Maybe it’s all just karma for the way which he left UConn, but whatever the case, there’s no doubt that Randy Edsall’s time at Maryland has been cursed. Beyond a near revolt from the local media after last year’s 2-10 campaign, and beyond any number of high-level players leaving the program via transfer, of the few who’ve stuck around College Park none can seem to stay healthy and on the field.
No place is that more true than at the quarterback position, where entering Saturday’s matchup with Georgia Tech, the Terrapins are left with no choice but to start true freshman Shawn Petty under center.
Only Petty isn’t your traditional true freshman quarterback. Not in the least bit.
That’s because not only has Petty not thrown a pass as a true freshman this year, but well, he wasn’t recruited to play quarterback at all. Petty actually came to College Park to play linebacker.
Sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction. This is one of those cases.
For Edsall, the second-year coach was given no other choice when his latest quarterback, freshman Caleb Rowe went out with an injury over the weekend. Poor Rowe is the latest in a long line of Maryland signal-callers to go down for the season, after C.J. Brown was lost with an ACL tear in the preseason, Perry Hills suffered his own ACL tear a few weeks ago, and was replaced by Devin Burns, who injured his foot last week in the lead-up to Saturday’s loss to Boston College.
Yes, you’ve read that correctly: With Rowe now down for the count, Maryland has lost four- count ‘em, four– starting quarterbacks to season-ending injuries this year. And that was after Danny O’Brien transferred to Wisconsin in the off-season. It also leads to one presumption on our end here at CBR: If you’re a high school senior anywhere around the College Park area who happens to be able to throw a spiral, well, the University of Maryland has a scholarship offer for you. That is, if you can make it to campus unharmed.
It also leaves zero healthy recruited quarterbacks on the roster, and forced Petty’s move from linebacker to quarterback, for what will hopefully be the remainder of the season. For those wondering, Petty threw for over 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior year of high school, although admittedly, we’re not totally sure the competition at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD. was preparation for what Petty will see under the center the rest of the year.
You know, especially since again, Petty never intended to play quarterback in the first place.
Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that Edsall’s second season at Maryland couldn’t be any more snake-bitten.
Although if there is a positive to come out of this, it’s that it’ll make for one hell of a quarterback battle next fall at Maryland.
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