There’s one thing that’s been clear to Maryland head coach Mike Locksley about starting quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. through three weeks.
“Billy the Kid is playing really clean, good football, man.”
Through three weeks, Edwards has thrown for over 800 yards and eight touchdowns and sits 15th nationally with a completion percentage of 71.2%, also making him one of two FBS quarterbacks with a completion percentage over 70% while throwing one or fewer interceptions this season. Edwards also enters week four as Pro Football Focus’s ninth-highest graded quarterback in 2024, but while the stats have proven Edwards has “the mind of a coach and the skill of a player” as Locksley references, there was one play during the week three road win that stuck out above all.
“A play happened in a game that just kind of just stamped his passport that he's made that, taken that next step. The last touchdown we had. We were in a formation. He saw that there was a blitz coming off the edge, and something that's not even in our system, he points at Kaden Prather and says, ‘hey, you come in here, line in close’ and turn out on them which allowed the edge rusher to not to be a free hitter,” Locksley said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Like that's mitigating risk. That's having the mind of a coach but still the skill of a player. Billy's playing really clean for us, making good decisions.”
While the former Lake Braddock star had support from the locker room during the quarterback battle, his efficiency on the road helped the Terps get back in the win column. After a slow start offensively, Edwards connected with WR Tai Felton on a 19-yard touchdown for the Terps’ first score of the game and fourth for Felton, who became the first player in program history to record at least 100 receiving yards in each of his team’s first three games of a season. While the touchdown pass gave Maryland a brief lead, it also marked the first of seven consecutive completed passes as Edwards completed 15 of his 20 attempts in the second half.
“I think there's still some growth in there for us in terms of the consistency and then, as I like to say, he always has one or two Billy balls during the game where he throws…the ball in areas that the ball should not go and we've got to eliminate those plays,” Locksley added. “But I'm really pleased the way he's playing.”
“To get that confidence [from] him, it goes back to a lot of the time we spent together, a lot of the work that, whether it’s me watching film with him or just the work outside of here with the quarterbacks,” Edwards said on Tuesday. “I feel like all the players on our team, but especially myself, we put in the work to create that confidence and give ourselves a chance on Saturdays. It means a lot. We’ve obviously spent the last four, five weeks or so, spent a lot of late nights up there watching tape.”
Edwards credits his preparation through the week as reason why Saturday’s have been productive for him thus far.
"I see what I’m doing in practice. A lot of the bigger throws I’m able to make or the important throws in games I’ve been able to make, I feel like I’ve done in practice multiple times. Last week, [I] missed a few deep shots there on the first drive early in the game. Obviously connected with the one with [Kaden Prather] the first drive of the third quarter, the touchdown. But I feel like I see myself trying to grow in confidence every week. I think the biggest thing is, like I said, the last time I was up here, my preparation can’t change. I have to get after it in practice Monday through Friday.”
Looking to move to 6-1 all-time as the starter, Edwards will look to move to 6-1 all-time as Maryland’s starting quarterback when the Terps return to SECU Stadium this weekend against a Villanova defense that leads the CAA in points allowed (11).
“They do some similar stuff to what UConn showed us in week one. It’s not the traditional defense, but they’re very sound in what they do. They’re very good at what they do. It’s like I said, it’s not traditional so you won’t see this ten out of the 12 weeks in the season but they’re very – they run their stuff and they run it really well.”
Kickoff is set for noon on BTN.
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