COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WUSA) -- The last thing Maryland football head coach Randy Edsall probably wanted to deal with has just happened.
The Terps have lost starting quarterback C.J. Brown for the year after he suffered a torn ACL on Tuesday. the injury occurred during a non-contact drill.
In a press release, Edsall said he felt bad for Brown and that "he's stepped up and been a tremendous leader." Edsall also added that he expects Brown to still help mentor the other quarterbacks on the team -- a necessary task.
With this injury, the Terrapins lack a quarterback with any game time experience.
Sophomore Ricardo Young is now the oldest quarterback on the roster, but he transferred to College Park from the University of New Mexico. Perry Hillis and Caleb Rowe are both true freshman recruited by Edsall, and I expect one of them to garner the starting nod. Rounding out the inexperienced group is red-shirted freshman Dustin Dailey.
This will be a humongous blow for Maryland's chances at success. There were already question marks surrounding Brown as a passer, but there was no question that he was clearly coach Edsall's best option at quarterback.
This latest dose of bad news follows the departure of Danny O'Brien, who transferred to Wisconsin following a 2011 season of turmoil with Edsall. The pressure is still going to be on the Maryland program to produce a better season after finishing 2-10 a year ago. The odds of that happening just became much slimmer.