Maryland’s Tualia Tagovailia, the Big Ten’s all-time leading passer, has opted out of the Music City Bowl, head coach Mike Locksley announced on Tuesday.
The Terrapins are set to play Auburn at 2 p.m. ET on December 30. Locksley indicated several Maryland quarterbacks would get the chance to play against the Tigers, indicating Billy Edwards Jr. and Cam Edge would get the most work.
Tagovailoa started for Maryland each of the past three seasons. The Terrapins hadn’t made a bowl game in four years when he took over in 2021, but the younger brother of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led them to the postseason three straight times. Maryland compiled a 22-16 record in his time at the helm, including back-to-back bowl wins.
The Maryland quarterback worked his way up the conference’s all-time passing leaderboards as well. He threw for 3,000 yards each of his three seasons as a starter, ending with 11,256 career passing yards with the Terrapins to pass Purdue’s Curtis Painter for the conference record.
Tagovailoa’s 76 career passing touchdowns with Maryland leave seventh in the history of the Big Ten.
"We certainly thank Taulia and his family for all he's given this program over the last four years. Like all positions, it's next man up." @CoachLocks on the quarterback situation for the bowl game pic.twitter.com/gbXsdJL3fH
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) December 19, 2023
Maryland already landed a commitment from former N.C. State quarterback MJ Morris during this transfer cycle, so Edwards and Edge have the chance to get ahead of the competition for the 2024 starting job.