With Taulia Tagovailoa departing, the Terps added a potential replacement through the transfer portal.
NC State quarterback MJ Morris announced Wednesday that he will transfer to play for Maryland football. The rising redshirt sophomore has three years of eligibility remaining.
Thank you Lord Committed @TerpsFootball @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/IquU9Saq6o
— MJ Morris (@mj_morris7) December 13, 2023
Morris was ranked as the No. 27 quarterback and No. 151 overall player in the transfer portal by 247Sports after he announced his intentions to enter the portal on Nov. 30. He visited College Park last Thursday.
In early November, Maryland hired Merci Falaise as its general manager for player personnel. Falaise was most recently NC State’s director of player personnel and general manager, but served as the Wolfpack’s director of recruiting as recently as 2021 — when Morris committed to NC State as a four-star high school recruit from Carrollton, Georgia.
In nine games over two seasons with NC State — seven of those starts — Morris totaled with 1,367 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also had 103 rushing yards and a ground score.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound signal-caller joined the Wolfpack ahead of the 2022 season and made five appearances as a true freshman, going 2-1 as a starter. Maryland defeated NC State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl that December, but Morris did not play due to a lower-body injury.
This past season, after NC State fell to Louisville in the fifth week of its campaign, Morris took over starting duties. He led the Wolfpack to three wins over the following four weeks, accounting for 719 passing yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 55.8% of his passes. However, to preserve his redshirt, Morris stepped down as the team’s starter after a 20-6 win over Miami on Nov. 4.
With four-year starting quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa exhausting his eligibility, Morris will have an opportunity to compete for the starting spot with the Terps next season.