You know those little tags people get stuck wearing at get-to-know functions? Apparently, walk-on football players at Maryland don't get them on their first day.
I asked coach Ralph Friedgen the name of the walk-on quarterback who joined the Terps last week, if only so that I wouldn't refer to him as "random walk-on dude" as I went down the full inventory of active quarterbacks for a story in tomorrow's paper now that Josh Portis is ineligible for the season.
"I don't even know his name yet to be honest," Friedgen said.
When the two things reporters know about you are that you're short (generously [listed at 5-10] according to his page on the George Mason baseball site from last year) and the coach doesn't know your name, it usually doesn't bode well.
http://gomason.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/levine_mitchell00.html
But nevertheless, he's the No. 4 quarterback for the Terps, which is exactly where former blue-chip recruit Jeremy Ricker was before he decided to transfer in the spring and where Bobby Sheahin was before he skedaddled for Division III Salisbury last month.
As for the Terps' other three remaining quarterbacks -- Jordan Steffy, Chris Turner and Jamarr Robinson -- it's clear Ralph will be forced to have all of them ready to play each week. The shortage makes it tempting to minimize the danger for the quarterbacks, particularly Steffy.
The junior scrambled for 47 yards in Saturday's victory over Villanova, and that is an attractive skill to keep under any circumstances.
"I don't want to take that element out of the game," Friedgen said. "I don't want to play scared, either. I think we just have to play smart and hopefully he stays well. Sometimes, there's more danger of getting hit in the passing game than the running game. In the running game, you normally see it coming."
