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Simi native is starting QB for Maryland Terrapins
Flashback to his sophomore year of high school and his very first varsity football game for Chaminade High School of West Hills: Turner went from the follies of junior varsity . . . to the jaws of Valencia. "I was still young. I had no idea what I was doing," Turner said. "Our varsity quarterback got hurt. Valencia was stacked. It was ugly." Fast forward to Turner's sophomore year at the University of Maryland on Sept. 29, 2007: Starting quarterback Jordan Steffy suffered a concussion in front of 43,803 screaming fans in Piscataway, N.J. against Rutgers, ranked No. 10 in the nation at the time. Turner, a Simi Valley native, took the last snap of the first half and jogged into the locker room. Cooler than James Dean, the Fonz and Thelonious Monk rolled up in one, the quarterback led the Terrapins to four secondhalf scoring drives in a stirring 34-24 comeback victory. Turner, 20, got carried off the field. He was on the national radar. "I knew at some point I was bound to come in," Turner said. "I hadn't played that much in a game since high school. Overnight, everything changed." Turner started the last eight games of 2007 for the bowlworthy Terrapins (6-7 last season), finishing with 1,958 passing yards, seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and a QB rating of 135.51. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior, who has been taking firststring snaps in practice, is expected to start the season opener against Delaware on Aug. 30 in College Park, Md. Turner grew up in Simi Valley and started playing football with the Simi Valley Vikings as an 8-year-old, playing center for his first few years. He got his first chance to play quarterback at the age of 10 with the Chatsworth Chiefs, a youth team coached by current Sylmar High offensive coordinator Allen Adams. "To watch him grow in those five years was amazing," said Adams, 41, from Granada Hills. "We had another kid on that team, Garrett Green (a USC wide receiver), and it was amazing having both of those guys. . . . We went to a Las Vegas tournament—this was when Chris was 12—and a line judge saw Chris throw before coming up to me and said, 'You guys would beat most JV teams up here.'" Adams got to watch Turner in person when the Terps beat No. 10 Boston College and quarterback Matt Ryan 42-35 on Nov. 10. For the first time in school history, Maryland had beaten two top-10 teams in the same season. "The next day, we went out to brunch in Georgetown, and it's just funny to see kids come up to him and say, 'You're the Maryland quarterback?' Chris was taking pictures with fans," Adams said. "He was a little embarrassed by it—basically, he's a rock star back there." That makes sense, considering Turner's father, John, was the original drummer for the band Ratt from 1979 to 1982. "He's handling himself great," Adams said. "We're definitely all proud of him." Turner attended Grace Brethren School until eighth grade. The quarterback didn't want to play eight-man football with Grace's high school team—and his parents objected to their son attending Simi Valley or Royal. So they sent him to Chaminade High. After a difficult sophomore year at Chaminade, Turner enjoyed an outstanding junior campaign under new head coach Ben McEnroe. The quarterback threw for almost 3,400 yards and 30 scores as a junior. "Prior to my arrival, he had sort of taken his lumps, as most young quarterbacks do," said McEnroe, who enters his second year guiding California Lutheran's Division III football squad. "It was a lot of fun to watch him grow, learn to deal with things and mature. . . . I'm impressed with what he's done (at Maryland.) It's not easy to be a redshirt and a backup and maintain game readiness." Turner, a government and politics major, sometimes frustrates his coaches with his Southern California "surfer dude" demeanor. But that's also what makes him unique. "East Coast people have stereotypical feelings or perceptions of what they think about the West Coast guy—laid back, easygoing, surfer-type guy. Chris fits all those stereotypes," said James Franklin, Maryland's assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. "He's a pretty cool customer. . . . The very reasons that make him a great quarterback— his poise and his confidence— are also some of the things from a preparation standpoint in practice that hurt him as well. "He is who he is, and we need to build on that." Turner's 2007 stats Completions 153-of-241 attempts Yards 1,958 Touchdowns 7 Interceptions 7 |
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