Louisville linebacker Johnny Frost captured the true meaning of college all-star games.
"I got the MVP, baby!" the Gray MVP bellowed Blue beat Gray 26-7 Monday. "That's all I needed. That's ALL I needed."Players know these all-star games are not about winning and losing, but personal accomplishment. Good practices during the week, combined with solid results on scouting tests, can raise a player's NFL stock.
A big performance on game day can cap a very profitable week, with perhaps hundreds of thousands of pro dollars to follow.
"It's an all-star game, man," said Frost, who had 12 tackles. "It ain't like playing for your record. Nobody's looking at the score. They're looking at what individual players did."
No one was more aware of this, or more cautious to trumpet its importance, than Maryland quarterback Scott Milanovich.
Milanovich was suspended for four games this season for betting $200 on college sports. Touted as a Heisman Trophy contender in the preseason, Milanovich knows how quickly a shot at millions of dollars can slip away.
"Things can change so quickly," said Milanovich, who was named Blue MVP after passing for 175 yards and two touchdowns. "It was a tough year. Some circumstances made my senior year not what I expected. I can't just sit back and cry about it."
Milanovich, who was 9-for-20, hit touchdown passes of 43 yards to West Virginia tight end Lovett Purnell and 36 yards to the Mountaineers' Kantroy Barber to give Blue a 19-7 lead in the third quarter.
Purnell also caught a 5-yard TD pass from Nevada's Mike Maxwell in the first quarter for Blue's first touchdown. Purnell caught four passes for 90 yards.
"People had labeled me a run-and-shoot quarterback," said Milanovich, who would have left school had his eight-game suspension not been reduced to four. "It helped because I was able to be in a drop-back system and take some snaps."
On Blue's first drive of the second quarter, Milanovich floated a beautifully thrown spiral toward the sideline for 29 yards to Fresno State's Jahine Arnold. That set up the TD pass to Purnell, a bullet up the middle on an out-and-up pattern.
Late in the third, Milanovich stepped around several rushers and found Terrapins teammate Jermaine Lewis, setting up the 36-yard scoring pass to Barber.
"Milanovich is a pretty good player," said Boston College coach Dan Henning, who coached the Blue offense. "A lot went on up there this year, a lot of distractions. Maybe he's over that and ready to move on."
After he returned from his suspension, Maryland's 4-0 start disintegrated into a 2-5 finish. Milanovich, already the Terrapins' No. 1 career passer after his junior year, was benched in favor of his sophomore backup.
This was perhaps the first time all season that Milanovich could smile after a game.
"We had a lot of fun in the second half," said Milanovich, whose only mistake was a third-quarter interception by East Tennessee's Donnie Abraham. "It's been a long time since I had such a good time playing. It was nice playing with people that good."
The Gray quarterback, South Carolina's Steve Taneyhill, did nothing to harm his pro prospects. He showed off his strong arm and unique ability to improvise, shifting around in the pocket to find secondary receivers for big gains.
"I think I helped myself," said Taneyhill, who was 9-for-19 for 103 yards.
Blue took a 31-25-1 lead in the series. The North team also won last season in a 38-27 shootout, the highest scoring game in Blue-Gray history.
Monday's game was nothing like last year's, as both offenses struggled to find their timing. Blue was the first team to drive into the opponent's territory, with nine minutes left in the second quarter.
In typical all-star game fashion, the referees were hesitant to throw penalty flags. Gray quarterback Josh Nelson of Mississippi learned this the hard way when he drew the Blue offsides on fourth-and-2, received the snap and took a knee. No flags were thrown, and Blue took over at the Gray 44.
Trailing 12-7 in the third, Gray threatened to get back in it after Abraham's interception. Mississippi's Dou Innocent reeled off runs of 17 and seven yards, but then was stuffed for a loss, and Taneyhill threw incomplete on fourth down.
Gray missed another chance when Tennessee-Martin's Fred Thomas fumbled a punt and Northern Arizona's Rayna Stewart recovered for Blue, leading to Barber's touchdown.
Stewart sealed the victory with a 46-yard interception return for a touchdown with 2:21 left, showing NFL speed as he streaked down the sideline.
Blue cornerback Anthony Dorsett Jr. of Pittsburgh intercepted a pass just before halftime as his father, NFL Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, watched from the sidelines.
New Mexico's Winslow Oliver helped Blue preserve its lead with some nifty running in the second half. Oliver finished with 51 yards on 15 carries.