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Maryland has played three football games in 2017. The Terps have now lost two quarterbacks for the season.
True freshman Kasim Hill suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter against UCF and will have surgery this week, head coach DJ Durkin confirmed Tuesday.
Hill’s injury came under six quarters after sophomore Tyrrell Pigrome tore his ACL against Texas. The two battled each other for the starting job in fall camp; now, Maryland has lost both before playing a single conference game.
With Hill on the sidelines against UCF, the Terps’ offense stagnated. Max Bortenschlager completed 15 of 26 passes for 132 yards, with one touchdown countered by two interceptions, including a pick-six, and five sacks. Maryland tallied 130 yards of offense in the final three quarters.
A Bortenschlager start against Minnesota will be the second of his career, with the first coming against Nebraska last season. It’ll also be the second straight year Maryland starts an emergency quarterback against the Golden Gophers. Last October, with Pigrome under center, the Terps lost 31-10.
The only other scholarship quarterback on Maryland’s roster is redshirt junior Caleb Henderson, who’s still recovering from an injury of his own. The UNC transfer broke his foot at the end of spring practice and was on and off the field during fall camp. Henderson will be “ready to go” as the backup Saturday, Durkin said, with Ryan Brand as the next fallback.
This parade of quarterback misfortune is nothing new to Maryland fans. The Terps used four quarterbacks in 2016 and four in 2015 (including fullback Shane Cockerille, who now plays defense). We’re still just five years removed from the Terps starting a freshman linebacker for four games because every other quarterback tore his ACL.
Maryland will still try to compete in Big Ten play, starting with this weekend at Minnesota. But after a humbling defeat and the loss of another quarterback, a season that seemed so promising is looking more like a rebuilding year than ever before.