Lance Ball ran for nearly 2,500 yards during his Maryland career.
Still, he's probably best known for a 20-yard reception against Navy as a sophomore.
Ball was an untested commodity at that pointing, hauling four career carries (for exactly one yard) into the 2005 Crab Bowl.
But he bounced off a defensive lineman, hauled in a Sam Hollenbach pass and somehow stayed on his feet (and in inbounds) to set up the winning score of a 23-20 victory over the Midshipmen.
Ball would never have a play quite that exciting, but he still produced some strong days. Such as ...
* A career-best 163 yards in a breakout game against Virginia four weeks after the Navy game. He averaged 9.6 yards a carry that day.
* A 39-carry performance (for 161 yards) in an overtime victory at North Carolina in 2005.
* A career-high three touchdowns in a defeat of Georgia Tech in 2007.
* An impressive-in-context 109 yards against a massive Boston College defensive front in a 2007 upset of the Eagles.
Ball wound up with 26 career touchdown runs, tied for fourth in school history. He was the steadier, more durable half of the "Leon Baltimore" backfield (Keon Lattimore making up the other side of the timeshare), and for now ranks as the second-best running back --- through combination of staying power and production --- during the Ralph Friedgen years.
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