As a die-hard Terp fan I am really high on Turner. I think he catches way too much criticism considering the ACC doesn't exactly have a "standout" QB.
He is definitely on his way to earning some votes as all-time best QB at Maryland.

http://baltimoresportsandlife.blogspot.com/2009/06/look-at-chris-turner.html

Will everything come together for MD QB Chris Turner in his Senior year?

Maryland Football competes for local attention with all of the professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington Media-Market. Because of that, players at College Park are never going to deal with the constant scrutiny that exists at some SEC schools for example. However, with The Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Comcast Sports Net,and local sports-radio covering the Terps; it would be inaccurate to state that MD players receive no attention. When that local media has covered Turner these past couple of years, it has often been to point out how consistently inconsistent Turner has played.

To me, that inconsistency has to be somewhat expected with college-players. By definition they are not professionals, and should not be held to that standard.

That said, Turner has to perform on a more regular basis for the Terps to compete in the ACC Atlantic Division in 2009.

Everyone seems to know the book on MD's offense this year. There is a deep and talented RB core, an athletic group of inexperienced WR's, and a Offensive-Line with questions.

Philosophically, it will be interesting to see how Coach James Franklin runs the offense. If you believe the O-line will have trouble blocking, do you keep the RB's and TE's in and max-protect? Or do you spread the field, and make defenders pull out of the box?

Myself, I think MD would be well-served to attack defenses. Spread the field, and allow Turner to use the skills and athleticism of Torrey Smith, Ronnie Tyler, Kerry Boykins, Kevin Dorsey, Lansford Watson, and Devonte Campbell.
With defenders out of the box, the passing game can be augmented by the RB's who will have less defenders to break-through.

It would be different if Turner was younger, and less experienced. He is a Senior that has taken MD to back-to-back Bowl appearances. He has beaten California, Boston College, and Wake at home. He has beaten Rutgers, and Clemson on the road. Put the ball in Turner's hands, and give him the opportunity to make some plays.

Turner's Five Best Games
11/10 2007 BC: 21 for 27, 337 yards, 155.7 rating, 77.8 comp%, 3 TD's(W)
10/18 2008 Wake Forest: 28 for 41, 321 yards, 99.7 rating, 68.3 comp%, 1TD (W)
11/29 2008 @BC: 33 for 57, 360 yards, 73.7 rating, 57.9 comp%, 2 TD, 2INT (L)
9/13 2008 California: 15 for 19, 156 yards, 136 rating, 78.9 comp%, 2 TD(W)
9/29 2007 @Rutgers: 14 for 20, 149 yards, 91.5 rating, 70.0 comp%, (W)

2008 Season
214 for 374, 2,516 yards, 13 TD's, 11 INT's, 119.31 Rating

2007 Season
153 for 241, 1,959 yards, 7 TD's, 7 INT's, 134.54 Rating

Jeff,

You said it all in the last sentence:

"I think he'll have an excellent senior season if the offensive line -- last year's wild card -- provides him ample protection and a consistent running game."

Chris is a good college QB and leader. If he has the time to throw and isnt continually pressured or harrassed, I agree, I think he'll have a great season and we'll do well.

If the OL doesnt play well, then we could be in for a world of hurt.

While position/"skill" players usually get all the headlines and glory, teams dont win unless they control the line play. You win by controlling the LOS.

The fate of Chris Turner's legacy and the Terps season rests primarily with the ability of our coaches to teach and OL to gel together as a unit and play consistently. Creative play-calling based on what the OL can provide, may need to be adjusted from time to time as well.

The DL also has to "step it up a notch" (or two). Force the action, apply pressure, and increase the TO ratio. Give Chris and the offense good field position.

I am so looking forward to this season. AS always, It will be fun to watch the team perform and tailgate at home and on the road too!

Any chance you can join us for a pre-game tailgate during the season Jeff?
-----FROM JEFF----
Thanks much. I may have to take you up on your invitation. It will be a sociological expedition for me so I can study how real fans behave.

Wow, Chris! Couldn't you think of anything to write?

Here's the deal with Turner. Don't make mistakes. Remember Scott McBrien. Nothing special but McBrien could execute and made very few mistakes. The result? Big wins in the Peach and Gator Bowls.

The key to this years Terp team is the lines. Good lines and this team wins 8 or 9 games. (Didn't even mention the skill players, of which Maryland has a bus full).

Eight or nine wins provided Turner doesn't make many mistakes.

Key to Turner's success:

Ability of O Line to pass block and run block. Remember that this coming season's O Line is very young.

Ability of receiving core. We have a very strong set of receivers. If the O Line can protect Turner and give him time to make his throws, the receivers will have a great year.

Ability of the running backs. Their ability partly depends on guess what... the O Line. If the O Line run blocks well, these running backs will be damn good.

Not expert grammar and no editor, but I threw this together for a Terps football group, just to put Turner into "legacy" type perspective...

So I've been doing some figuring and while I'm sure that some of you know this already, there's a good chance that a lot don't....While Chris Turner has had his up's and down's with the Terps he is headed in the right direction to finish with one hell of a career record.
As it stands right now he sits at 4,475 career passing yards, which puts him in the 7th spot all-time career passing yardage.

He is a slim 86 yards away from 6th{Dan Henning '85-'87}, which I would say that he obviously accomplishes on a bright,sunny Saturday in California (which should be a small personal mile-stone for him being that he'll move up a spot while playing in his home state).[Week 1]

The 5th spot{Neil O'Donnell '87-'89} is 515 yards away and I'm going to say that he knocks this one down against Middle Tennessee State...That would average out to about 172 passing yards per game through the first 3 weeks.(His avg. last season was around 193yds./gm.)[Week 2]

The 4th{Sam Hollenbach '03-'06} and 3rd spot{Scott McBrien '02-'03} are only seperated by about 30 yards in the record book and Turner only needs 665/695 yards respectively to clear those. On this one I'm going to say that he clears 4th and lands safely in 3rd against Rutgers...Worst case I say he hits 4th against Rutgers and then makes it to 3rd against Clemson(which would be okay with me because that's the first ACC game of the season which happens to be at home.)[Week 3]

Then there was the 2nd spot{Boomer Esiason '81-'83} on the all-time list....There is a much bigger gap here with Turner needing 1,785 yards. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he moves into 2nd in a HUGE win over Va. Tech @ home during the blackout game!![Week 10]

I would like to say that Turner would be able to make it to the big #1 spot, but this would be no small task....starting the '09 season Chris would need 2,827 yards to surpass Scott Milanovich with 7,301 career passing yards. That comes out to average about 202yds./gm. over 14 games...Yes, that would mean we'd have to play in the ACC title game and a bowl game.
Now, while this isn't necessarily impossible it is fairly unlikely.....However, Turner could definitely give himself plenty of cushion to hold onto that #2 spot for a while.

Personally I am a huge Chris Turner fan and I would love to see him accomplish all of this(including #1) so let's all hope that he stays healthy, focused and driven....and that the O-line protects him long enough to throw the ball!!

GO TERPS!

Not a Huge Turner Fan. Maybe with Steffy gone and knowing the job is his, maybe he will play better.

Bad o line, 3 step drop and pass....get it out of there quick and let the "ton" of talented skill players run and make plays.

Florida State always use to just throw slants, and with the prime athlete making it look easy to turn a slant into a long TD. That should be part of our game. Let players make plays. Asking Turner to win the games will not work to well.

I hope he proves me wrong, with a monster final year. I just do not see it.

But that is why we play the games, see who can improve upon there past games.

Hoping for the best out of Turner, as there does not seem to be any second string QB pushing for playing time.

I've always seen the potential in Chris and he's handled the qb situation at MD splendidly.Now he's the man and let's hope the OL gells as a solid unit and can handle big time Div.1 DL's.If the running game stays a threat then Chris should have the opportunity to increase his overall value to the MD program.However,the wildcard for me this year is his defense and what kind of situations is that unit going to be putting the team in during the tough games(?).Are we going to keep it close towards the 4th qtr. or shall we always be playing catch-up and put a lot of pressure on the O to put up mega points to win important games?I think Chris would rather win the games more than pad any of his numbers and I know Ralph would like another chance to compete for that elusive ACC title.I look forward to this season and watching new stars develop in the football program.

Turner has leadership ability which is his greatest asset. I believe the play calling during his career has been abysmal, and on almost every possesion has put in him in alot of third and longs. He is constantly being asked to make perfect plays in critical situations. It takes a mentally tough person to deal with this constant pressure to be perfect every game.
There has been a stockpilling of lineman on both sides of the ball at College Park ,a much welcomed change of defensive philosophy. and we have a proven leader at QB.
Lets hope the Offenive play calling doesn't muck it up.