Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
In the first newsletter of the semester, we preview Maryland football’s 2024 season and highlight The Diamondback’s preseason coverage of coach Michael Locksley’s team.
The quarterback saga
Locksley and his team know who Maryland’s starting quarterback is — they just won’t say who.
Maryland held a lengthy quarterback competition throughout spring and fall practice. Locksley previously said he’d announce the starter ahead of the season opener at his Tuesday press conference, but later declined to announce for competitive advantage purposes. Maryland faces UConn on Saturday.
Billy Edwards Jr., Cameron Edge and MJ Morris are the three contenders. The Diamondback’s football reporters profiled Edwards and Morris so Terps fans could learn more about two of the leading candidates.
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Morris, a transfer from NC State, is far from his home state of Georgia. But like he did during his time with the Wolfpack, Morris has relied on faith and family through his transition to Maryland.
Edwards enters his third year at Maryland. The 6-foot-3, 222-pounder came to College Park knowing he’d back up Taulia Tagovailoa. That didn’t bother Edwards, someone who’s always played the long game — and it could pay off if he’s Locksley’s choice.
Embracing an identity shift
Even though Locksley praised his new crop of quarterbacks, he knows Maryland will look different without Tagovailoa.
The Terps’ offense relied heavily on the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer. That won’t necessarily be the case with their new signal caller, Locksley said. Maryland’s quality offensive weapons play a role in that, but it doesn’t hurt to have a more-than-capable defense — which Locksley called the quarterback’s best friend.
Maryland will be a defensive-led team, according to Locksley.
The Terps’ defense has conceded about a touchdown less per game over the last two years than it did in 2021.
Maryland lost some of its top talent, but Ruben Hyppolite II, Jordan Phillips and Dante Trader Jr. are among the key returners. The Terps also saw renowned coach and recruiter Aazaar Abdul-Rahim return to the program after stints at Massachusetts and Boston College.
A recruiting resurgence
Maryland did more than secure four-star quarterback Malik Washington’s commitment.
The Archbishop Spalding star is the driving force behind the Terps’ recruiting resurgence. Washington’s pledge to Maryland led to a flurry of fellow four-star 2025 recruits joining him.
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The Terps are the No. 23 recruiting class in 247Sports’ class of 2025 composite rankings. Locksley’s only had one higher-ranked class since taking over in 2019, and no others inside the top 30.
Most notably, all six four-stars and over two-thirds of the class hail from Washington D.C., Maryland or Virginia, helping turn Locksley’s longtime vision of dominating the area into a reality.
Best bits:
- Fans waited more than a decade for a college football video game. Football reporter Sam Jane played against Terps receiver Tai Felton to learn about the highly-anticipated game from a player’s perspective.
- Maryland lost all five starters from its 2023 offensive line, making that group one of the Terps’ biggest questions.
- Locksley called new co-defensive coordinator Aazaar Abdul-Rahim a ‘lion tamer.’ Abdul-Rahim’s return felt inevitable, and could bolster Maryland’s defense and recruiting.
Quote of the week:
“The three guys that have competed for the [quarterback] position during fall camp, I come out of the meeting Sunday [where the starter was announced]… with a really strong confidence that we’ll have the ability to win with all three,” Locksley said.
Stat of the week:
A winning record in 2024 would mark Maryland’s fourth consecutive season above .500. The Terps haven’t had a streak that long in 40 years, since their 1982 to 1985 stretch.
