Maryland Terrapins having the worst luck with quarterbacks this season

Three games into the season, the Maryland Terrapins are down almost as many quarterbacks.

The Maryland Terrapins started this season with a 51-41 win over Texas in Tom Herman’s debut as Longhorns head coach. Starting quarterback Tyrrell Pigrome went down for the season with a torn ACL in that game, but a 2-0 start came easily with a 63-17 victory over Towson the following week.

After an off week the Terrapins lost their first game of the season last Saturday, 38-10, to Central Florida. Quarterback Kasim Hill was injured in the first quarter, and now the Baltimore Sun has confirmed the freshman signal caller will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL of his own.

Sophomore Max Bortenschlager steeped in for Hill against UCF, and went 15-for-26 for 132 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. That puts him in line to start Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Minnesota on the road, and head coach D.J. Durkin has essentially confirmed it.

"Max is a tough kid. He went in a tough spot and I thought it was a gutsy performance. He did really well. It wasn’t perfect, but who would expect it to be? He’s tough, he competes. Max has confidence in himself and we have confidence in him.”"

The Terrapins also have North Carolina transfer Caleb Henderson, who had been expected to start before a spring foot injury that lingered into fall camp. Freshman Legend Brumbaugh and former Air Force/JUCO quarterback Ryan Brand are also on the quarterback depth chart for Durkin to consider using at some point if needed.

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The schedule isn’t going to get any easier for Maryland after Saturday, with games at Ohio State (Oct. 7) and at Wisconsin (Oct. 21) and a home game against Northwestern in-between. So 2-0 could become 2-5 very quickly, and the current situation at quarterback won’t help.