Maryland trusts 'foundation' facing FAU's Air-Raid

Maryland took a step backward following three straight winning seasons and bowl victories under coach Mike Locksley.

The Terrapins are starting from scratch in many ways when they kick off the season Saturday against Florida Atlantic in College Park, Md.

Maryland ended 2024 with five straight losses and finished with a 4-8 record, but given how different this year's roster looks, it's the furthest thing from Locksley's mind.

"I'll give you a good coaching axiom: Success is equal to production being greater than or equal to our expectation, and it's our expectation, not yours," Locksley said Tuesday. "... We've created a foundation that I think will allow us to bounce back better, because of the foundation, to get back on track to compete for Big Ten championships."

Among the many departures were quarterbacks Billy Edwards Jr. and MJ Morris, who transferred out, with Edwards going to Wisconsin and Morris to Coastal Carolina.

There is no word on the status of Maryland's three-way quarterback competition, other than the fact that all three are healthy and available to play Saturday.

The candidates are green. Justyn Martin is a transfer from UCLA with one career start, Khristian Martin redshirted last year and true freshman Malik Washington was a four-star high school recruit.

Nolan Ray, Maryland's second-leading rusher last year (374 yards), and tight end Dorian Fleming received some attention on preseason award watch lists. Maryland also swapped out both coordinators, hiring veterans Pep Hamilton on offense and Ted Monachino on defense.

The Terrapins are preparing for a new-look Florida Atlantic offense that will be dictated by first-year coach Zach Kittley, the youngest head coach in the FBS at 34.

Kittley worked with Patrick Mahomes as a Texas Tech grad assistant once upon a time, and more recently he molded Bailey Zappe into a record-breaking passer at Houston Baptist and Western Kentucky.

"He's an Air Raid guy, so we expect them to be a Texas Tech-like Air Raid system on offense, and that's his background, his wheelhouse," Locksley said.

Caden Veltkamp was the quarterback FAU brought in to orchestrate the aerial attack. At Western Kentucky, Veltkamp won C-USA Offensive Player of the Year after throwing for 3,108 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while adding seven rushing TDs.

"He's living up there (at the facility)," Kittley said. "He loves every second of it. He's in my office asking me questions ... And the difference between him and a lot of these guys is he's played a lot of football and he's been in some big games. He played in a conference championship game last year."

FAU fired Tom Herman last year near the end of a 3-9 season. The Owls last finished above .500 in 2020.

--Field Level Media