This is unreal!! All turner did was come off the bench and beat Rutgers, beat Boston College and take us to a bowl game and this is how Ralph (Barf) treats the kid? It seemed to me that Barf fought with his decision to start Turner each weekend by hoping that Steffey(sp) would be well enough to play, Steffey has been injured each of his 3 years at College Park and has contributed squat to the team. This should really help recruiting in the future..........NOT! Everyone has to remember that Ralph's sucess hinged on the fact that he brought Blackney and Taffe with him when he came to College Park but after they left the program it fell to successive 6-5 seasons with play calling as bland as soft vanella ice cream...I say keep turner and get rid of Ralph!
ASAP!!

Practice >>>> Games

This is a complete disaster. I am amazed the Fridge could make such a bad decision. He keeps talking about practice performance. Well, I'm sure we'll have a very good "practice" team this year, but we won't win many games with Steffy as QB.

How many times does Steffy need to prove that he is not a legitimate top level college QB? We've all seen it repeatedly. He is serviceable at best. He seems like a really nice kid and I certainly don't want him to fail, but how many times do we need to see him blunder? This is obvious.

I sincerely hope Turner does not transfer because I would be shocked if Steffy is our starting QB by season's end. He will either be injured or benched, just like every other time he's played. The only question is - how much damage will be done by Steffy until Fridge is willing to admit his mistake?

I'm starting to regret buying the season tickets....

The state of MD has something in the drinking water:

Ralph F., Gary Williams, and former coach Billick all had a single flash of greatness than started believing they are smarter than they really are.

Very plain, very simple, but very distressing for us fans.

I am dumbfounded by this decision. Turner looked solid when he was out there and led the team to a bowl game when if looked like they had no shot at a bowl. I really hope something changes before the opener.

Turner is a winner on the field when it counts, Game Time!!! Some guys are just not guys who shine in practice, Steffy has never looked good on the field when it counts!

Are those of you who want to hang Ralph in effigy over this decision at practice everyday? Maybe Steffy has improved greatly over last year. Maybe Turner has regressed. And don't you think that Steffy'll be yanked by Franklin alot quicker this year. Let's not have a collective heart attack at least until Steffy throws his first INT or until after we only beat Delaware by 14-10. I hope Turner stays. At the very least, he'd be the #1 qb going into next season. And I believe he'll be the starting qb before the end of September. I hope I'm wrong and we go 12-0.

This situation has been blown out of proportion. I mean I will be the first one to say I think Turner should start instead of Steffy but right after a decision like this people react with emotion and it is not surprising to hear the possiblity of a transfer. I don't think he will do it he sounds like a maryland guy considering the circumstances. Come on Chris...Ride this out. wait for Steffy to underperform or get hurt and step in and save the day. You know coaches do the head game bit maybe he did this just to send a message to Turner saying this is not all sewn up as a starter. Were not at practice either so maybe Turner wasnt pushing because he thought he had it in the bag. Honestly, this is really getting me close to hitting the eject button of backing Terps football and Ralph since he is the captain of the ship. OR...maybe Ralph is trying to get him to leave since Portis will have full attention next year..........It is a bad situation that Ralph, and the fans, have made it bad for both Steffy and Turner...

I hope Turner doesnt leave. I am sure in the first game against the Blue Hens Steffy will be no better than 15-25 and 80 yards 1 TD and 1 INT. At least Turner throws down field- not his fault his receiver couldnt catch a cold last year let along a football traveling faster than a car on I95.

If Turner leaves then I have no hope this year- none. I dont undrestand Fridge here. He keeps talking about having great practices- well Turner has obviously had great practices since the decision not to mention very solid games last year. All Steffy has done is get a concussion against VT, Rutgers, and from his girlfriend tackling him.

The ghost of Vanderlinden says Ralph is a fraud.

BTW, King Ralph DOES have pictures of Debbie Yow!!

I have not been impressed by Steffy either but I think that we and Chris Turner need to remember that the starter at the beginning of the season does not necessarily = the starter at the end of the season.

Steffy is not as terrible as all the disgruntled Terps fans (?) make him out to be. The guy had a 121 QB rating and 67% completion percentage last year. Sure, you don't like the four picks. I am still curious enough about him to see him in there with the current crop of better receivers. He's the same QB who had the best-ever debut game in Terps history.

It's not like they can't still pull him if he struggles and put Turner back in (assuming he stays around). If Turner bolts I'm not going to blame the coaches, I'm going to blame the kid. (or whomever is telling him he can follow Joe Flacco to Delaware to try and become a first round NFL pick some day).

I think everyone's opinion of Steffy is polluted by the huge expectations that were built up around him when he was landed as a recruit. When he didn't turn out to be a Heisman candidate, all that fan hope turned into hate.

Not really sure what Ralph is thinking. Even before Steffy got hurt last year, he struggled against the weak part of the Terps schedule. Had more INTs than TDs. This was a real slap in Turners face. I don't want him to transfer, but would not blame him if he did.

Here we go again. Chris Turner will be the starting QB by game #2. Jordan Steffey always does well in practices and scrimmages, but he can't handle the pressure of a real game. NOTE: Lenny Moore was a TERRIBLE practice player, but he is in the Hall of Fame because of what he did in games.

I can not believe that Steffy is the starter. I had thought that the recruiting had picked up and we finally had something going.
I hate freidgen.
How much do you want to bet that the terps do not win both of the first 2 games against weak oppts.

Oh great! We will need to start the season with Steffey because Fridge has feelings for him. Earlier in the practice sessions, Fridge went on to say that Steffey was a teamplayer and that he had special feelings for him and that he had gone through alot. Stop with the pity party and win games. He is not going to win because he can not conduct a long drive, he gets sacked alot, he' too small and can not throw over the tall lineman. The biggest factor against him is that he can not see down field and goes for the 10-15 yd passes. Turner showed what he was made of by beating two top ten teams in a season. If I was a father of a promising qb, I would not let Fridge anywhere need him.
Fridge; that is a good recruiting tool to get top QBs by rewarding a player because you care about him and not what he is made of on the playing field. This is totally bs and the boo birds will be out in force. You can bet on it.
A coach is hired to put a good product on the field and not be taken over by feelings. I hope this is a dream. To waste 6 hours to go to a game to see Steffey bearly beat a nobody is not anything to look forward to.

so let me see...Steffy defenders tell me to wait until he underperforms and than Turner will be in. What will our record be at that point? Can I wait and pay my season ticket bill until he stops underperforming? I'm also supposed to look past Steffy's 4 INTs, 1-2 TDs and see he completes 67% of his passes and has a QB rating of 121. WOW, loser talk. Maybe we can give the Terps participation trophies so they don't feel left out at the end of the season.

I don't see why everyone is so high on Turner, not knocking the dude, but he was far from great last year, break down his game by game performance and its nothing special. Yea we beat Rutgers and BC, but I don't think either was a legit top 10 team... see what happens and let the season play out.

Thanks for staying Chris! Feel free to rescue this season too.

Chris really won the job last year after Jordan was injured. Yes, he could be inconsistent at times, but he had moments of brilliance. What's more, there was a spark at quarterback when he was under center that we didn't see with Steffy.

Ralph's the boss, and his record at Maryland shows he knows what he's doing, but on this decision he's dead wrong because no one should drop in the depth chart due to performance in practice. That just makes no sense.

In any case, t's just a matter of time before Chris takes over. It's a good thing he didn't transfer.

I wonder what Ralph will say to the media, Steffy, his parents and the program after Steffy suffers another concussion. He's had five already. One more could ruin him. Remember, it was Ralph who wantred Steffy to retire last season. The fact is, Ralph loves Steffy's fire and bravado and can't stand Turner's calm and cool demeaner. Problem is, bravado doesn't win football games. Turner has the better arm and a better grasp of the offense. He's a winner. With Steffy playing, Bey is eliminated from the offense. Steffi doesn't have the arm to go deep or the confidence to throw over the middle. On some ill-fated play, When the competition gets tougher, Steffy will run for it and get knocked out. And Ralph will have a lot to answer for.

Why can't you keep this blog up to date? old news dosn't work on the internet.

Steffy is terrible. More ints than tds, can't read defenses, locks on one receiver, can't react to blitzes, makes terrible decissions or worse just freezes. Opposing defenses are probably laughing and just dying to knock him out again. He's already suffered 4 severe concussions in his life (two at UM). Chris should stay. Steffy will leave ... to a chorus of boos (hopefully not injuried again).

Joe - I wish Turner would be in by game #2, but that is not likely based on what we've seen from Fridge. He is very stubborn and slow to admit a mistake. It will likely be several games before he makes the inevitable switch and the only question is - how much damage will have been done byt hen, and can we salvage the season?

Fridge has done great things for this program and I don't want this to be about bashing him. But he clearly has a blind spot when it comes to Steffy and picking QB's. Look at what he did with Statham and Hollenbach - all too similar.

Jim, You don't see why everyone is so high on Turner??
Hmmm he can READ and Memorize the play book, he can BEAT top 10 teams, he created an excitement for the Terps, ticket sales, the Media, his team, us FANS who buy tickets, caused amazing school spirit,and he speaks with class. Chris is not a California casual surfer dude, he is a well educated, well read professional level athlete who brings success where ever he lands.

His family clearly loves him, his team respects him and Oh his academic awards... TURNER is the ONLY Terp QB and we like Jordan very much. But QB..its Chris Turner #10 where do we buy the jerseys???
GO CHRIS, GO TERPS!