Maryland football’s disappointing 2024 season ended in fitting fashion. No. 4 Penn State dominated the Terps in every way on Saturday, winning 44-7 in Happy Valley.

The Terps will finish the season 4-8 overall and 1-8 in conference play, both their worst finishes since 2019.

Here are three takeaways from the season finale.

MJ Morris disappointed in his first start at Maryland

Billy Edwards Jr. was listed as questionable before the game but was unable to play against the Nittany Lions. Redshirt sophomore MJ Morris, who transferred from NC State to Maryland this past offseason, made his first start as a relief Terp.

His trip got off to a hot start. After a fumble by Nicholas Singleton gave Maryland the ball well inside Penn State territory, Morris floated a perfectly placed ball over two defenders to Kaden Prather in the end zone for a 25-yard score.

But that throw accounted for nearly 25% of his pass yards the entire game. Morris lacked confidence, repeatedly missed open receivers and took too long to process the defense. Part of that difficulty can be attributed to a fast and relentless pass rush that stayed in his face all game, but Morris – a relatively mobile quarterback – failed to respond with his legs.

He completed 14 of 24 passes for 112 yards, the Prather touchdown and three interceptions. All three were due to Morris seemingly not seeing a defender in his throwing path.

Edwards is expected to return to College Park next season. With four-star 2025 quarterback Malik Washington also likely in the mix, there may be no way for Morris to win a starting role for the Terps next year.

The offensive and defensive lines had major problems

Penn State’s pass rush is one of the best in the country, but Maryland’s offensive line was virtually unable to stop them.

A Nittany Lion pass rusher seemingly got to the quarterback unblocked on every play. Morris struggled but had little time to make his plays. Six Nittany Lions recorded sacks, including two from phenomenal linebacker Abdul Carter. Left tackle Marcus Dumervil – who started in place of the injured Andre Roye Jr. – and right tackle Alan Herron performed particularly poorly. No one could match Penn State’s speed on the perimeter, which led to constant pressure on the quarterbacks.

And even outside of free time, Maryland’s running backs had very little room to work. The Terps ran the ball 25 times in the first half – picking up 26 yards on those attempts, although that total includes lost sack yards. However, the running game was stagnant when it mattered most, and that was because there was a lack of pressure at the top.

“We need to be able to pass the ball efficiently to take some of the pressure off the defense,” said head coach Michael Locksley.

For the Nittany Lions offensive line, it was the exact opposite. The Terps’ defensive front was harassed all afternoon, resulting in 219 Penn State yards rushing at an efficient 4.5 yards per carry. Quarterback Drew Allar was neither sacked nor hit.

The Terps have a long offseason ahead of them

Saturday was Maryland’s last chance to make an impact on the 2025 recruiting class. Led by four-star quarterback Malik Washington, his class is currently ranked 26th nationally — the highest for Maryland since 2019 — but in the NIL era, things can change for better or worse before National Signing Day.

The Terps will now have to wait and hope they can retain recruits who may receive bigger NIL offers from other schools. Maryland is unable to compete with many top programs in this area. That’s a bad limitation coming off a 4-8 season.

The same problem arises in the transfer portal, where Locksley must try to move aggressively to replace starters at numerous positions. That task will become even more difficult if current starters decide to leave the team – especially if Tai Felton, Kaden Prather, Glen Miller, Dante Trader Jr. and Ruben Hyppolite, among others, are set to leave the team.

“I always talk about the senior group and the way they led us,” Locksley said. “They put in the work. Unfortunately, when you have an inexperienced group like we have at certain positions, those are the growing pains you have to go through.”

A win – or even a close contest – against Penn State would have left a lasting impression on these groups. Instead, Maryland fans will have to wait and hope that the roster can be replenished before 2025.