Heading into Mike Locksley’s sixth season as head coach, Maryland will look to reach and win its fourth consecutive bowl game, a feat that’s never been accomplished before in program history. Maryland football is still over a month away from the start of spring ball, but the Terps found themselves in the middle of the pack in the new-look Big Ten in the debut of ESPN SP+ preseason rankings for the 2024 season. Maryland checked in at 45th nationally and 13th in the Big Ten, one year after ranking 41st in ESPN’s SP+ rankings heading into the 2023 season. Maryland’s offense ranked 82nd nationally, compared to 44th in 2023, while the defense moved up two spots from one season ago as they ranked 28th nationally heading into 2024. Maryland will face a pair of teams within the SP+ top ten in Oregon (3) and Penn State (7) while USC (23), Iowa (26), Minnesota (41) and Rutgers (43) all ranked ahead of the Terps with a chance to prove that in 2024. Maryland’s offense has a big void to fill with a quarterback battle set to begin in spring ball primarily between Cam Edge, Billy Edwards Jr. and MJ Morris, but the skill players have veteran talent to turn to. The backfield returns both Roman Hemby and Colby McDonald, Tai Felton and Kaden Prather are back in 2024 to lead the receiver room while Preston Howard and Dylan Wade look to take over at tight end. While the offensive line is nearly complete with another tackle still the biggest task left on the 2024 wish list, ESPN was bearish on the Terps’ offense with Maryland ranked behind Syracuse, BYU and Coastal Carolina. The trenches will be another question mark for the Terps as assistant Brian Braswell gets to solidify four starting spots through spring ball, but the ultimate fate of Maryland’s quarterback battle will be arguably the biggest storyline since year one of the Taulia Tagovailoa era. “I'm actually excited about this battle. Because I'm going back in the quarterback room to work with Josh in there, and because of the quarterback battle I want to be hands-on and know that what's going on,” Locksley said on the Bram Weinstein Show. “And we’ve got some guys in Billy Edwards and Cam Edge and Champ Long and Khristian Martin coming in and Jayden Sauray. A good old-fashioned quarterback battle, man. I'm excited about it.” While co-defensive coordinators Brian Williams and Aazaar Abdul-Rahim will have to replace three starters in the secondary, ESPN was bullish on the Terps’ defense with Maryland checking in at 28th overall. Granted, the Terps checked in at eleventh in the Big Ten with Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Penn State rounding out the top four and Nebraska and Wisconsin also inside the top ten. Northwestern (14), Oregon (15), Rutgers (17) and Minnesota (22), who are all set to face Maryland in 2024, checked in ahead of the Terps on defense. Led by the return of LBs Ruben Hyppolite and Fa’Najae Gotay, Maryland’s front seven remains a position of strength with the entire starting defensive line back for another season. Michigan State, who Maryland will open conference play against in week two, was projected one spot behind the Terps’ defense with Indiana (66) and USC (98) the two lowest-ranked conference opponents defensively. Maryland will open the season on Aug. 31 against UConn, who ranked at least 100th or worse in ESPN’s overall, offensive and defensive SP+ rankings, and travel to Virginia as the ‘Hoos ranked 81st overall and 71st offensively. Full list (overall/O/D) Ohio St. (2/20/1) Oregon (3/1/15) Michigan (5/32/2) Penn State (7/18/4) USC (23/4/98) Wisconsin (25/78/7) Iowa (26/108/3) Washington (29/30/40) UCLA (37/62/31) Nebraska (39/115/6) Minnesota (41/85/22) Rutgers (43/94/17) Maryland (45/82/28) Northwestern (55/116/14) Illinois (62/88/39) Michigan State (79/126/29) Purdue (86/87/71) Indiana (90/102/66) Non-conf opponents: Virginia (81/71/84) UConn (124/125/100) Related Links
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