SMU Mustangs coach Rhett Lashlee announced Tuesday that tight end RJ Maryland will miss the rest of the season after suffering a leg injury in the team’s 40-10 win over Stanford on Saturday.
The junior went down on SMU’s first drive of the second half after getting hit in the knee on a screen pass. He did not return to the game.
Maryland hauled in 24 receptions for 359 yards and four touchdowns before the injury – leading the team in all three categories. In his three years with the Mustangs, Maryland has 1,173 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns.
The son of former No. 1 overall pick and Miami Hurricane Russell Maryland, RJ was a four-star recruit in the 2022 class. He joined quarterback Preston Stone as the program’s top two recruits in over a decade.
SMU is 3-0 in ACC play and 6-1 overall, with a three-point loss to BYU the only blemish on the resume. A key matchup in early November against Pitt could put SMU in a position to crash the ACC title game over either Clemson or Miami and put themselves in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
Doing so without Maryland, who has been a critical safety net for the Mustangs all season long, will be a difficult task.
SMU faces Duke in Durham on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8:00 PM ET.