Hardly anyone would blame Billy Edwards Jr. for relishing in what was an eye-opening display in Maryland football’s 50-7 throttling of UConn in Saturday’s season opener for both teams.

But now is not the time to feel satisfied, according to the redshirt junior quarterback.

“It definitely was a special moment — one that I tried to soak in,” he said Tuesday afternoon during the team’s weekly media availability. “Probably when it’s all said and done, I’ll go back and be able to take it all in, but it means a lot.”

Edwards’ performance might have meant just as much to Terps fans who wondered if anyone could succeed four-year starter and Big Ten career passing leader Taulia Tagovailoa. Edwards completed 20 of 27 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns and carried the ball five times for 39 yards in one of the more impressive season debuts in recent memory.

Edwards’ play was applauded by teammates on both sides of the ball.“He’s a guy,” said senior wide receiver Tai Felton, who emerged as Edwards’ favorite target with seven catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns. “I was telling him on the sideline how proud I was of him, just seeing him work and how he put his head down and always stayed down and worked. It was great, and we’re going to keep pushing forward 100%.”

“He’s a guy,” said senior wide receiver Tai Felton, who emerged as Edwards’ favorite target with seven catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns. “I was telling him on the sideline how proud I was of him, just seeing him work and how he put his head down and always stayed down and worked. It was great, and we’re going to keep pushing forward 100%.”

Added fifth-year senior outside linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II: “Just Billy winning the job and going out there and being efficient like he always is, that was great to see. He put a lot of work in from January to now, and everybody is now seeing that come to fruition.”

To those who know Edwards well, confidence has never been an issue — even if he had to outplay redshirt sophomores MJ Morris and Cameron Edge in the preseason to earn coach Mike Locksley’s blessing. Mike Dougherty, Edwards’ coach at Lake Braddock High in Burke, Virginia, recalled Edwards approaching the coach at a team interest meeting and introducing himself as “a Division I quarterback.”

“You could tell that it took some courage for him to come up to the coach who just got hired to let him know, ‘Hey, I’m your next DI quarterback,’” Dougherty recalled. “It was wholesome. He was letting me know that I was going to get to work with him, and it’s been a funny story ever since.”

Dougherty said Edwards ate lunch in the coaches’ office every weekday for two years and asked the coaches to help him fortify his understanding of playing the quarterback position.

“He wanted to come in and get on the board,” Dougherty said. “He wanted to get better at drawing plays and understanding, ‘What is a Y? What is an X? How do I draw up a Cover 2?’ That just snowballed. We run a heavy [run-pass option] scheme, and I never had any idea what was going to happen once the ball was snapped. He was either grippin’ and rippin’ or he was handing it off or he was taking off. He just understood the offense better than we did.”

As mobile as he is, Edwards was tutored as a pocket passer. Dougherty pointed out that Edwards threw 30 touchdown passes while becoming the first sophomore quarterback to start for him in 27 years of coaching.

Edwards, who nearly matched his career passing yardage total of 436 in Saturday’s game, said he didn’t give questions about his passing ability much traction.

“I think I’ve always had it in me,” he said. “I think it was just about getting more comfortable in it. Obviously in two seasons and the nature of the games I went in, there was not much time to get comfortable whether it was a sporadic start here or there or coming in for a short-yardage, goal-line package, whatever the case may be. But I think the biggest thing for me this offseason was more mental and trusting the fact that I can throw the football.”

Edwards is a favorite among his teammates and coaches. Locksley noted that the quarterback is genuine and doesn’t have any pretenses.

“Who Billy is when you meet him is who he is as a player,” Locksley said. “Very rarely do you see him get excitable. I think he has emotion. He’s one of those guys that he’s on both sides of the aisle. You’ll see him hanging out with the running backs and then with the big O-linemen. He gets along with everybody. To me, when you think of a quarterback, it’s a person who elevates the play of his teammates.”

Redshirt freshman running back Nolan Ray said Edwards is a constant source of encouragement for his teammates.

“He’s going to pick you up,” said Ray, who gained 60 yards and one touchdown on six attempts against the Huskies. “If you get down on yourself, he won’t allow you to do that. That’s important to have in the huddle. When you face that adversity in the tough games, you need a guy that’s going to be able to pick the team up and keep everybody’s spirits up, and he’s good at that.”

Whether Maryland (1-0) can defeat visiting Michigan State (1-0) in Saturday’s Big Ten opener at 3:30 p.m. at SECU Stadium might rely on another strong outing by Edwards. Spartans coach Jonathan Smith took note of the task that awaits his defense.

“It is a challenge because they’ve got talent on the outside and can make you miss and a quarterback with a strong arm who is a willing runner,” he said. “Coach Locksley has done it at a high level on that offensive side for a long time. It’s a serious challenge.”

Edwards is quick to remind everyone that any team success is a cooperative effort.

“I’m excited with what we have inside the locker room, what we have going,” he said. “This season’s a fun time. Everyone in that locker room is putting 55-plus hours per week into the game plan and putting in their time and effort for us to go out there and have a chance to succeed on Saturday. So that’s what keeps me motivated, to keep the main thing the main thing right now.”