Turner Has Risen From the Depths

When Portis Was Ruled Ineligible, Sophomore Was Propelled Into Backup Role

As a redshirt freshman last season, Chris Turner looked around, saw there were six others who wanted the same thing he did and waited. By the spring, six had become five. And by the fall, five had become four. As quarterbacks began disappearing at Maryland, Turner remained, moving steadily up the depth chart as others lost their patience and transferred.

Even as the Terrapins approached their season opener on Saturday, Turner could say he had made progress because he had put himself in a battle for the team's backup quarterback position with Florida transfer Josh Portis.

But once game time arrived, Turner knew that he had gone from third-stringer to backup quarterback, one of just three eligible signal-callers after Portis was ruled ineligible for the season.

The reality set in during the 31-14 victory over Villanova, when starter Jordan Steffy had to leave the game because of cramps, forcing Coach Ralph Friedgen to summon Turner for the first time in his career.

"It was so quick," Turner said yesterday. "That was the craziest part about it."

Indeed, things have changed quickly for the Terrapins since news of Portis's absence broke just minutes before kickoff against Villanova.

During a class last spring, Portis copied answers off a classmate's paper during a pop quiz; when confronted by his instructor a month later, he admitted to cheating, according to multiple sources. Documents obtained by The Post showed that Portis copied answers to seven of 11 questions on a two-page quiz administered March 30, in some cases verbatim.

Friedgen said that he became aware of Portis's case with the university's Office of Student Conduct at the end of the spring semester. He also was aware of the possibility Portis could be disciplined. But Friedgen said he wasn't sure when the final judgment in Portis's case would be made. A ruling was handed down Friday.

With Portis out for the season, Maryland has four quarterbacks on the roster, counting a walk-on who arrived when school started last Wednesday.

"Losing Josh is definitely not helping our football team," Friedgen said after Saturday's game. "He's a very good player for us. It puts us in a real tough situation at quarterback right now."

That is why, almost overnight, Turner became Steffy's backup.

"This is what I want to do; it's the reason I'm here," Turner said. "It's a lot of responsibility. The very first game, Jordan goes down, and that's the reality of it. Who would have guessed?"