COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Maryland Terrapins football team is rested and ready for what it hopes turns into a primetime party at SECU Stadium on Friday night.
The Terps (3-2) are set to host Northwestern (2-3). Both teams are looking to pick up their first conference win of the year. Both teams are coming off losses to 18th ranked Indiana. The Terps lost to the Hoosiers 42-28 on September 28. The Wildcats fell to Indiana 41-24 last Saturday. Maryland is coming off its bye week.
Billy Edwards Jr. will look to get his Terrapins back on track. The redshirt junior quarterback is having a phenomenal season, his first as starter after backing up Taulia Tagovailoa for a couple years. In 2024 Edwards has 1,444 yards and eleven touchdowns passing. He also has two TD’s rushing. He is eighth in the country with a 72.3 completion percentage.
Still, on Tuesday head coach Mike Locksley said his signal caller isn’t getting the respect he deserves nationally. He wants people outside of College Park to take notice.
"He is a bonafide star at quarterback," said Locksley. "You never hear people talk about... I ain’t hear his name spoken about this weekend as I watched a lot of TV and a lot of games. He is one of the highest rated quarterbacks in the country. I know we had this narrative because he's a backup. Well, he is our starter and he is playing at a pretty high level."
"I wouldn’t say I have too much of a chip on my shoulder about what is going on right now I feel like just the way my college career has panned out," said Edwards Jr. "I’d say right now I’m more focused on the daily tasks, the week to week things of taking it one game at a time and then after the season I’ll be able to get back on Twitter and to be active on all that stuff and read that stuff. There are bigger things that myself and everyone in that locker room is focused on."
Will Edwards be able to focus on getting star receiver Tai Felton the ball on Friday? Felton, receiver Kaden Prather and defensive back Dante Trader were banged up during the game against Indiana. Locksley would not get into specifics but said two of the three are "good to go" this weekend.
The Terps are looking to win their fifth consecutive primetime game when kickoff arrives Friday at 8:00 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
