Tackler

COLLEGE PARK - The linebacker position was Maryland's strength at the end of 2000. It still is, but the grip on that claim has loosened. "It's getting thin," Maryland football coach Ralph Friedgen said after yesterday's practice. "We can't afford to lose any more. We're running out." Marlon Moye-Moore, the team's second-leading tackler last season, is suspended because of assault and battery charges from a February incident. Kevin Bishop, a third-stringer at middle linebacker and the team's third-leading tackler from 1999, left the team last week to pursue law school.

TAMPA, Fla. - New York Giants running back Tiki Barber came into the world early and blossomed late. Now, at 25, he's comfortably centered, finding himself at the right place at the right time - again. Barber's first coming-out party was at the University of Virginia, where he used football and all the attention that came with it as a social tool. Now, in New York, he has enjoyed a breakthrough season on the football field and discovered a new sideline, serving in the off-season as the host of radio and television talk shows and as a TV sports anchor.

Towson's leading tackler in 1998, Aaron Sakevich, has been suspended indefinitely for athletic department violations related to an assault on a fellow student, the school announced yesterday. Sakevich, a starting outside linebacker for Towson the last two seasons, was convicted Aug. 18 of second-degree assault for a March 26 attack in Towson that left a 19-year-old man with a nearly severed right forearm. Athletic director Wayne Edwards would not comment on the specifics of Sakevich's suspension other than to say, "I regret it very much.

NEW YORK -- What kind of college draft was this? It was a draft in which Harvard had a player selected before Notre Dame. When linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski was selected in the fourth round of the second day of the NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks, he became the highest player ever picked from Harvard. "It feels awesome," the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Kacyvenski said in an NFL online chat. "It's a childhood dream. The whole week it's been hard to sleep." By contrast, Notre Dame didn't have a player selected until the seventh round when the Denver Broncos took quarterback Jarious Jackson.

ATLANTA -- If there's one word to describe Marshall Faulk, it would be elusive. He's hard to corral on and off the football field. On the field, his skills amaze even his peers. "He's obviously the closest thing to Barry Sanders, if not better," said Eddie George, his counterpart with the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. "Myself, I'm just a power back. He's not only a run threat to take it 80, he can also catch it out of the backfield and be a great receiver." St. Louis' off-season trade for Faulk is one of the main reasons the Rams have gone from perennial loser to Super Bowl team in one year.

COLLEGE PARK -- Marlon Moore is like every other Maryland football player and student.The starting sophomore linebacker constantly faces the temptations of the bright lights of the College Park bar scene and the campus party life.The difference for Moore now is that he can say no to that lifestyle a lot more easily because of a decision he made more than two years ago while he was a student at Potomac High in southern Prince George's County.Moore decided before his senior year that he would give up the social life with his buddies for an opportunity to get a college education and play football at Maryland.

As a football fullback, South Carroll's Jason Tourangeau earned the nickname "Train" for his propensity to plow over would-be tacklers in pursuit of the end zone.This spring, the 6-foot-4 senior said he's kept pretty much the same attitude.As a pitcher on the Cavaliers' county-championship baseball team, he uses a fastball clocked as high as 91 mph to plow through opposing lineups. His pursuit -- a possible pro career.Though his son already has signed to play at East Carolina next season, Michael Tourangeau said that could change depending upon what happens at this year's amateur draft, which begins June 2."

Eric Barton loved the vibes he received from Raiders coach Jon Gruden yesterday after Oakland selected the Maryland linebacker in the fifth round of the NFL draft."

MIAMI -- The Atlanta Falcons' defensive line is made up of a bunch of no-names who are calling themselves the "Bomb Squad," even though virtually nobody noticed.If they shut down the Denver Broncos' Terrell Davis in the Super Bowl, they'll get noticed, but they have been shutting down the run all season.During the regular season, they allowed an average of 75.2 yards per game and 3.33 yards per rush. They were second in the league to the San Diego Chargers in both categories.It's one of the reasons they held opposing teams to 18.1 points a game this season, the fourth-lowest total in the league.

CINCINNATI -- Ravens rookie cornerback Duane Starks didn't give up the big play yesterday, and he finished as the team's leading tackler with eight and knocked down three passes, most of those long attempts to Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Carl Pickens.Starks has been burned several times by the out-and-up move, but not yesterday even though the Bengals tried it."I went up to Carl and said, 'Man, you didn't think I was going to fall for that again?' He said he knew it wasn't going to work, but they might as well try it."