College Park confidential

Sporting News, The, Oct 23, 1995 by Dennis Tuttle

The issue was about to enter its second distracting week. But Maryland Coach Mark Duffner intercepted it on the fly pattern, dropped to one knee and took a touchback just before the media root weevils had a chance to hogpile him. Controversy? What quarterback controversy, he wondered after sophomore Brian Cummings relieved beleaguered senior Scott Milanovich and directed the Terps' narrow 9-3 victory October 8 at Wake Forest.

Duffner needed less than 24 hours to name the fiery and versatile Cummings starter for Saturday's crucial ACC homecoming against Clemson. The decision was a no-brainer, really, considering 5-1 Maryland has ridden Cummings' cape to its best start since 1983, its first visit in the national polls since 1986 and its first peek at a bowl bid since 1990.

"Brian's always had a little magic about him," Duffner says of the 5-foot-11 sparkplug he likens to former Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie. Cummings engineered improbable victories against West Virginia, North Carolina and Duke - all bowl teams a year ago - while Milanovich, the school's all-time passing leader, holder of two NCAA records and one of the nation's best punters, served a four-game NCAA suspension for placing bets with a bookie. But when Milanovich became eligible just before a nationally televised game at Georgia Tech with Maryland undefeated and nationally ranked, Duffner ill-fatedly decided to switch quarterbacks. Consequently, the coach was skewered like Sunday's backyard barbecue.

"I don't regret it," Duffner says in reflection of the Terps' only loss, a 31-3 laugher against a team that had not defeated a Division I-A school in 13 games.

Milanovich - who one NFL general manager says has lost his pro stock as a quarterback but remains one of the best punting prospects - was slow to read blitzes and was predictable in the pocket against Georgia Tech. But not all the blame could be pinned on him. He did pass for 352 yards in front of 15 NFL scouts. But the rushing game that had averaged 178 yards in the first four games had minus-30. The defense that had been ranked No. 27 in the nation was picked like a bluefin crib for 411 total yards. And most of all, Tech had 12 days to plan blitzes and stunts for the predictable, drop-back style of Milanovich.

"Ah, but we overlooked them," says junior linebacker Ratcliff Thomas, one of five who started on one of the worst defenses of all time two years ago as a true freshman. The '93 Terps allowed a whopping 553 total yards a game and Duffner accurately says, "we couldn't stop the marching band." A major reason for Maryland's turnaround from 3-8, 2-9 and 4-7 seasons under Duffner has been its mature and experienced defense, which has forced 19 turnovers in six games, led by cornerback Andreal Johnson's five interceptions. When the debacle in Atlanta had taken place and the Terps saw their national ranking disappear, there was plenty of blame to spread around.

"We were 4-0 and No. 17 in the nation and we were thinking of going further in the ACC," Thomas says. "I'm sorry that had to happen on national TV. But I'll tell you one thing, that put things back into perspective."

After such a pitiful showing against Tech, the defense regrouped against Wake and held an opponent without a touchdown for the first time in six years. But much to the dismay of Maryland football fans, who are finally coming back to campus after a decade of losing, Duffner gave Milanovich another start. Perhaps the public and media outcry wasn't as much a reflection of Milanovich's skill as it was an indictment against the equally beleaguered athletic department.

Since the cocaine-induced death of basketball star Len Bias in 1986, Maryland has endured scandals involving athletes and drugs, poor graduation rates, shoplifting, a fracas at a fraternity house, stolen checks and credit cards, NCAA probation for basketball and now gambling.

Just after Athletic Director Debbie Yow was hired from St. Louis University in August '94, she received a call from her predecessor, Ohio State A.D. Andy Geiger. "I always felt like I was putting out brush fires," he advised, and it took Yow less than a year to get her own baptism. Last summer the NCAA suspended four football players, Milanovich, Farad Hall, Jermaine Lewis and Jaron Hairston, along with basketball player Matthew Raydo, for placing sports bets through either a bookie and/or parlay cards. Yow sympathized with Geiger's words and more clearly understood the longstanding anger among alumni and faculty for the athletic department's seemingly reckless lack of self-control.

So when Duffner shuffled Milanovich onto the field in the midst of an undefeated season, a contingent of big-picture second-guessers were stomping mad. Maryland desperately needs football to succeed to overcome $6.8 million in accumulated athletic-department debt and help pay for a $42-million renovation of Byrd Stadium. And although Yow refuses to discuss the decision, Duffner was vilified by local sports columnists for taking the concerns of one NFL-hungry player over the good of the team.