WASHINGTON — The Maryland Terrapins 2016 season will kick off with Perry Hills as the team’s starting quarterback, the team announced on Wednesday.

The decision came just 10 days before the team’s first home game against Howard on Sept. 3.

Hills was competing with fellow fifth-year senior Caleb Rowe for the first string nod. Both saw extensive action last season.

He played in eight games in last season, completing 50 percent of his passes for 1,001 yards. He scored eight touchdowns with 13 interceptions.

The Pittsburgh Central High School graduate was thrust into the starting role as a true freshman in 2012, after C.J. Brown was injured with a torn ACL.

Before suffering an ACL injury of his own in a game against North Carolina State, Hills led the Terrapins to a 4-2 record. He completed 57 percent of his passes for 1,336 yards, and scored eight touchdowns with seven interceptions.

He redshirted the 2013 season and played sparingly the following year.