R. Costa Suspended After Arrest

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen announced yesterday that senior linebacker Rick Costa has been indefinitely suspended after being accused of punching a police officer in the face outside a popular College Park bar early Sunday morning.

Costa was charged with one count of first-degree assault, a felony, and two counts of second-degree assault, a misdemeanor, for an incident at the Cornerstone Grill & Loft, said Officer Henry Tippett, a Prince George's County police spokesman.

Costa and two males were trying to get into the bar at 2:25 a.m., police said, when bar employees told them the bar was closed and that they had to leave. Police said Costa became "combative" and struck one employee in the face.

Another bouncer came to help the first bouncer, police said, and Costa pushed him away. A police officer, who observed Costa as intoxicated and disorderly, approached Costa and identified himself as an officer, police said.

"At that point, Costa became belligerent and punched the officer in the right side of his face and eye," Tippett said in a telephone interview. "The officer was transported to a local hospital for the injury."

Other officers then arrived to apprehend Costa and place him under arrest, Tippett said. Costa was released on bond.

Friedgen said the situation is being handled under the guidelines of the Maryland student-athlete code of conduct, which states that a student-athlete should be suspended immediately from playing and practicing if he is charged with a felony that is defined as a violent crime.

"Due to the nature of the charges, Rick has been indefinitely suspended from all team activities, including practice and game participation," Friedgen said in a statement. "Once the issue has been resolved, Rick's status with the team will be re-evaluated."

Costa has played in all of Maryland's nine games, starting two. He is second on the team in tackles for a loss (seven) and in sacks (three).

Before the 2005 season, Costa transferred from Temple, where coaches had pulled his scholarship because he head-butted a police officer who had put him in a full nelson. He was not arrested for his role in that altercation.

Friedgen initially allowed Costa on the team only as a walk-on, and made it clear that he would be removed from the team after only one off-the-field incident.

"I was going to go through a year of seeing if he could behave himself," Friedgen said in 2006. "I just didn't need another problem. And if he could show he could do it on the field, and he stayed out of trouble, and did well academically, then I had a scholarship I could put him on."

Defensive Shuffling

Expect some defensive personnel changes when Maryland faces North Carolina on Saturday. Senior defensive tackle Jeremy Navarre should see action at defensive end, a position he played his first three seasons. Junior Travis Ivey is likely to start in Navarre's place at defensive tackle.

One of the reasons for the move is because senior defensive end Mack Frost has not been 100 percent all season after undergoing knee surgery last season.

Confusion, Explained

Friedgen said he called a timeout late in the first half of Thursday's 23-13 loss at Virginia Tech because there was some defensive confusion on third and 18. After talking to defensive coordinator Chris Cosh about the issue, Friedgen said Cosh got the call in to the players, but not all the players got the call.

"I called timeout because I didn't want to have some guys know and some guys not know the call," Friedgen said. "Maybe I shouldn't have called timeout, because they got the first down anyway."