Maryland football felt like it hit rock bottom several times last season, but Saturday against UCLA looked like a new low.
A 51-point loss at home.
Maryland head coach Michael Locksley told the media on Tuesday that the team’s issues won’t get fixed at the podium but rather at practice and on the field.
Against UCLA, Maryland was outscored, out-rushed, out-passed, out-possessed, out-defended, out-blocked, and out-kicked in the 54-3 decimation to open Big Ten play.
Maryland quarterback Malik Washington came into conference play after back-to-back 300-plus-yard performances.
Down six running backs, including starter DeJuan Williams, Washington needed another electric performance for Maryland to stand a chance on Saturday.
Instead, Washington looked lost.
The sophomore threw four interceptions, all squarely his fault, including pick-sixes on back-to-back third-quarter drives.
“I think we were kind of pressing to make a play because we couldn’t really get into a rhythm,” said Washington. “We’re just trying to find ourselves again within the offense, and I think you press to make a play.”
Washington’s decision-making was at its worst. Both returned interceptions came on short routes thrown directly into defenders’ chests. The other interception, which came before the game was completely out of hand, was an on-the-run throw lobbed into triple coverage.
Washington finished 18/38 for 142 passing yards and no touchdowns, plus four interceptions. The worst game of Washington’s career.
What’s worse is the defense actually stepped up relative to last week.
“We didn’t run, block, or throw the ball very well on offense,” said Locksley. “I thought defensively, some of the things that we had to fix, it looked like we fixed them early. But again, not sustaining drives, not finishing drives on third down — you don’t give yourself a chance.”
The defense allowed 23 points through 3 quarters, but the group looked morally defeated with no help from the offense all game.
It didn’t end pretty for Ted Monachino’s crew. They held UCLA to two successful third-down conversions, yet they still surrendered another 190 yards and 20 points in the fourth.
Maryland’s defensive woes didn’t come from tackling issues. Rather, the gap integrity was even worse than in the Virginia Tech loss. UCLA running backs Wayne Knight and Anthony Woods slashed through wide-open lanes that gave the linebackers no chance to make plays.
UCLA finished with 266 yards on 6.8 yards per carry, a huge increase from Maryland’s average allowed, which was 2.1 before the loss. UCLA had four rushing touchdowns from four different players.
Wayne Knight led UCLA with 10 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown. The James Madison transfer entered Saturday with 345 yards and eight touchdowns.
“We do a lot of things right to succeed on days like this. But at the end of the day, we didn’t succeed,” nickel corner Lavain Scruggs said.
Despite holding on to a 0-0 tie for the first quarter, Maryland’s defense crumbled after the offense’s four unsuccessful drives. Maryland was outscored 20-3 in the second quarter, prompting the few Maryland fans in the stands to head for the exits at halftime.
The trenches looked terrible on both sides of the ball.
The offensive line couldn’t maintain any rush lanes, assuming they blocked all the defenders at the line of scrimmage. On several plays, running backs faced contact as soon as they were handed the ball. Maryland conceded 7 TFLs in the game on top of 2 sacks.
“I still have a lot of confidence in myself and the staff to get this thing fixed,” said Locksley. “Again, that’ll have to be earned. I won’t be able to claim it, and I understand why people will have to sit and sit and question it. It’s going to be earned.”
Locksley’s seat is officially on fire.
