Three takeaways from Maryland football’s Red-White spring game, including the race to start at QB
COLLEGE PARK — Minutes after the conclusion of Maryland football’s annual spring game Saturday afternoon, the giant video board inside SECU Stadium revealed that cornerback Tarheeb Still had been selected in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Chargers.
Still joined left tackle Delmar Glaze as Terps who had heard their names called in this year’s draft. Glaze had been chosen Friday night in the third round by the Las Vegas Raiders.
For coach Mike Locksley, Glaze and Still raised the number of players taken in the NFL draft during his tenure to 12, trailing only Ralph Friedgen (27) for the highest total under a Terps coach since the draft adopted a seven-round format in 1994.
Locksley sounded like a proud father talking about Glaze and Still.
“I can’t say enough about those two type of guys,” he said. “They are what the Maryland football brand has become. You saw a guy in Tarheeb who in high school was a talented receiver and had the skill set and transferred over [to the defense] and has played ever since he got off the school bus for us and has earned an opportunity to play at the next level.
“With DJ, the guy had some high school injuries, and maybe that’s why some people backed off of him. We believed in what we saw out of him. To see a guy that was a low three-star evaluation get drafted in the third round, I think it’s a testament to the job our coaches like [offensive line coach] Brian Braswell has done in their development. So I want to congratulate both of those guys, and hopefully, we hear a few more names today as this draft winds down.”
Here are three observations from Saturday’s final tuneup of spring, which the White team won, 34-3.
The race to succeed quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa remains undecided
Locksley confirmed that neither redshirt junior Billy Edwards Jr. nor redshirt sophomore MJ Morris distinguished themselves Saturday to start under center for Maryland’s season opener against Connecticut on Aug. 31.
“We’re a long ways away from naming a starter,” he said.
Edwards began the first two series for the White team, but both possessions went three-and-out. The offense under Morris, a North Carolina State transfer, followed suit under his first series before rushing the ball nine consecutive times capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by redshirt junior running back Roman Hemby late in the second quarter.
By halftime, Edwards had completed 5 of 10 passes for 34 yards and been sacked once. Morris connected on 1 of 2 throws for 9 yards and carried the ball once for a loss of 1 yard.
Both candidates found their footing in the fourth quarter. Morris directed a seven-play, 70-yard drive that ended in a 13-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Dylan Wade in the back left corner of the end zone to give the White team a 21-3 lead.
After the Red team failed to convert on fourth down-and-10 at its own 20-yard line, Edwards’ 13-yard scramble set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by redshirt sophomore running back Ryne Acheson for a 28-3 advantage.
Edwards said the spring game is an opportunity to work out the kinks, pointing out that Tagovailoa — the Big Ten’s career leader in passing yards (11,256) and No. 7 producer in passing touchdowns (76) and total offensive yards (11,473) — threw for only one touchdown in last year’s exhibition.
“It takes some time,” he said. “We’re coming out here and we’re not doing too much, just showing the fundamentals of our offense and our scheme.”
Edwards finished 6 of 14 for 36 yards and rushed three times for a loss of 12 yards, while Morris went 6 of 8 for 65 yards and one touchdown and carried the ball four times for 9 yards. Morris said the focus isn’t solely on him and Edwards as redshirt sophomore Cameron Edge (11 of 25 for 151 yards and one interception) and redshirt freshman Champ Long (5 of 12 for 63 yards and one interception) helmed the Red team.
“At the end of the day, it’s a competition between all of us,” Morris said. “Like Locks says, nobody won the job today. It’s still going to come to whoever comes, and the first game of the season, that’s when he’s going to make the decision. We’re all competing, and at the end of the day, we’re going to keep on going.”
Maryland’s strength is its defense
As much as the offense struggled, the defense stole the show.
The Terps forced four three-and-outs in the first five possessions. Edwards was sacked twice, and Morris was sacked once.
The defense also returned two interceptions for touchdowns. Freshman linebacker Keyari James picked off an errant pass by Long and took it 29 yards to give the White team a 14-3 lead with 12 seconds left in the second quarter. And Edge’s dump-off hit redshirt sophomore running back Eli Mason in the hands, allowing redshirt freshman cornerback Jonathan Akins to snatch the ball out of midair and return it 90 yards for the final score with 23 seconds remaining.
Redshirt sophomore defensive end Jordan Phillips, who led the Red team with six tackles and shared a sack of Edwards with junior linebacker Kellan Wyatt (Archbishop Spalding), expressed his admiration for the turnovers.
“I love it,” he said. “It really stems from working hard, developing in practice week after week after week. I’ve seen those guys catch many a picks at practice before. So for them to come out here and do it again today, I love that, and it was expected for them to do that.”
Locksley said he wouldn’t turn down more dominant performances from the defense in the games that actually count.
“I have no problem with winning ugly,” he said. “If our defense is shutting people out and we take care of the football, it happens. Now I’ll be the first to tell you that we recruit really talented offensive players. So the finished product of what you saw today won’t be anywhere close to what it looks like. It’s easy to kind of make assumptions based on the spring game. We had a very limited game plan. Our defense is the strength of our team right now as it should be.”
The offense might undergo a makeover
Hemby, the Edgewood native and John Carroll graduate who ranks third among active Big Ten running backs in total yards from scrimmage with 2,388, will likely start at running back. But redshirt freshman Nolan Ray might have earned more reps.
Ray led all rushers with 96 yards on eight attempts, including a 49-yard scamper that set up Morris’ touchdown pass to Wade. Ray’s showing was welcomed by Locksley after the running back sat out last fall because of unspecified injuries.
“To see him out on the field today, you guys finally got a glimpse of what we have seen since the day he got here,” Locksley said. “He’s a big-play threat. He’s got great vision, balance, body control. He looks like a few of these Big Ten running backs that we’ve had around here. I think he will be a guy that people take notice of this year.”
Considering the uncertainty at quarterback, relying on the run game might be the prudent move for the Terps. And that would seem to explain why Locksley hired former Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz as an offensive analyst.
Locksley said he plans to lean on Ferentz to help dissect and invigorate the rushing offense.
“Anywhere he’s been, he’s been a part of running the football,” he said. “What we do is what we do. He’s coming in as an analyst, and he’ll make suggestions. He has a skill that I like. The emphasis for me is, how do we develop the run game on offense? To have a Brian Ferentz who has been a part of some of the best offensive lines and some of the best run games giving ideas of how they did it to add to some of the stuff we already do, it’s a win for me. And he came cheap.”
Season opener
UConn at Maryland
Saturday, Aug. 31, TBA
