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Who are Maryland football’s 15 best quarterback options?

If the injuries pile up, here’s our guess at the depth chart.

Maryland v Texas Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images

Maryland lost its first football game of the season Saturday, falling 38-10 to UCF. The Terps entered the game 2-0, with wins over Texas and Towson keyed by explosive offensive play, but that didn’t continue in this one.

Freshman quarterback Kasim Hill went down on a scramble in the first quarter and didn’t return to the game. He’s the second Maryland signal caller to injure himself this season, after Tyrrell Pigrome tore his ACL against Texas. Sophomore Max Bortenschlager looked overwhelmed in relief, going 15-of-32 for 132 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

If Hill’s injury is serious, that means three of Maryland’s four scholarship quarterbacks are hurt. It might be time to figure out the emergency pecking order. Here’s the most extensive wish list of potential quarterbacks we could come up with.

1. Tyrrell Pigrome

The sophomore won the starting job in camp and exceeded all expectations against Texas, but tore his ACL and is now out for the season. There’s one down.

2. Kasim Hill

He’s a true freshman who didn’t join the team until this summer, but he looked like a superstar in his first game and a half. Now he’s hurt, too. We don’t know how bad it is. He could be fine. He could also not be fine.

3. Caleb Henderson

He’s been some degree of injured since the end of spring practice, when he broke his foot. Henderson’s walking boot was off and back on and then off and back on during fall camp. He wasn’t wearing it Saturday, but he never seemed close to stepping on the field, either. If Hill misses significant time, a healthy Henderson probably gives the Terps their best chance at competing against the toughest foes on their schedule.

4. Max Bortenschlager

He’s now seen extensive action twice in his career, earning the start against Nebraska last season and relieving Hill on Saturday. He wasn’t all that effective either time, and the Terps have scored 14 points in seven quarters with him under center.

5. Ryan Brand

The former Air Force quarterback and current preferred walk-on looked like the next man in (he had a helmet on; Henderson didn’t). He’s more mobile than Bortenschlager, but obviously has less upside as a downfield passer.

6. Legend Brumbaugh

He’s a 6’4 left-hander whose dad, Jimmy, is Maryland’s defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator. He initially committed to Tennessee-Martin before choosing to walk on with the Terps instead. We don’t really know much else about him, and until right now, we didn’t think we’d need to.

7. Shane Cockerille

The former four-star QB prospect has bounced from fullback to quarterback to linebacker at Maryland. Of the people on this list, he’s actually thrown the third-most career passes, going 11-for-23 for 82 yards against Indiana in 2015.

8. Antoine Brooks

This dude’s a playmaker. In three games this season, he’s got an interception and a return touchdown on a blocked field goal. He was also a quarterback in high school, albeit not as highly regarded as Cockerille. He’s also further removed from playing the position than his fellow defender.

T9. Lorenzo Harrison III, Ty Johnson

Walt Bell caused a quiet stir among the Maryland media contingency when he said that the Terps’ running backs could handle things in an emergency. "Obviously they're not going to drop back and throw a lot of balls,” he said, “but they're prepared to at least manage the line of scrimmage and run the offense." So we can’t put them ahead of Cockerille here, and Brooks probably makes more sense as well. But there are crazier ideas, such as.....

11. Brandon Gaddy

The true freshman defensive tackle is listed at 6’2, 311 pounds. But we shall take this time to point out that as a high school junior, the slightly smaller Gaddy twin rushed for 772 yards and 18 touchdowns. He’d entirely be a supersized wildcat option, but hey, if Dontari Poe can throw a touchdown, why can’t this guy? Playing a lineman here is so much funnier than playing a linebacker, and that has to count for something.

12. D.J. Moore

The junior wideout caught eight passes for 83 yards and his 13th career touchdown Saturday, but if nobody else on this list is around to throw him the ball, he might have to take matters into his own hands. Moore completed a 21-yard pass to Perry Hills last season.

13. Wade Lees

Like Moore, the Terps’ 29-year-old punter is 1-for-1 in his career. However, Lees has approximately 0.9 percent of Moore’s playmaking ability. So he’s one spot behind.

14. Anthony McFarland

We have evidence that he can indeed throw a football on the field at Maryland Stadium.

maryland football spring game practice
anthony mcfarland
Alexander Jonesi

Pretty, pretty good form. That’s why his commitment was so important.

So that’s the good news. The bad news is that he’s also hurt. Which brings us to our last resort.

15. The beer girl

I mean......

The catch tells us she can handle a snap. The forehead strike indicates she has the arm strength. The incredible taking-the-sunglasses-off-while-winding-up-the-beer move demonstrates the spacial awareness a quarterback would need in the pocket.

If complete and total chaos unfolds and everything falls apart throughout this list, she’s the savior Maryland needs.