“More than fine”. That’s what The Baltimore Sun’s David Steele wrote this morning. “More than fine”.
With all due respect to Mr. Steele, who has been writing since I’ve been alive, are you nuts?!?!?!
It may sound like bloggers and Terp fans are dumping on this kid, but there is no way that the Terp coaches can watch the tape from Saturday’s game and tell anyone with a straight face that Steffy was ‘more than fine’ in the first half. It’s right there on tape. As they say, the tape never lies.
First let me say again, Steffy is a good kid. He works real hard and I wish him nothing but success in whatever he does. Maybe it was the concussion he got in the Va. Tech game in his freshman year. Maybe it was some of the mistakes he made two seasons ago in relief of Sam Hollenbach. Whatever it was, he is a different player than the one we thought we were getting coming out of Pennsylvania 5 years ago. Remember he was the second ranked QB out of Penn that year behind Chad Henne (now with the Dolphins). He was a swift guy with a good arm. Now he looks scared back there. Not scared to play, but scared to make mistakes, scared to take chances. Perhaps scared to run with the ball after those heavy hits.
Let’s examine some of his first half plays. They let him throw the ball twice right out of the gate. The two screen type passes that the west coast offense is all about. It was about giving Steffy some confidence back there and he threw them fine. Most of us could have thrown those fine. Then they run the ball with fantastic results until a 3rd down, must pass down in Delaware territory. Here come the happy feet.
With the rush coming, the confidence is gone. He’s looking around, eyes locked on ONE guy the entire time. The ENTIRE time. Watch the tape. On his first 5-6 throws, he’s locked on the receiver from the time he gets the ball. Better teams bait him and return it to the house.
Later in the half on the play that we should have been called for grounding, the Delaware player blitzes right up the middle. Steffy has his eyes locked onto someone to the left and doesn’t see the blitzer until he’s right on top of him. How can you not be aware of your surroundings!? It’s not as if the blitzer was coming from the blindside, he was coming right up the middle. Be aware!
Those are what stands out for me in the first half. Sure, if we make those field goals, the score looks better, but when you look at the tape, Steffy is just not getting it done. Plain and Simple. Not to mention the second half, where he crushed any momentum gained by Barnes’ interception, by throwing it right into the numbers of a linebacker. Horrible. And he fumbled away another field goal attempt by holding onto the ball too long and taking a sack/fumble.
The guy is not a Div. 1 starting QB. Mysterious thumb injury or not, he will not win you games. He was supposed to not lose you games, but he gave it his best shot on Saturday. I’m not saying Chris Turner is a superstar, but the guy gets back there and plays the game. He may throw an interception here and there, but he takes chances. With so many talented athletes on offense, let them do the work for you. Get them the ball somehow. Let them make a play. Don’t throw into triple coverage, but show some confidence back there. Don’t bail everytime and look panicked. Turner is the guy who should be leading this team. There is too much at stake and the Fridge should not be putting his legacy and perhaps job on the line for somebody who tries hard and is a good kid, but just isn’t good enough to play QB for a BCS conference team.
We don’t need someone to be “fine” or “more than fine”, we need somebody to be good.
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Turtle Soup 
I agree that Steffy has got to go, but I don’t know if we should turn right to Turner. We still haven’t seen Portis throw the ball. Until we see that he has to remain in the discussion because, even if he turns out not to be the best passer, he still has another aspect to his game with his mobility that the other two can’t touch. So out of three questionable guys, he at least has something that can be counted on (though I realize that if it is counted on too much the defenses will take it away).
Nice analysis, Gregg.
Am I the only one who learned that Turner’s father was the drummer from the 80’s hair band, RATT? That is classic. Turner’s childhood must have been insane.
I think the Fridge lost some weight.
Someone said it a while ago, but they made a comment about how Steffy holds his fingers apart when he throws, and could potentially lead to a serious finger injury if he got hit unsuspectingly. Well… kudos. Who knows how serious this thumb injury is, but if it gives Ralph and Franklin and excuse to bench Steffy while saving saving face and pleasing the fans then let it be. The bit about the stankness of the Monkey house was funny too.
Being at the game, I was horrified when Travis Baltz was almost blocked on a punt. Good thing the Hens’ special teams plays more scared than our quarterbacks.
Portis probably was forced into running more times than not in his four snaps. At least two of them looked like legit down-field plays but he got rushed too hard to make anything happen. You should have seen how happy the Delaware coaches were to knock him down behind the line of scrimmage. Its as if they really saw him as a big threat.
I like how the players come to the edge of the student section post game and sing the fight song. Too bad they weren’t synced with the band. I feel like it would be appropriate to shower them with some sort of gift for a win, I’m thinking Candies. Anyone have any good ideas?
Looks like it will be Turner with Portis backing him up. Ralph will find a way to bench Steffy and save face for him. I just hope Turner and/or Portis steps up. We’ve got too many weapons on offense to waste them. all season long. I say let’s keep an eye on the scoreboard. If one of these two QBs steps up and becomes “The Man,” we should see 28-35 points per game put up on the board. If not, more sub-20 point games will be in order and our proverbial goose will be cooked when we come up against stiffer competition beginning with the Cal game.
That was hopefully first game jitters by everyone. It is a win, but it is a scary one. I am thinking if there is improvement at Mid Tenn then the Cal game will be watchable. If there is another let down well……..
X-Rays on Steffy’s thumb were to be done this morning. Word is that on Sunday he couldn’t hold a football, so that’s not good news at all. RF says if Steffy can’t go on Saturday he’s not sure who will start at QB aginst MTSU.
Meanwhile RB Scott has some kinda leg laceration/infection that needs to get cleared up. So they’ll need to be careful with him in practice.
Is it me, or does Steffy seem to “lock in” on his primary receiver and if that guy is covered he either tries to force the pass in (leading to at least one INT Saturday) or he then acts like he doesn’t know what to do next?
Is Steffy a good kid? That’s what they say. Is Steffy a good student? That’s what they say. But I know alot of good kids that are good students that do not have the talent to be a starting D1 QB. YEESH.
TERPS B-BALL RECRUITING UPDATE…..
Sorry, but I just got this info.
Terps have been hot on the heels of Jordan Williams the class of 2009 6-9 insider from Torrington, CT who really blew up in Las Vegas during the AAU season this summer.
He has set up “in-home” visits with coaches and the first coach that will be allowed into his home to meet him and his parents is GARY WILLIAMS. The first day in-home visits are allowed is September 9th and I’m told that is the day GW will be visiting Jordan’s family. GW has spoken with Jordan 3-4 times and watched all of his AAU games in Vegas this summer. Jordan is the Terps TOP priority for ’09.
Jordan also has told schools that he hopes fo begin visiting schools in September and finish in October. If things go well with GW’s visit the Terps should get an official visit from the kid. Terps were one of the first to offer the kid. And he plans to major in Criminal Justice. UMD has one of the best Criminal Justice schools in the country.
HOLLA.
The ACC is getting absolutely hammered in the national press. It really comes off two games. The VA Tech loss and the Clemson debacle. Both were bad losses but this is the first week of the season. ECU is a very good football team as well.
I saw people looking at the UVA game but I think we all knew UVA would stink on ice this year. They had their once in five year season last year. They are back to who they really are.
UNC and Wake might both be very good teams. Let’s wait until we hit Oct before we write off the whole league.
DBR:
Your questions about Steffy remind me of a professor I worked for in grad school. Coming out of high school, he was drafted by the NY Mets as a power hitting 3rd baseman. He progressed through their farm system all the way up to Triple A. He was all set to get called up when he took a short-hop groundball to his face, which broke his nose. After his nose healed, he could never step back into the batter’s box and dig in. He was too aware of the high and tight and bailed out on every pitch. Thus ended his baseball career, luckily, it turned out for me!
I think Steffy has the same issue. He is okay until he gets hit. Then he locks onto receivers or the incoming pass rush. He gets happy feet, which is a great movie for my 4 year old daughter but not so great for MD’s QB. He’s like Maverick from Top Gun. He’s holding on too tight and lost his edge. MD can’t win starting a QB with the football equivalent of PTSD.
Start Turner. I’ll have a scouting report on MTSU later this week. They throw the ball a lot, so if Cosh can balls up and call some pressure D, we should see picks a plenty. Cosh and Steffy…bizarro world coach and QB. Exactly what we don’t need.
Washington Huskies rule…..Jake Locker rocks!!
The way ACC teams looked in week one, the conference deserves to be hammered in the media (sorry if that posted 2x).
No word on Steffy’s X-Rays. At this point I’d say we probably won’t get word until Ralph’s lunch presser. I’ve got a tingling sensation that X-Rays will be negative and Steffy will be the starter against MTSU. Not that I think he gives us the best chance to win.
No word on a starter for Saturday. All QB’s need to be prepared.
Meanwhile UMD basketball is gonna get some official visits in September. Braswell on 9/20 and Padgett on 9/27.
DBR, looks like Gary’s hands-on approach to recruiting, the one we’ve been crying for forever for here on the Soup, is beginning to pay some early dividends. Let’s see what his personal recruiting touch can reel in for 2009. I’ve got to think GW, Chuck and Keith, if they’ll show these kids “the love,” some of the 4 & 5 stars might start making their way toward College Park. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date.
I saw Steffy walking around campus today on the first day of classes. His hand was bandaged but not in a cast. Take it as you will.
The Fridge’s defense of Steffy is pathetic. Fans aren’t booing Steffy. They are booing Friedgen and his terrible decision to make Steffy the starter. The kid is probably a great worker and model citizen. HE CANT PLAY QB AT THE D1 LEVEL! Turner is no stud, but he has actually put Touchdown drives together. Let Portis throw the ball.
Of course missed in all of this is that the Offensive Line is terrible at pass protection. At this rate, Cal is going to kill us.
Fridge just loves Steffy. I understand this kid is a hard worker and a great young man. I am also sure you could find other kids on campus just like that but it doesn’t mean we want them to be the QB of our football team.
RF has made this QB decision way too personal. Steffy has been given more than his share of an opportunity to prove he is ready to be our QB. The time has come to commit to one of the other two QBs.
We are going to waste a perfect opportunity to go to a BCS bowl game. The ACC is ripe for the picking. We have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball. Ralph needs to man up and get Turner behind center right now. Bring in Portis from time to time as a change of pace but allow him to throw the ball.
Yeah, yeah, we all know that when you run the QB you have that extra blocker and “a helmet on a helmet” but they will just stuff the line every time if you don’t chuck it down field. The kid has a big arm, let us see it!!!