Malik Washington will stand across from former Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. in Wisconsin for his Big Ten debut this weekend.

Their seasons couldn’t look more different at this point.

Edwards has played less than a half since transferring to the Badgers, while Washington — his freshman successor in College Park — already ranks in the Big Ten’s top half in passing yards and touchdowns.

For Washington, Saturday’s game will be a litmus test for how he and the Terps stand among the conference.

“The trust and the confidence the team gives me and the coaches — I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Washington said.

Washington will be the first true freshman to start for Maryland against a conference opponent since Tyrrell Pigrome in 2016. He also has a chance to become the first to win such a game since Perry Hills in 2012, when the Terps were in the ACC.

Washington said enrolling early in the spring helped him adjust to college, despite a preseason leg injury that sidelined him. His starts haven’t been flawless — he fumbled in the red zone during a sluggish outing against Northern Illinois and threw his first interception last weekend against Towson — but he’s still topped 250 passing yards and recorded multiple touchdowns in each of his three starts.

“He’s still working, still in that training camp mode if you think about the amount of work that he missed early in the training camp,” coach Michael Locksley said about Washington. “But I’m really pleased with how he’s protected the football and the decision making.”

Edwards exited in the second quarter of Wisconsin’s Aug. 28 opener against Miami (Ohio). With the graduate student under center, the Badgers mustered only three points as he completed six of 13 passes for 68 yards. He didn’t attempt a single rush, unlike last season when he ran at least five times in 10 of his 11 starts.

The quarterback sprained his knee in that game and sat out the following two games against Middle Tennessee and Alabama. If Edwards can’t play against Maryland, sophomore Danny O’Neil — who’s thrown for 520 yards, but has four interceptions to go with five touchdowns — will get the nod.

[Maryland football ends nonconference slate with 44-17 drubbing of Towson]

Shaleak Knotts is breaking out as a senior

Now in his fourth season at Maryland, Shaleak Knotts has an important reminder to pass on to his younger teammates.

“I’ve learned how to stay patient and wait my time,” Knotts said.

Knotts has shared a receiver room with NFL talent such as Tai Felton, Kaden Prather, Jeshaun Jones and Rakim Jarrett, but never topped 11 catches or 161 yards in a season.

Through three games this year, Knotts has already matched his career high in receptions and eclipsed that yardage with 196. He’s also scored in every game, with each coming on a reception of more than 25 yards.

“It just goes to show, you just got to run your race — which [Knotts] has done,” Locksley said. “I really like the way things have worked out for [him] early in the year and we hope to continue to build on it with him.”

[Maryland athletic director Jim Smith talks football attendance, men’s basketball’s outlook]

Young duo fortifying Maryland’s defensive line

Maryland’s freshman edge pair of Zahir Mathis and Sidney Stewart has been prominent every weekend.

Stewart leads the team with 5.5 tackle-for-losses and has recorded a sack in every game. Mathis has garnered an individual sack each of the past two weeks after notching a half sack in week one.

Stewart was ineligible to play his entire senior year at Concordia Prep after reclassifying earlier in his career, though he was still allowed to practice with the team. He noted in the preseason that sitting out gave him a different kind of hunger — or, as he put it, left him ‘insatiable’ heading into Maryland as he early-enrolled alongside Washington.

Mathis noted that he didn’t have any expectations of playing a pivotal role as a freshman — now proving to be a key member of Maryland’s defense.

“We’re real unique, but when it comes down to each other, we play to our standards here at the university,” Mathis said about himself and Stewart. “We’ll continue to push each other to our best standards.”