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Former Maryland QB finds fresh start at Morgan State after winding journey
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- Former Maryland QB finds fresh start at Morgan State after winding journey
(Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/TNS)
Cameron Edge is getting what he has envisioned for a long time: a shot at starting quarterback at the collegiate level.
But Edge hasn't earned that opportunity at Maryland, where he spent his first three years, or at Eastern Michigan, where he played last fall. Instead, he is poised to open the season as the starter at Morgan State when the Bears travel to North Carolina A&T State on Aug. 29 for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
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Edge, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior from Clayton, Delaware, is eager for the chance.
"It's been really fun to come back," he said Sunday afternoon during the team's media day inside Edward P. Hurt Gymnasium in Baltimore. "I get to go home all the time, see my family all the time. So that's been good, and I just really love being around this group of guys. Can't stress that enough."
Edge might be the best-credentialed quarterback the Bears have had in recent memory. He was a four-star prospect out of high school and was rated the No. 11 quarterback in the country by ESPN.
Morgan State coach Damon Wilson wasn't ready to call Edge the best quarterback he's had during his six-year tenure with the program. But he acknowledged his excitement to see Edge take the field this season.
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"I think he has a great skillset, and I think when it's all said and done, he can definitely be that [quarterback], and I feel the same way about some other guys in that room as well," he said. "But he's the guy that's up right now to take advantage."
From 2022 to 2024, Edge backed up Terps quarterbacks Taulia Tagovailoa and Billy Edwards Jr. One of his favorite memories involved completing 4 of 6 passes for 82 yards and his first career touchdown pass to wide receiver Kaden Prather at the TransPerfect Music City Bowl in 2023.
But with then-freshman Malik Washington set to join the program after the 2024 season, Edge — who said he is still close to redshirt senior tight end Preston Howard and coach Michael Locksley — chose to enter the transfer portal , for which he has no regrets.
"There were some times I — when I look back at it — wish I did [stay], and then there's sometimes I wish I didn't," he said. "It happened the way it did. There were a lot of guys I love over here, a lot of coaches I love over there, some that are still there, some that aren't. I'm happy about how it went because it made me a better man."
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Edge did not play at Eastern Michigan, calling it a "really difficult year."
"The grass is not always green on the other side, and there's just different things," he said. "Some people are meant to be far from home. Some people aren't. And I had to learn that the hard way a little bit. But also great relationships with them over there."
Edge chose the Bears, in part, to be closer to home, which he said he visited every weekend when he lived in College Park. He would seem to strengthen a quarterback room that ranked last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference a year ago in passing yards per game (159.9), second-to-last in completion percentage (.578) and second-worst in interceptions (10).
Junior left guard Evan Cooke said Edge has made friends quickly by seeking input from as many sources as possible.
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"He's in different rooms," Cooke said. "He's making sure he's on the same page with the running backs, wide receivers, offensive line. He's in there every single day making sure that he knows everything and that there's nothing missing."
Edge's knowledge and experience have endeared him to the coaching staff. But Wilson said he doesn't want Edge to feel as if he has to redeem himself immediately.
"He's probably one of the highest-profile players we've had here in the program as far as coming out of high school, but he hasn't done anything yet in college, and he's looking to do that," Wilson said. "So we're going to give him an opportunity and see what he can do."
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Edge will be expected to help a Morgan State team that was voted to finish fourth in the MEAC's six-team preseason poll. Edge is not bothered by the lack of respect or any hint of pressure outside of the locker room.
"I put more pressure on myself than anyone else is going to," he said. "No matter where I've been or what I've done, it doesn't matter when the ball gets snapped. It's one play at a time. I've got to make the read, I've got to be better than I've ever been each week, each game, each practice. So what has been doesn't matter anymore. It's all about what we will be."
Have a news tip? Contact Edward Lee at eklee@baltsun.com , 410-332-6200 and x.com/EdwardLeeSun .
