Maryland football bowl notebook: QB depth, NFL technology, stay-or-go decisions

Maryland football is gearing up for its third consecutive bowl appearance as they're set to face Auburn in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30 for a 2 PM kickoff. Maryland will be without at least two key starters against the Tigers with quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa now a confirmed opt-out, ending his Maryland career, as head coach Mike Locksley took the podium on Tuesday. With the offense set to turn to a pair of inexperienced battles ahead of an open quarterback competition next season, takeaways from Tuesday's media day in College Park: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPDrsWno8Yk Maryland turns to Billy Edwards Jr. Cam Edge vs. Auburn After stating his intention to play in the season finale vs. Rutgers, Maryland will now have a new starting quarterback when takes on Auburn at the Music City Bowl after head coach Mike Locksley confirmed that Taulia Tagovailoa has opted out of the bowl game. “We certainly thank him and his family for all he's given this program over the last four years. But like all positions it’s next man up and this provides Billy Edwards, Cam Edge, Champ Long, Jayden Sauray, some of the quarterbacks in our program an opportunity here as we head into the bowl game and I'm excited for to see what Billy is able to do,” Locksley said on Tuesday. “Kind of look at this game almost like a preseason game leading into next year, gives us an opportunity to evaluate our quarterback situation going into the next year. We’ve got a lot of faith in Billy. We’ve got a lot of faith in Cam. Both those guys have the ability, the skill sets to operate our system.” While Maryland will turn to multiple quarterbacks with Edwards and Cam Edge the primary quarterbacks set to step in at the end of the month, Locksley explained why he’s confident in Billy Edwards, who could be in line for his third career start. “You just think back to two years ago. Billy came in, we were down against Indiana when went down with injury and all he did was bring us back and help us win a very important game on the road against Indiana a couple years ago. And then get us both eligible against Northwestern as a starter, his first year in our program. We see him every day of practice. Usually he takes about 40% of our reps as the backup with the starter, at the time taking 60% so he's got a lot of bank reps, a lot of bank experience that has shown us that he's capable of operating our stuff. He still has a bunch of weapons available to him on the outside with Prather, Tai Felton, Jeshaun Jones, the run game. The line is pretty much intact. He has enough weapons I think that will allow him to operate our stuff.” While Maryland turns the page on the Tagovailoa chapter, his veteran weapons praised the next-man-up mentality under center. “He’s sneaky athletic. You wouldn’t think he’s that athletic,” wide receiver Tai Felton said of Edwards. “He can run the ball. He’s a big-armed guy, he can throw the ball downfield.” “You’ve seen his arm power just by the games he has played and he has a lot of success with his legs as well. I feel like he’s really smart. That’s what we do. That’s what our quarterback position consists of—smart quarterbacks that can really dissect defenses,” running back Roman Hemby added. “He’s been under some great coaching.” Underclassmen set to emerge in the secondary Maryland has watched both Corey Coley and Tamarcus Cooley depart the program in favor of NC State this offseason, while second-year cornerback Gavin Gibson was among the first departures of the offseason. The position took an immediate hit after Tarheeb Still announced his intention to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft, opting out of the Music City Bowl, but the unit will have one experienced option with Ja'Quan Sheppard expected to suit up. Still, Lionell Whitaker and Perry Fisher are among the underclassmen set to fill the void against Auburn at cornerback. "The young corners, we signed three corners—Kevis, Uzi, Mykel Morman. These are all three dudes that can run" head coach Mike Locksley said. "Running Chantz Harley this past season. He's got great length and size. Those guys, Kevis played some obviously Lionel's back, he's played a bunch for us. Ja’Quan Sheppard is playing in the game…Perry Fisher, who’s been kind of a nickel corner. We’ve got a lot of experienced guys.” Maryland to leverage NFL technology during Music City Bowl Head coach Mike Locksley added that after connecting with Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, both teams have “agreed to utilize technology in our bowl game” with the bowl game set at Titans Stadium. “With the player-to-coach thing that they use in the NFL communication as well as the tablets on the sidelines. We have a waiver to be able to do that. And we both have agreed to utilize some of this stuff as I think we we’ll transition maybe next season and so it gives us an opportunity.” Locksley added that Maryland implemented the technology for the first time during Monday’s practice as they move toward what’s expected to become the new norm in college football. “I’m a little nervous, man. I’m a dinosaur when it comes to emails, iPhones and all that stuff? Guess I'm in the boomer category with it. Tried to use it a little bit yesterday and get it to close to your mouth. It's kind of like the Nextel, I’m old enough to remember what the old Nextel phone used to be like, the chirps where you don't want to so close to your mouth that they can't hear you so it's taking some getting used to but I do think, obviously with us and how we operate. We've been a signal team and we know through what's happened this year in college football that signal sometimes can give advantages. And so for us it's important to see how this works because if we're moving toward it, I want to make sure we've had an opportunity to practice it, to use it and have a feel so I can make an educated decision when it comes time to when my opinion is asked about using technology games. But I think it helps the game. Itll speed it up for us. I think it’s good.” Two starters remain unsure on 2024 plans, another reveals why he’s playing Maryland is tasked with replacing multiple starters along the offensive line, but all eyes remain on star lineman DJ Glaze with his stay-or-go decision still not made. “It’s probably one of the hardest decisions you’ll ever have to make so just trying to analyze the pros and cons of both sides of it. Still trying to work on exactly what I want to do but like I said, there’s pros to both sides. At the end of the day, it really comes down to how comfortable am I with the decision that I have to make? I feel like I’m getting pretty close here. Just trying to really right now, get ready for the bowl game, play there and then that probably clear things up moving forward.” Glaze sheds light on the potential benefit of a return in 2024. “There’s always going to be room for improvement no matter who you are. Just coming back for another year, maybe showing some position versatility, moving around on the line, showing scouts I can play here, I can play there. That’s one of the biggest things that I feel like could help me if I make the decision to come back. Letting me know that I can improve my draft grade just with coming back, dominating again and moving around the line.” Linebacker Ruben Hyppolite has another year of eligibility left, but he admitted he hasn’t thought about plans for 2024 just yet. “Right now I’m just focused on the bowl, being my best self and preparing for that. I haven’t really thought about my future plans. Obviously I’ll think about all of that when the bowl game is over but for right now, just focused on that game and being my best.” While safety Beau Brade hasn’t made an official decision just yet, the status of the veteran safety was never in doubt as the second-year safety is set to play in the Music City Bowl vs. Auburn. “I wanted to finish the season out with my guys. I started with some of these guys since four years ago and I want to finish off strong. We played the Rutgers game but I didn’t want to finish off on that, I wanted to have a big one.” Related Links

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