Who’s ready for college football to commence? Forget about what you may have heard about “Week Zero,” unless you’re a Yellow Jacket or Seminole fan (if an upset loss happens in Ireland, does it really occur?). College football’s regular season commences this week (who’s ready for Howard-Rutgers Thursday night?) with multiple Saturday kickoffs involving local teams.
Maryland (8-5 in 2024, 4-5 in the Big Ten) hosts UConn on Saturday at noon, and for the first time since 2019, someone not named Taulia Tagovailoa will be starting as quarterback in the Terps’ opener.
For those with a short memory, Tagovailoa not only turned what was a turnstile position (the laundry list of starters from 2015-19 would break the internet) into one of stability (39 starts in 41 regular season games), but set program and Big Ten records as he directed the Terrapins to three straight bowl berths for the first time since the 2001-03 seasons.
Who will officially fill those shoes has yet to be announced, as head coach Mike Locksley plans to play his cards close to the vest heading up to the opener.
His options are junior Billy Edwards Jr. (who started the bowl bid-clinching win over Northwestern in 2022 and scored seven touchdowns as a goal-line specialist in 2023); sophomore Cameron Edge (threw a touchdown pass in the 2023 Music City Bowl); and sophomore transfer MJ Morris (56% passing for 719 yards, 7-5 touchdown-interception ratio at NC State last fall). August workouts have been spent determining who the best option is moving forward.
“Every drive should end in a kick, if you’re a good quarterback. Either punting the ball, kicking extra points, or kicking field goals,” Locksley said on Maryland’s Media Day. “Ending drives with turnovers or ending drives with penalties or things like that … that’s not playing winning football. So I can tell you the guy that does the best of putting the team in position to score points and finish drives the right way will end up being the guy.”
Whoever emerges won’t be short of options to throw to because, although sixth-year senior Jeshaun Jones has moved on, Tai Felton (48 catches for 723 yards and six touchdowns) and Kaden Prather (49-666-5) return, along with plenty of other options in the two-deep.
“I think we’ve got some of the best skill in the Big Ten,” Locksley said. “Not a lot of the household names that people have come to know when we’ve had one or two marquee guys. But I think by the end of the season you’ll see why there’s so much excitement about our football program.”
Maryland ranked 12th in the Big Ten running the ball in 2023, and that part of the offense provides plenty of answers and questions in 2024.
Junior Roman Hemby rushed for 680 yards last fall (after gaining 989 as a redshirt freshman) while making 38 receptions, and once again he’ll be supplemented by junior Colby McDonald (5.8 yards per carry in 2023). But there is also quite a bit of buzz surrounding the play of redshirt freshman Nolan Ray.
“I feel like he’s gotten better every day that we’ve taken the field together,” Roman Hemby said. “He’s real elusive as a running back. He’s very fast.”
A strong running back rotation can go a long way to smooth over a first year starting quarterback’s growing pains. Meanwhile, an offensive line whose most experience returnee is junior Kyle Long (six starts in 2023 with 14 career games played) has been rebuilt with transfers from everywhere from Georgia (sophomore guard Aliou Bah) to Division II Shorter (junior Alan Herron).
Once again, the road to Big Ten contention will rely on how well the line comes together.
Meanwhile, after years of being in the shadows of the high-octane offense, it appears as though the Terrapin defense will have an opportunity to shine in 2024. Even though last year’s unit ranked eighth in the Big Ten in points and yards allowed, the team’s 34 sacks were fourth-most and their 19 interceptions were second only to National Champion Michigan.
“We’ve played a bunch of players over the last two to three years who maybe failed us in critical situations where they didn’t make the plays,” Locksley said. “Well these guys now have that tool in the toolbox so that, when we face that this year, I think you’ll see a different result.”
Seven starters return, including standout linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II (66 tackles and a sack in 2023) and difference-making defensive back Dante Trader Jr. (53 tackles, seven passes defended and two interceptions). While the line has seven players returning who made starts last year, the secondary becomes the primary concern.
“We have a young secondary, so we’ve got to help them out a lot,” Hyppolite said. “Lead ’em. Coach ’em up. So I think that’s going to be the biggest thing going into this year. Because the more confidence they have, the better off we’ll be.”
The schedule begins with three home games over the first four weeks (the road game is at former ACC foe Virginia). The new and expanded Big Ten does away with divisions as well and swaps games with Michigan and Ohio State for USC and Oregon. It’s a different conference and the Terps, after four years of certainty, will have a different quarterback.
However, Locksley’s vision for what the program can be remains the same.
“I want my players to dream big, I want them to think about championships. That’s where we are now,” he said. “I couldn’t say that five years ago, but I can tell you now I’m really excited. Our mindset in 2024 is to shake up status quo.”
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