QB Competition Is On (Again)

"You want to boo someone? Boo me. Don't boo the kids."

We were booing you (and Franklin).

Booing is bordeline pathetic. If you people want to boo, go to a Phillies or Yankees game with those pathetic fair weather fans.

I am not happy with MD in the slightest, we barely won and could have lost. We have time to get things straight, but it has to happen quickly.

As fans, we need to be as positive and supportive as we can on game day, whoever is the QB etc. After the game, gripe all we want, but during the game we have to support our team (as they sure as heck need it).

winning A game is not enough

When the coach needs to make the qb decision by team vote and announce it; than you have lost alot of creditability with the team and the fans. That was bs on Fridge's part and a total copout. If you can not justify your decision based on player ability than you have no heart for the game. Make a decision, stick by it but don't get the players involved because you can not justify it. Byrd will soon be seeing alot of empty seats if the excitement is not back with less conservative plays. Everybody and their grandmother knew what Portis was setting up for.Does Franklin have any plays that we haven't seen? Terps need to use their speed not the lack of skills that Steffy gives us. Saturday's game was a yawner expect for the RB's.

Coach Ralph is getting delusional if he, in his majesty, thinks the fans were booing Steffy. Face it ,how can the fans show their dismay with the coaching and with the flow of the game. HE is the one who is being told that he no longer seems to have the ability to run a top flight football program; but he isn't listening. It would appear that his ego is growing to compete with his size as his competence has shrunk.

Well, this seems to open the starting position up to either Turner or Portis.

Since practice seems to be a referendum on RF's credibility, I hope one of these quarterbacks seizes this opportunity.

Turner played the right hand in not transferring. I think he knew full well he'd get his shot sooner rather than later.

As for booing, come on, this is not Pop Warner football. I would hope the egos are not that fragile on this football team!

Ralph is so out of touch with reality...he thinks the boos are not for him and Franklin. Loved the new offense...just like the old offense. Ralph is BSing his way out of a $2M job.

Turner played well last year, and shouldve been the obvious choice coming into the year. Steffy has had his chances. If he cant throw the ball against Delaware then it's awfully hard to have any confidence in him in ACC play.

I’m not very impressed with James Franklin. I now see why Kansas State and the Green Bay Packers weren’t exactly fighting to keep him.

Glad that the competition is open once again. Steffy has trouble throwing the ball down field. I think the Terps have play makers at WR, and not just Bey. Turner needs to play and get those guys involved. I wasn't too big on the play calling either.

I’m not very impressed with James Franklin. I now see why Kansas State and the Green Bay Packers weren’t exactly fighting to keep him.

Posted by: Terps Fan | September 2, 2008 3:06 PM

Kinda hard to run a passing offense when the quarterback can't get the ball to anyone on a consistent basis. You had a problem with the running game? Franklin was a wide receiver coach in Green Bay. Left to go to K State to be an Offensive Coordinator. Look at the stats K State rolled up last year. He was never asked to leave nor did K State want him to leave. Franklin left because his mother passed away and he wanted to be closer to his family. Get your facts straight before you act as though you know why Franklin is no longer at either job you mentioned.

BOOOOOOOOOOO FRIEDGEN AND FRANLIN

I think the way Ralph handled Chris Turner in last week's game was atrocious. How would you feel if you saved the season for Maryland last year and be the third quarterback in the game. And I wondered how Portis could have been better than anyone at Maryland at the quarterback position.

The game against Delaware should have been over in the first half. If Steffy were any good, Maryland would have a two to three touchdown lead by halftime the way the running game was going. Even with Delaware concentrating on Maryland's running attack, Steffy was lousy throwing passes all day.

Does Coach Ralph really know what he is doing? His comments are absolutely ridiculous. For example, how can a coach say Steffy will win one game for us. However, that probably is a true statement-- he might win one game this year. And why did Ralph wait until today to get an x-ray of Steffy?

And what about his comment that whoever does the best quarterbacking in practice this week will be the starter? This guy is unbelievable. And, almost every time I see him on TV on the sidelines, he looks lost-- like he doesn't know what's going on.

Coach Ralph won 30 games in three years with another coach's players. Since then, he has averaged about five wins a year with his recruits. Maryland will never be again be successful under coach Ralph.

I can't wait to see tomorrow's Washington Post and see what stupid thing he has done today.

I've said it before and I'll say it again-- Ralph needs to go.

People were booing Fridge and Franklin, not Steffy. Ask MD fans and most will tell you that. You can see it in the responses here.

Most MD fans don't think Steffy gives us the best chance to win, and the fact that Fridge and Franklin STILL opted to go with him over Turner really diminishes their credibility.

Couple that with the fact that they came up with a BS excuse like "2/3 of the players supported Steffy" and you have a PR disaster on your hands.

The coaches started the wrong guy. Then they told the world that the right guy is only supported by 1/3 of the team and may have hurt his confidence by doing so.

K St. put up 45 points on North Texas. MD put up 14 on Delaware. Yet we have K St.'s offensive coordinator. But one thing hasn't changed, and that's the man running the ship.

Coincidence? I think not. But time will tell if they get the right QB in there.

"I'll tell you one thing: Jordan will win a game for us this year before it's over."

You're right coach: Steffy started the Delaware game and we won (barely). Congrats Fridge, you are The Amazing Kreskin...

Ok, Steffy'S a good guy and the Fridge feels like his daddy, but Steffy HAS GOT TO GO!

As much as I hate to say it Maryland is a mid major athletic program when it comes to Football and Basketball disguised as a Division 1 Power. Why can't we recruit in our own back yard like so many other schools. It can only be one thing and it's the coaching.

"I'll tell you one thing: Jordan will win a game for us this year before it's over."

Thats right coach he just beat delaware. He got his 15 minutes of fame. What about the other 11?

Oddly all the MD QBs choke under the pressure and lack of teaching Friedgen put them under. Every Qb but the one he inherited when he 1st got here looks exactly the same, indecisive and late on passes. I understand folks liking Turner, he does try to ignore the yelling and lack of coaching. But he is the least talented of the trio. Steffy is brain fired. I hope Portis can do more than just run left for 3-yards.

You think he will go Mike Gundy on us?????

I remembered the hype surrounding Steffy coming out of high school, but he is a 5th yr senior and has regressed.

I thought Steffy would be perfect for the West Coast Offense, but now it looks like the California Sunshine should get the nod behind Center.

Fat....Man....Must...GO!!!

BTW...We were booing you Fat Man.

I think Fridge's cholesterol has spread to his brain.

Just one more, in case the previous comments weren't enough:

RALPH....WE WERE BOOING YOU!!!!!

When you have receivers like Heyward-Bey, you need to call big plays and put in a quarterback who can execute them.

Steffy seems like a great guy, but he's not who we need to win games.

Ralph, your stubbornness is going to force you out of a job. You have to realize that many of the comments you read on the internet are coming from the same fans that are funding the Terrapin Club and the MGN.

free Josh Portis!!!

We saw what Turner was last year, a guy that can win you 7, maybe 8 games tops. Steffy can win you 5 or 6. But Portis? Maybe he'll crap the bed and you win 5 or 6 but maybe he 'gets it' and you win 9 or 10. I'm a gambling man...

I think RF should take a page from his best-buddy's book and say these 3 simple words to Josh Portis: LEARN THE PLAYBOOK. Notice it only took 1 game for Frank Beamer - the aforementioned best-buddy - to take the redshirt off of Tyrod Taylor after Sean Glennen's brilliant outing against ECU. To me it comes down to this: do you take your chances with a QB who could be the next Michael Bishop or Pat White (Portis) or with the QB who is another Joel Statham and/or Calvin McCall (Steffy)?

I personally do not boo college kids....I save that for the pros.
But the coaches (Fridge and franklin) are wrong here...they need to decide today who the QB starter is and get him ready for saturday night on the road.
We struggled against Delaware, and now another team we should beat handily is waiting for us.
Our defense looked good enough to win with, but the offense just couldnt get it going in the red zone. DHB and the other WRs need to get more touches. Get the ball to the playmakers. Throwing 20 passes is ridiculous. Lets see about 30-35 passes on saturday, and about the same number of rushes. We need balance in this offense. And the guy to throw those passes is Chris Turner. Start getting him ready tonight...not wait till the end of the week.

I hate to say it but i think MD fans need to hope that Steffy cannot play due to injury. We all know how wonderful steffy is in practice so if that is the criteria then he will be back in there. Steffy is now RF's adopted son, so at least the favoritism is out in the open. And like you all said, the booing was for big Ralph. Steffy does the best he can but it just isnt very good.

I hate to hear the booing at Ralph. With the exception of Bobby Ross, he's the ONE coach that has made the Terps a competing team, in my lifetime.

Some of you guys are pretty funny with your posts. It's ONE game and it went for a 'W'. I DO know that style points count as well, so take it easy because for that part I agree with you. However, fans knew coming into this weekend that the offensive gameplan for the Delaware matchup was going to be conservative. Prior to the contest, both Friedgen and Franklin that they wanted to scale back the downfield throws and throw the short "high percentage" passes to build Steffy's confidence and maybe that of the team in him. That right there says a lot, but they made their bed in dragging out the QB competition, so they had to sleep in it. With that being said, I'm not entirely sure why you were terribly surprised.

One thing I do take issue with is their use of Portis. HE needs to see more than 4 snaps/game. I know that Fridge claimed that Portis had the option to pass and he chose to run, but I don't buy that. EVERYONE in the stadium knew that his plays were designed runs and I'm almost sure he had someone in his ear directing him to tuck it. It seems to me that he needs to get his chance. While Turner was forced into playing last season because of injury, he had his chance and performed admirably. I'd like to see Portis given a similar opportunity. At least an extended look in a game situation. If he indeed has that 'wow' factor in his game it needs to be brought out sooner than later.

Many disappointing things about Saturday's game. UMD rolled up three hundred yards of running game yet only managed to get two scores. While Steffy's numbers were alright, he doesn't seem to ever be able to find the second or third read. He can't convert.

Okezie missed three field goals, which kept the game close, he missed two in the spring game and an extra point. At what point DO we lose confidence in him?

This should have been a 20 point win, but was a "one play" game in the end. For as hard as the boys worked this summer, it was a disappointing afternoon.

I only saw 2 of Obi's missed FGs, but they were from 47+ yard out and off-center, hardly "gimmes" and one fell just inches short, clanging off the crossbar. Take it easy, Obi's a good kicker.

All this piling on Ralph is ridiculous as well.

Wow, lots of strong opinions after 4 quarters of football.

Wow, short memories kids.Look Fridge picked Steffy because he WAS better in practice and he has been trying to get Turner to wake up and realize that he needs to be in the GAME at all times. I agree Steffy looked BAD, he holds the ball way too long,can't make a decision and by the time he does it's too late.With that running game going an adequate QB should have had a stellar performance with the stats to match. He had to see if Steefy could finally bring it to a game and he did. This should put Turner in the drivers seat and hopefully he can drive more than the 1/4 mile.Yeah he won 2 BIG GAMES, but he also lost 5 not so big,maybe a little hungar is what he needs and soon we will see.Is't this the time to get all of this straight the first 2-3 games, or do we wait for Clemson? The Backs and line looked great. One game and Fridge is a has been who won with other peoples recruits (recruits who by the way couldn't win with their recruiters).What would you rather have a better salesman/politician who can't win or a stone cold every where he has been winner.I'll take the latter.Fridge & Franklin will get this right,Turner will be the QB and the TERPS are going to be just fine.Anymore in this country there is nothing but CRITICS,whatever happened to Critique? Too many people on all issues HAVE TO BE RIGHT, we have turned into a country of arrogent,loud know-it-alls who speak incessently and say little to nothing.I'll take the Red Barbers' and the Bill Currys' of the world over the Jim Romes'and Steve Czabans' any day of the week.Cronkite or Limbaugh,class or crass, why don't all of you critics do us all a favor and humor yourselves with your wisdom and wit in the can in front of the mirror and save us the headache.

Ralph needs to spare us the sanctimony and get a QB that can get the job done rather than telling us how we should act at the games. I do believe Steffy is a quality guy and I wish him the best; we are not booing him, we are booing 4+ years of poor, to at best, mediocre quarterback play Maryland has had since McBrien left. We need a proactive QB that can win games for us, not play just to keep us from losing. Take away the Dukes, the Florida Internationals, the Citadels, and the Temples over the last 4 years, and the record is abysmal. And if that was a west coast offense last Saturday, give me the east coast.