Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002 | 10:04 a.m.
NEXT UP
What: UNLV at Oregon State
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis, Ore.
TV: TBS, Cox ch. 7
Radio: KBAD 920-AM
Line: Oregon State by 16
Lawrence Turner has known for a long time that he would be playing in Saturday afternoon's game between UNLV and Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore. But for a while the former star quarterback from Cheyenne High didn't know which uniform he would be wearing.
Turner, the Sun's 1998 state offensive player of the year, originally signed with UNLV and was a member of John Robinson's first recruiting class. But he came up one point short of meeting NCAA minimum freshman eligibility test score requirements and was not admitted into school.
"I needed an 18 on the ACT and I got a 17," the 6-foot, 185-pound Turner said. "So I enrolled at San Francisco City College so I could get my (associate of arts) degree."
After helping lead SFCC to its 36th straight victory and third consecutive mythical national junior college championship last December, Turner had another decision to make: return home and play for the team that took a gamble on him out of high school, or become the latest Las Vegan to play for Oregon State in the prestigious Pac-10.
Turner choose the latter. And Saturday at sold-out Reser Stadium in Corvallis, he'll be wearing the black and orange of the Beavers instead of the scarlet and gray of UNLV.
"I just thought that being away from home helped me to grow up a lot," said Turner, who will start at strong safety.
"When I left Las Vegas for San Francisco, I really didn't know that many people. It kind of forced you to concentrate on playing football and doing your school work. I started thinking that if I went back home I'd be tempted to just start hanging out with my friends again."
Besides, it's not like Turner doesn't know anybody in Corvallis.
He's one of five Las Vegas prep players who have migrated to Oregon State and one of three who figure to see substantial playing time on the highly-touted Beavers defense. The other two are starting middle linebacker Richard Seigler (Chaparral High School) and backup weakside linebacker Jonathan Pollard (Las Vegas). And there's also starting tailback Steven Jackson of Eldorado High and true freshman cornerback Kellen Marshall of Cimarron.
"It's kind of like one big Vegas family here," Turner said. "We have a lot of Vegas guys here. So that made the move a little easier."
So did the chance to play for Dennis Erickson, who won two national championships (1989 and 1991) as coach at the University of Miami.
"Coach Erickson and Coach (John) Robinson are the same type of coaches," Turner said. "Their door is always open. They're players' coaches. (Erickson) always wants you to be happy, not just on the football field but also off of it. And that just makes you want to play that much harder for the man."
Turner said he's trying not to put too much emphasis on playing UNLV this week.
"You don't want to get too fired up," he said. "That's when you could make some mistakes out there. I'm just trying to take it as another game that we'll have to play well and continue to get better for Pac-10 play."
And what will it take for the Beavers (2-0), who lead the nation in pass efficiency defense and interceptions (7), to defeat UNLV (1-1) on Saturday?
"We just have to go out and play defense like we've been playing it," Turner said.
"I know UNLV's offense has a lot of threats we'll have to contend with at wide receiver and guys like Joe Haro and Larry Croom at running back. But the biggest threat I think is (QB) Jason Thomas and his legs. He reminds me a lot of Michael Vick. You've got to try and contain him and not let him break loose for some big runs. It's going to be a big challenge for us."
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