COLLEGE PARK — Billy Edwards Jr.’s strong performance dominated the headlines after Maryland football’s 50-7 walloping of UConn in Saturday’s season opener for both teams, but MJ Morris and Cameron Edge also took some reps at quarterback.

Whether the Terps (1-0) will have the same trio at their disposal for their Big Ten opener against Michigan State (1-0) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at SECU Stadium remains to be seen.

Morris, a redshirt sophomore and North Carolina State transfer who entered the game after Edwards, was injured early in the fourth quarter after absorbing a hit to the head while sliding, and coach Mike Locksley said Tuesday afternoon during his weekly media session that Morris’ availability remains unclear.

“He was out yesterday,” Locksley said. “I haven’t had a chance to find out where he is today just yet.”

While Edwards, a redshirt junior, validated Locksley’s decision to start him by totaling a combined 350 passing and rushing yards and tossing two touchdown passes, Morris had completed 3 of 4 passes for 13 yards and carried the ball five times for 13 yards during his brief time under center. Morris’ injury opened the door for Edge to play most of the fourth quarter, and the redshirt sophomore passed for 57 yards and one touchdown.

Locksley did not commit to a repeat against the Spartans, but acknowledged that the offense’s overall philosophy is to help all three quarterbacks continue in their development.

“I think we’re still trying to put the game plan together for Michigan State, but I can tell you that anytime we have the opportunity to develop a second quarterback in the program, we’re going to try to do that,” he said. “If there’s some strengths he brings to the table from a skill set standpoint, we’ll utilize them because we want to utilize all the weapons in our offense, and we’ve got three quarterbacks that I feel we can win with.”

Even if Morris can’t play, Spartans first-year coach Jonathan Smith said his defense must be ready for some combination of Edwards and Edge.

“We’ve got to be ready for both,” Smith said. “I give both of them that skill set — to be able to run the ball and do some things. So we’re counting on seeing both.”

Injury report

In other injury news, Locksley said redshirt sophomore tight end Preston Howard played briefly against UConn after hyperextending what the coach described as “a lower extremity area.”

“He was nicked up most of camp,” Locksley said of the Arbutus native and McDonogh graduate. “We’ve been trying to get him healthy. We’re hoping to have him back this week, but he got nicked up in the game. Hyperextended a lower extremity area and made the decision to pull him and give him a chance to rest. But I expect him to be back and available and be able to be another cog in our offensive system because he’s a good player.”

Michigan State will be without three key reserves. Smith said redshirt junior safety Khalil Majeed (left leg) is doubtful to return this season, and junior cornerback Dillon Tatum (left ankle) will miss a couple months. And redshirt senior wide receiver/kick returner Alante Brown (upper body) might come back in November.

Challenge for defense

Even without Brown, the Spartans’ offense poses the biggest threat of the season to a Maryland defense that almost earned its first shutout since 2022.

Graduate student running back Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown in just nine attempts, averaging 11.2 yards per carry. Michigan State ran for 179 yards and two touchdowns in Friday night’s 16-10 win against Florida Atlantic.

Lynch-Adams and his teammates benefitted from running behind an offensive line featuring graduate student left tackle Brandon Baldwin and a pair of graduate student transfer guards in Tanner Miller (Oregon State) and Luke Newman (Holy Cross). The front five’s play stood out to Terps redshirt sophomore nose tackle Jordan Phillips.

“I think they do a lot of good things with the stretch outside zone and some inside zone and a little bit of gap schemes,” he said. “They pull both guards. They also run that counter. I think they do a lot of good things on tape upfront. They’re very competitive, they play with low-pad level, and they play fundamentally sound, which tells me that they’re coached really good. I see a lot of good things from them on tape.”

Early start for Big Ten

Schools generally treat the conference portions of their schedules as the season within a season, and that begins Saturday for Maryland.

The game against Michigan State marks the Terps’ earliest Big Ten matchup since joining the Big Ten in 2014 and earliest league game since 2011 when that squad opened the season against Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami on Sept. 5. It is also the first Big Ten matchup of the season for the entire league.

Locksley said opening the Big Ten on the first Saturday of September places an emphasis on getting off on the right foot.

“There’s no easing into conference play,” he said. “We know the value and what conference wins mean because when you start running your mouth about competing for conference championships, it starts with being able to win in-conference. Week 2 traditionally, we’ve kind of built into our conference play, and it’s here now.”

Ray rebounds

Nolan Ray’s first touch of the season was a successful one.

The redshirt freshman running back took his first carry 48 yards for Maryland’s second touchdown in Saturday’s romp over the Huskies. It was the kind of storybook debut Ray, who missed much of last season because of an unspecified injury, might have imagined writing.

Locksley had spent much of the preseason trumpeting Ray’s return, and he expressed his gratitude for his coach’s belief in him.

“It’s nice,” said Ray, who finished with six carries for 60 yards and the one score. “Just a reminder to keep working. It just reminds me that I’ve got to go out to practice every day and prove him right. Even though it’s just us out there, I’ve got to prove it to myself, I’ve got to prove it to him. That’s just what I’m trying to do every day at practice.”