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Terps lose fourth starting QB in two months to injury

There are the staggeringly unbelievable plotlines that even Hollywood would turn down, then there’s the quarterback situation at Maryland that makes AIRBHG exclaim “damn, dude. Enough. Stop piling on.”

In August, starting QB C.J. Brown suffered a torn ACL and was replaced by Perry Hills. A week ago, Hills suffered his own ACL tear and was replaced by Devin Burns. Thursday, the Terps announced that Burns will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury and would be replaced by Caleb Rowe as the freshman was the only scholarship QB left on the roster.

The key word there, unfortunately, is “was.”

In a stunning turn of events, the Terps announced Sunday that Rowe has a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2012 season. For those who’ve lost track, that makes four starting quarterbacks lost to injury in just over two months, three of them to torn ACLs.

“I feel awful for Caleb. I know how excited he was to get his opportunity to be the quarterback of this team,” head coach Randy Edsall said in a statement. “Caleb has a bright future ahead of him and we will do everything we can to support him through the rehab process.”

So, with Rowe in every sense of the word the very last scholarship quarterback left on the roster for the Terps and with four games remaining in the regular season, to where will Maryland turn for a signal caller?

The other side of the ball and true freshman linebacker Shawn Petty. As a senior at Greenbelt (Md.) Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Petty threw for just over 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns in what the Baltimore Sun described as a Navy-style option offense, although he was mainly recruited for his defensive prowess.

Petty was given two stars and labeled as an “athlete” by Rivals.com prior to signing with the Terps in February of this year. And, barring an unexpected development, that’s exactly who will be under center when Maryland takes the field against Georgia Tech this coming Saturday.

Again, a true freshman linebacker will start at quarterback in an FBS football game. Amazing.