Redshirt senior quarterback Perry Hills will begin his final year of college as he did two of the previous four seasons he has spent at Maryland – as the opening game starter.
On Wednesday, Hills, whose roller coaster career in College Park also included a stretch of nearly two years when he couldn't even get on the field, was named the starter for the 2016 season opener by new coach DJ Durkin.
"After an open competition through the spring and the first two-plus weeks of training camp, we're excited to move forward with Perry Hills as our starting quarterback," Durkin said in a news release. "Perry has embraced this challenge from day one and has put in the work and shown improvement every day. He's grasped our offense and the way we want to do things, and has shown tremendous leadership."
The Terps will host Howard Sept. 3 at Maryland Stadium.
Hills beat out four others – most notably exciting freshman Tyrrell Pigrome – for the job. It marks the second straight year that Hills will start the opening game.
Hills will become the first Maryland quarterback to start three season openers since Brian Cummings (1995-1997).
Hills' ability to quickly pick up the fast-paced spread offense run by first-year coordinator Walt Bell seemingly made him the front-runner from the beginning of fall camp this month.
It was also what Hills did off the field that helped separate him from his competition and solidify his chances to be the starter.
Hills, an all-Academic Big Ten player in 2015, was a regular member of the "Champions Club" Durkin instituted for players who distinguished themselves in the weight room and classroom.
The former all-state wrestler from Pittsburgh was made the starter as a true freshman in 2012 after C.J. Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury in camp.
Hills went 4-2 that year before sustaining a similar injury in a game against North Carolina State. He was one of five quarterbacks the Terps used that season.
After Brown returned to start a majority of the games in 2013 and 2014 – with Caleb Rowe as his backup – Hills and Rowe flip-flopped for much of last season until Randy Edsall was fired in mid-October.
Hills started the season-opening win over Richmond a year ago, but was benched the next week in the fourth quarter of 48-27 loss at home to Bowling Green when the Terps were outscored 28-7 in the final 15 minutes.
Relegated to backing up the interception-prone Rowe, Hills regained his starting job against Ohio State and rushed for 170 yards, a school rushing record for a Maryland quarterback, in what turned out to be Edsall's final game as coach.
In eight games last season, Hills completed half of the 180 passes he attempted for 1,001 yards, throwing for eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 535 yards, fourth-most by a quarterback in school history, on 109 carries.
As a freshman, Hills was a more efficient passer, completing 97 of 169 passes for 1,336 yards, with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. For his career, Hills has completed 192 of 359 passes for 2,423 yards, with 17 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
Though the 6-foot-2, 213-pound Hills was named a starter for the opener, Durkin might be able to see what the other quarterbacks provide in that game against likely outmatched Howard.
The most intriguing possibility is Pigrome, who as a senior in Pinson, Ala., was named the state's Gatorade Player of the Year. The 5-11, 196-pounder was twice runner-up as Mr. Football for the State of Alabama.
Rowe, who missed nearly the first two weeks of fall camp with an injury, doesn't appear to be in the quarterback equation for now. The 6-3, 210-pound redshirt senior did not play in Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage.
More of a pro-style quarterback, Rowe threw 15 interceptions to only six touchdowns last season, with four of the touchdowns (and three interceptions) coming in a win over South Florida on Sept. 19 and four of the interceptions (with no touchdowns) in a blowout loss at West Virginia the following week.
Max Bortenschlager, a 6-3, 210-pound freshman who was a 3-star recruit in high school in Indiana, played with the third-team in the scrimmage and 6-7, 212-pound redshirt freshman Gage Shaffer was not used at all.
"There always has to be a competition, even if you're the starter, the fourth-string, whatever," Hills said last week. "If there isn't a competition, you're either going to get complacent or you'll just say, 'I'm the fourth guy, whatever. I'm just going to sit here and relax.' Everyone has to be pushing each other to get better and that's how you get a really good team."
NOTES: Durkin also announced that quarterback Caleb Henderson has transferred to Maryland from North Carolina. Henderson, a former four-star recruit in high school in Burke, Va. will sit out the 2016 season per NCAA transfer rules and will have two years of eligibility remaining starting in 2017. ... According to reports, sophomore defensive back Antwaine Carter, who appeared in three games last season, has left the program.