Maryland football enters its tenth season as a member of the Big Ten Conference daring to dream. Never mind that in its first nine years of membership the Terps have yet to post a winning league record (their best was 4-4 in 2014).
But consecutive winning seasons with back-to-back bowl victories have many feeling that after a decade of false starts, the program is heading in the right direction.
Head coach Mike Locksley went to the Big Ten Media Day and put the league on notice: “And for us our program is at a point finally we can say we’re here to compete for Big Ten championships,” Locksley said. “You haven’t heard me say that in the previous four times I’ve been in front of you guys, but I think now is the time.”
One reason for optimism begins with the most important position: quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa returns for his fourth season as a starter and owns most of the program’s single-season as well as career passing marks.
“He’s always thirsty for knowledge, he’s always looking for a way to improve,” first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gaddis said. “And we’re excited to continue to try to find ways to enhance his game.”
After throwing for 3,000+ yards in consecutive seasons he returns for his final season College Park.
“Well I think ball security for sure-that’s something we’ve been working on,” Tagovailoa said. “My decision-making: knowing what checks to make, what reads to make.”
According to his teammates, Taulia’s well on his way.
“There are times I haven’t really been open and he’s thrown me open and made it happen. Or where he’s scrambling and he makes plays with his feet-just finding the open guy,” senior wide receiver Jeshaun Jones said. “He has a very good way of getting loose in the pocket and finding the guy he needs to find.”
Jones is a name you might remember. In his first half as a freshman against Texas in 2018, he scored on a 28-yard run and a 65-yard catch while also throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass. After battling injuries over the last few years, Jones led the Terps in catches, receiving yards and touchdown catches last fall and leads a receiving corps in 2023 that has been boosted by transfers Tyrese Chambers (FIU) and Kaden Prather (West Virginia). Corey Dyches (39 receptions for 494 yards and three scores last fall) returns as the team’s starting tight end.
The running game that ranked seventh in the Big Ten last fall returns their top ball-carrier in Roman Hemby. As a redshirt freshman the Edgewood, Maryland, native rushed for 989 yards while his 33 catches ranked fourth on the team.
“The most important that you can have at the collegiate level is accountability. He’s a guy that prepares each and every day,” Gaddis said. “But he does everything right. I think the next step for Roman is creating extra yards after contact.”
He’ll be spelled in the backfield by sophomore Ramon Brown and redshirt sophomore Antwain Littleton II, who averaged 5.0 yards per carry in 2023 and among his six touchdowns delivered a 68-yard scamper for a score.
But it’s all for naught if an offensive line that returns just one starter-redshirt junior Delmar Glaze-in the offseason can’t come together.
“It’s definitely a concern when you don’t have experience at that position,” Gaddis said. “The biggest concern is depth. It’s hard to do anything if you don’t have an offensive line.”
The Terps allowed the most sacks (43) in the Big Ten last season.
“Losing two guys to the draft and another one-Jahari Branch-who’s actively on a (NFL) roster shows you that that’s the one area that we’ve got to see and make decisions quickly,” Locksley said. “Because that competition there with the guys we’ve brought in along with the returning guys makes healthy competition really important in that room.”
This offseason the portal was used to replenish the line, with transfers from the obvious (Marcus Dumerville comes to College Park from LSU) and not-so-obvious (North Carolina Central, Elon, Frostberg State) locales. As offensive lines are slow-roasted instead of microwaved, it might take a while for this unit to come together.
Defensively the unit that ranked eighth in points allowed and ninth in yards given up enters its second season under the guidance of defensive coordinator Brian Williams.
“It helps to bring the younger players along faster because you have more people in the room and more people on the field that knows what’s going on, so they can spread their wealth of knowledge to everyone who’s a newcomer, whether it be a guy in the portal or a freshman coming in,” Williams said.
“We look forward to improving on the things we didn’t do as well last year (10th in the Big Ten against the pass as well as getting off of the field on third down) and enhancing the things we did well (sixth in the conference against the run).”
The primary strength of this year’s D is in the secondary.
“I love the leadership and experience that’s on that side of the ball, especially on the second level with two returning starters in Beau Brade and Donte Trader,” Locksley said. “And then you add guys like Avantae Williams and Glenn Miller who also we expect to help us as well as some of these young players that we’ll bring in. But I’m really excited on that side of the ball because of the experience that we have returning.”
Brade led the team with 85 tackles last year while linebacker Jaishawn Barham’s four sacks as a freshman tied for the team lead. The defensive front on paper doesn’t return a starter per se, although Locksley said that returnees Quashon Fuller and Tommy Akingbesote saw plenty of snaps last fall and Tennessee transfer Jordan Phillips provides a boost to a unit that had the ninth most sacks in the Big Ten last year.
On the special teams front, they lose kicker Chad Ryland (19-23 field goals, 39-40 extra points) but return punter Colton Spangler (45.0 yard average).
The schedule begins with three straight home games, including a Friday night showdown against former ACC foe Virginia. The Big Ten slate kicks off with a trip to Michigan State on Sept. 23 and involves an Oct. 7 trip to Preseason No. 3 Ohio State. The Terps host No. 7 Penn State and No. 2 Michigan in November.
There will be opportunities to crack the conference’s elite and turn the dream into reality.
“The players and the coaches in our program know what our expectations are,” Locksley said. “They know that the work has to supersede the goal. And we’re not going to let a goal of wanting to compete for championships get in the way of the type of work and the amount of work it’s going to take to do that. That’s where all of our energy will be focused on.”
