Nevada on a chilly Tuesday night in Idaho before a crowd of 26,781. There were more empty seats than Maryland fans, yet those in attendance watched the Terps secure their fifth eight-win season in eight years under Ralph Friedgen. There's nothing wrong with finishing 8-5, but Maryland expected much more after beating four ranked teams to put itself in position to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Darius Heyward-Bey hears the question all the time. "Just how fast are you?" It all goes with his transformation from high school track star to star receiver and one of the more noticeable pass catchers in college football for the University of Maryland. The description goes like an old joke. How fast is Heyward-Bey? He's so fast, sometimes he has to wait to catch up to himself. "Sometimes I run too fast for myself," Heyward-Bey said during Tuesday's weekly media conference.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - University of Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen may have started a controversy by trying to stop one. The question was about the status of Maryland starting quarterback Jordan Steffy, who left last Saturday's game at Rutgers with a concussion just before halftime. The answer had more wiggle room than Jell-O on a cruise ship at sea. "Jordan is improving. He's questionable for this week," Friedgen said Tuesday during his weekly media conference.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Chris Turner's early legend is one more of image than substance. The lore started when the University of Maryland sophomore quarterback came off the sidelines to replace an injured Jordan Steffy on Sept. 29 at Rutgers and led the the Terps to a victory. He was a natural. The curly hair. The boyish charms. The rock-and-roll family background. And the West Coast laid-back, hang-loose, surfer-dude mentality helped make him an instant celebrity on campus. But yet, despite improving at his position as a starter, the Terps were 2-3 with Turner running the show and in danger of missing out on a bowl bid. Last Saturday, Turner added the missing substance.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Jordan Steffy answered Ralph Friedgen's prayers ... twice. As the University of Maryland's head coach and offensive coordinator, Friedgen admitted he only wanted the very best for Steffy in his first start at quarterback. "I was praying for him," Friedgen admitted after the Terrapins' 31-14 victory over Villanova on Saturday at Byrd Stadium. "He didn't play tight. He played like he has been at practice. He was out there having fun. " Steffy did all he needed to do in efficient fashion with his 19-of-24 passing for 174 yards and his 47 yards rushing and one touchdown in his long-awaited starting debut.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Coming off a 2-10 season and with only two years left on his contract, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen feels pressure to win in 2010. Not necessarily for himself, but for the players whose hard work has gone unrewarded. After the Terrapins dropped their final seven games to finish with double-digit losses for the first time in school history, there was speculation that Friedgen would be fired. He was ultimately given the opportunity to make things right this year, the penultimate season before the 63-year-old coach is slated to step down to allow the ascention of offensive coordinator James Franklin to the head post.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -- Assessing the success of Maryland's season depends on whether you see the Humanitarian Bowl as half empty or half full. The Terrapins capped an up-and-down ride with a 42-35 win over Nevada on a chilly Tuesday night in Idaho before a crowd of 26,781. There were more empty seats than Maryland fans, yet those in attendance watched the Terps secure their fifth eight-win season in eight years under Ralph Friedgen. There's nothing wrong with finishing 8-5, but Maryland expected much more after beating four ranked teams to put itself in position to play for the Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- University of Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen admits there are times he reaches in his pocket for a little extra help during a game. "The way things were going wasn't the way I hoped," Friedgen said. "I reached for my rosary and things turned out all right. " There were no divine signs for the Terrapins on Saturday - outside of maybe a picturesque rainbow early in the second half - but there definitely was some inspiration as Maryland pulled out a 17-15 victory over No. 17 North Carolina at Byrd Stadium.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland took most of the final 4:50 of Saturday's game with North Carolina State to drive 89 yards for a 20-yard Obi Egekeze field goal with six seconds remaining for a 27-24 victory that may well give some definition to a Terrapins season that has changed altitudes more than a drive in the mountains. It was the defining moment of Maryland's season. "This is a big win ... a crucial win for our season," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Darrius Heyward-Bey is a great decoy. But the University of Maryland's offense and its speedy receiver both realize he makes a much better live target. The Terrapins took the bull's-eye off Heyward-Bey's back and put it squarely on Wake Forest's defense as they allowed him to do what he does best. Catch passes. Heyward-Bey had 11 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown on Saturday as the key component in Maryland's 26-0 blanking of No. 21 Wake Forest, which not only put the Terps back in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Atlantic Division chase, but put them in early control with a tie for the lead and the tiebreaker in hand.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Darius Heyward-Bey hears the question all the time. "Just how fast are you?" It all goes with his transformation from high school track star to star receiver and one of the more noticeable pass catchers in college football for the University of Maryland. The description goes like an old joke. How fast is Heyward-Bey? He's so fast, sometimes he has to wait to catch up to himself. "Sometimes I run too fast for myself," Heyward-Bey said during Tuesday's weekly media conference.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The University of Maryland football team approached its game like Paris Hilton looks at a party dress. If you don't like it, change. It worked for the Terrapins, who transformed from wallflowers to runway idols with a 35-27 win over No. 23 California. It came a week after Maryland was basically humiliated in a 24-14 loss at Middle Tennessee State. "They told me it was a new season," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said. "(Offensive coordinator James)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It started out as an important first game for the University of Maryland football team. There was supposed to be a new offense, a new defense, new running backs and a renewed start for a quarterback who started last season. In the end, though, the Terrapins' 14-7 win over Delaware came off sounding like a text message among friends. "A 'W' is a 'W,'" said Maryland center Edwin Williams. It was the universal thought that seemed to be passed along every cell phone owned by the Terrapins and transferred to the handsets of the media just for emphasis.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Ralph Friedgen has had the University of Maryland football team traveling the road to respectability since becoming its head coach eight years ago. This season, the journey will continue and shift into the fast lane. Outside the usual talk of experience and depth during Monday's annual media day, one special five-letter word was added. Speed. "We've been trying to upgrade our speed since I got here," Friedgen said. "It is kind of like the situation we had when we had Steve Suter here.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Chris Turner's early legend is one more of image than substance. The lore started when the University of Maryland sophomore quarterback came off the sidelines to replace an injured Jordan Steffy on Sept. 29 at Rutgers and led the the Terps to a victory. He was a natural. The curly hair. The boyish charms. The rock-and-roll family background. And the West Coast laid-back, hang-loose, surfer-dude mentality helped make him an instant celebrity on campus. But yet, despite improving at his position as a starter, the Terps were 2-3 with Turner running the show and in danger of missing out on a bowl bid. Last Saturday, Turner added the missing substance.