Maryland

For the first time in at least two years, there's no doubt that Josh Portis is going to play.

Just how athletic is Portis?

"He's as good an athlete maybe as I've been around," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "Like James (Franklin) says to me, he's almost freakish. I could show you tape, our defense can't even put a hand on him. Now, he may run 40 yards backwards, which drives me nuts, but after he runs 220 yards he's usually in the end zone."

Friedgen's concern is how Portis will do once he gets hit because it hasn't happened in three years. And Portis has got to eliminate unforced errors. Portis can take a bad play and turn it into a good play, but he's also capable of vice versa.

His arm is underrated because so much of the attention has been on his speed -- as a redshirt freshman in 2006, Portis set the school record for a quarterback's 40 time in spring testing with a 4.53.

Maryland Gazzette by Jimmy Kerronze