Maryland Football 2012: C.J. Brown Injury a Major Blow to Randy Edsall's Rebuild

The Maryland Terrapins finally seemed to be on the right track to rebuilding in 2012. The hire of Mike Locksley smoothed over a lot of the existing tension, and the transfers were finally stopping. Recruiting was picking up, and with the installation of their new field, excitement was building. With solid recruits like Stefon Diggs and Wes Brown in the boat, it seemed things were looking up in College Park.

Then, as Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times reported, the Terrapins absorbed a major shock to the system.

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Maryland announces C.J. Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury (ACL) in a noncontact drill last night.

— Patrick Stevens (@D1scourse) August 15, 2012

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Starting quarterback C.J. Brown is now out for the season. With Danny O'Brien now taking snaps for the Wisconsin Badgers, the Terps are left with zero experience at the quarterback position. No one remaining on the roster has ever taken a snap at the FBS level. Transfer Ricky Schultz, not listed on the depth chart, has college experience, albeit at the Division II level.

That means true freshmen Caleb Rowe and Perry Hills will likely be battling for the job of leading the Terps into their first contest against William & Mary. Not an easy task, especially with neither getting in for spring and both expecting to study under Brown for the 2012 season.

For new offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who was already combating youth on the offense, this is a major blow. It means cutting down the playbook for his young quarterbacks as the Terps now enter a late training camp quarterback scramble. This isn't just a battle to see who starts; the Terps have to scramble to prepare a player just months removed from high school graduation to take on the likes of West Virginia, NC State, Clemson and Florida State this season.

The learning curve just got extremely steep.

Maryland is in trouble here, and while it does return some quality players along the offensive line, the major cog in this all, the quarterback position, is now up for grabs. Locksley and Edsall have their work cut out for them, and with Brian Stewart trying to revamp the defense, they likely won't be able to lean on a ball-control, field-position style of offense to win.