Saturday’s season opener against UConn can’t arrive quickly enough for Maryland coach Mike Locksley.
“This is like Christmas for me — to open up Saturday against UConn and really see who we are,” he said Tuesday during his weekly media availability. “We’ve got to play the game to see who we are and start the chess match of making the moves and adjustments we need to make to keep the program moving forward.”
How long that yuletide cheer will last will likely depend on whether the Terps can improve on last year’s 8-5 record that included a 31-13 victory over Auburn in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl — their third win in a bowl in as many seasons. College football analysts have predicted a middle-of-the-pack finish for Maryland in the rugged and expanded Big Ten Conference, but that means little to Locksley.
“My I-could-give-a-crap gauge is still on [empty],” he quipped. “It is what it is. At least now, we’re talked about as a middle team. The bottom three is what it’s typically been. Yeah, I could [not] care less.”
Rapper and Washington native Wale thinks the Terps are being underestimated.
“I don’t see them finishing in the middle,” he said. “These kids have got too much heart. If they do what they’ve got to do, we’re going to have a good season.”
Here’s what you need to know for the 2024 Maryland football season:
Who will start at quarterback?
That is the $1 million question after the departure of Taulia Tagovailoa, the Big Ten’s all-time leader in passing yards and the Terps’ undisputed starter for the past three years. The leading candidates to open the season against UConn on Saturday at noon at SECU Stadium are redshirt junior Billy Edwards Jr., the Most Valuable Player of the TransPerfect Music City Bowl, and redshirt sophomore MJ Morris, a transfer from North Carolina State.
Locksley declined Tuesday to reveal the starter’s identity, but Edwards took the first reps on offense that day.
CBS Sports Network college football analyst and former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones said last week that he would lean toward Edwards.
“MJ definitely has upside, but I don’t know if it’s as big,” he said. “And especially knowing whichever one of these quarterbacks it’s going to be, they’re going to have a little bit more on their plates.”
Can an untested offensive line hold up?
Whoever gets the start at quarterback will need some support from a five-man front that lost left tackle Delmark Glaze, left guard Corey Bullock, center Mike Purcell and right tackle Gottlieb Ayedze.
Redshirt junior Kyle Long — who made six starts at right guard, including the last three of the season — returns as the most experienced lineman, but was not part of the first offensive line during Tuesday’s practice. That group consisted of redshirt sophomore left tackle Andre Roye Jr. (St. Frances), redshirt junior left guard Isaac Bunyun, redshirt senior center Josh Kaltenberger, redshirt sophomore right guard Aliou Bah and junior right tackle Alan Herron.
Kaltenberger, Bah and Herron transferred from Purdue, Georgia and Division II Shorter, respectively. And Locksley conceded that the front five will need more time to build chemistry.
“We’re going to have some growing pains, but I feel good that we’ve got the right guys in the right places,” he said. “What we’ve got to do now is get the continuity.”
Can the defense lead the way?
With the tumult at quarterback and along the offensive line, the defense appears poised to anchor the team early in the season.
The Terps return seven starters, including five of its front six. Fifth-year senior middle linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, an All-Big Ten third-team selection, and redshirt senior defensive end Quashon Fuller, an honorable-mention choice, headline the group with senior safety Dante Trader Jr. patrolling the defensive backfield.
The unit gave up just 22.5 points per game last fall — its best showing since 2010 when that squad surrendered an average of 22.2 points. And Maryland produced 34 sacks and 17 interceptions for its first 30-15 campaign since 2001 (37-24).
But Trader, a McDonogh graduate, cautioned against talk that the defense was “way ahead” of the offense.
“It’s just we’ve just got more veteran players on the defensive side,” he said. “From our time going up against them, they’ve got a lot of explosive players and a lot of explosive parts on the offense. But I would just say that we’ve been trying to focus on us because there’s a lot of pressure already on the offense as it is now.”
Notable new players
Redshirt sophomore right guard Aliou Bah (Georgia), junior right tackle Alan Herron (Shorter), freshman cornerback Kevyn Humes, junior cornerback Jalen Huskey (Bowling Green), freshman cornerback Brandon Jacob, redshirt senior center Josh Kaltenberger (Purdue), freshman cornerback Braydon Lee, redshirt sophomore kicker Gavin Marshall (Oklahoma), redshirt sophomore punter Bryce McFerson (Notre Dame) and redshirt sophomore quarterback MJ Morris (North Carolina State).
Notable pro departures
Right tackle Gottlieb Ayedze (Philadelphia Eagles), safety Beau Brade (Ravens), left guard Corey Bullock (Ravens), left tackle Delmar Glaze (Las Vegas Raiders), wide receiver Jeshaun Jones (Minnesota Vikings), cornerback Ja’Quan Sheppard (Raiders), cornerback Tarheeb Still (Los Angeles Chargers) and quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa (CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats).
Notable transfers
Sophomore outside linebacker Jaishawn Barham (Michigan), senior cornerback Corey Coley Jr. (North Carolina State), senior tight end Corey Dyches (California), junior cornerback Gavin Gibson (East Carolina), senior linebacker Fa’Najae Gotay (Auburn), redshirt junior running back Antwain Littleton II (Temple) and sophomore tight end Rico Walker (Auburn).
Recruiting
Maryland’s 2025 recruiting class is ranked No. 23 nationally by 247Sports. The group of 22 players is headed by three four-star recruits — quarterback Malik Washington of Archbishop Spalding, offensive lineman Jaylen Gilchrist of Salem (Virginia Beach, Virginia) and athlete Messiah Delhomme of Warwick (Newport News, Virginia).
Schedule
There are a few quirks in this year’s schedule besides the addition of four former Pac-12 schools in Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. Maryland’s home game against Big Ten rival Michigan State on Sept. 7 marks the program’s earliest conference matchup since joining the league in 2014 and earliest since 2011 when that squad opened the season against Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami on Sept. 5.
Southern California on Oct. 19 will be the first school from the West Coast to visit the Terps since California made a trip to College Park on Sept. 13, 2008, which the hosts won, 35-27. Maryland’s road game against No. 3 Oregon on Nov. 9 will be their first trip to the Pacific time zone since Dec. 30, 2014, when that team lost to Stanford, 31-20, in the Foster Farms Bowl at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and first regular-season appearance on the West Coast since Sept. 5, 2009, when that squad lost to California, 52-13.
Finally, the Terps will not face No. 2 Ohio State and No. 9 Michigan for the first time since 2000 when the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of a home game against the Buckeyes on Nov. 15 and an away game against the Wolverines on Dec. 5.
Projected starting lineup
Offense
QB: Billy Edwards Jr.
RB: Roman Hemby
WR: Tai Felton, Kaden Prather, Octavian Smith Jr.
TE: Preston Howard
LT: Andre Roye Jr.
LG: Isaac Bunyun
C: Josh Kaltenberger
RG: Aliou Bah
RT: Alan Herron
Defense
DE: Quashon Fuller
NT: Jordan Phillips
DT: Tommy Akingbesote
MLB: Ruben Hyppolite II
OLB: Donnell Brown, Kellan Wyatt
CB: Perry Fisher, Jalen Huskey, Lionell Whitaker
S: Glendon Miller, Dante Trader Jr.