COLLEGE PARK — Michael Locksley was unmoved.
Despite questions poking around the identity of Maryland’s starting quarterback for Saturday’s season opener against Florida Atlantic at noon at SECU Stadium, the coach dodged directly addressing those questions during Tuesday afternoon’s media availability. When a television reporter asked Locksley if he would divulge the starter’s name, Locksley did not budge.
Advertisement
“You’ll see when [the offense] trots out there with the first play of the game,” he said. “We’ve been down this road before. You guys all know it’s not going to happen. The team knows, [the quarterbacks] know, it’s in-house. We’re moving forward. You guys will get a chance to see it. There’s no need to give FAU any advantages to who to prepare for or what to prepare for.”
Locksley was backed up by two of his players, including redshirt sophomore tight end Dorian Fleming who — despite a background as a quarterback through high school — refused to spill any secrets.
“I’d like to leave it to the guys that actually do this,” he said. “So I think we’re in good hands with those three guys. So there’s no need for me to step out there.”
Added senior safety Jalen Huskey: “I don’t think it makes a difference who starts back there. Whether it’s [No.] 12 [Khristian Martin], 6 [Justyn Martin], or 7 [Washington], I think we’ll be OK regardless of who’s back there. My job is to worry about the defense and make sure the defense is OK. So whoever the starting quarterback is, I think we’ll be in great hands.”
Advertisement
At least there’s no mystery over who the leaders in the clubhouse are for the starting job. Redshirt junior Justyn Martin, redshirt freshman Khristian Martin (no relation to Justyn) and freshman Malik Washington are jockeying for the role, and each carries a cause for concern.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Justyn Martin made one start last fall for UCLA and completed 22 of 30 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown. But he wasn’t a long-term option for the Bruins, and he entered the transfer portal.
The 6-4, 230-pound Khristian Martin and the 6-5, 231-pound Washington lack the college experience that their older teammate boasts. But they outplayed Justyn Martin in the Terps’ spring game in April.
While Martin labored to 6 of 16 throws for 69 yards and one touchdown, Washington, the Glen Burnie resident and Spalding graduate who was heralded as the No. 5 quarterback prospect nationally and the No. 50 overall 2025 recruit, connected on 12 of 18 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Khristian Martin was even better with a 16-for-23, 269-yard and four-touchdown showing that earned him the game’s Most Valuable Player honor.
Advertisement
On Tuesday, Locksley lauded the elder Martin’s athleticism and strong arm, the younger Martin’s ability to process information and make bad plays look good, and Washington’s calmness and “aura.” He repeated his refrain throughout the summer that he is comfortable with all three candidates.
Related Articles
“The quarterback room, just the confidence, knowing that we can win with any of those three guys, and it’s not just coach talk,” he said. “We feel really good about the place that we’re in at the quarterback position.”
Whoever lines up under center will need support from his teammates. Billy Edwards Jr. finished his first full year as the starter by ranking third in the Big Ten in passing yards (2,881) and passing yards per game (261.9) and eighth in completion percentage (.650). But the team limped to a 4-8 overall record and a 1-8 mark in the conference. Edwards is now the starter at Wisconsin.
Advertisement
Fleming sounded as if he is fully aware that he has to get open to be an inviting target for whoever the quarterback is.
“I played quarterback from flag football all the way up to my senior [year of] high school. So I’ve got a good understanding about how the game was supposed to be felt, getting into those open spots from a quarterback situation,” he said. “So I feel like I’m good with getting friendly and getting into an open spot where they can find me, and I’m going to be in a perfect location.”
Saturday’s game is the first opportunity for Maryland to bury the memories of a campaign that ended on a five-game losing skid and gave critics the ammunition they have been seeking to question whether Locksley is the right coach to guide the program to relevancy.
To help improve on that subpar performance, Locksley made changes amongst his staff, replacing all three coordinators (Pep Hamilton for Josh Gattis on offense, Ted Monachino for Brian Williams on defense, and Andre Powell for James Thomas Jr. on special teams). The team also welcomed 26 freshmen and 17 transfers.
Advertisement
Huskey acknowledged how difficult it was to put last season in the past.
“I think idealistically, you want to say that the season is behind you right when the season ends, but I think we all know that’s not the truth,” he said. “Once we got into spring ball and we saw what we could do and the potential we had as a defense just off the initial installs and how we were performing and how we were communicating and flying around to the ball as a team and as a defense, I think that’s when we really put this last season behind us, and we became ready for a new season.”
The roster’s youth would seem to suggest that growing pains could be in store, especially when the Terps open the Big Ten portion of their schedule at Wisconsin. While noting that 64% of the current players have yet to play a game for the school, Locksley expressed confidence that they will eventually succeed.
“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,” he said. “Those are things we keep in-house. Our players know what our desires are, our players know and understand what we have to do. Obviously, the goal is always to compete for Big Ten championships. We’ve created a foundation that I think will allow us to bounce back better because of the foundation to get back on track with competing for Big Ten championships.”
Advertisement
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun.
