After trailing by three scores at halftime, Maryland football freshman quarterback Malik Washington broke out with a record-breaking performance. Washington gave the Terps a chance at a thrilling comeback victory.

But questionable mistakes and missed opportunities held the Terps back. 

Maryland entered Saturday with an opportunity to improve on its disappointing 2024 campaign and earn its fifth win against an equally struggling opponent. The Terps entered on a seven-game losing streak and Michigan State lost eight in a row. Maryland came in with only one Big Ten win; the Spartans had none. 

The Terps’ comeback effort wasn’t enough, falling to Michigan State, 38-28 in the season finale. 

“It wasn’t a clean game at all, but it is what I’ve learned about they don’t quit. One of our killer words is relentless,” head coach Michael Locksley said. This team for four quarters… these guys continue to fight.”

Saturday was the epitome of Maryland’s brutal season. Blown opportunities, questionable play-calling, and a missed chip-shot field goal contributed to another embarrassing loss in a game that was very winnable. 

At the end of the first half, Maryland football had a choice. On fourth-and-two from the 25-yard line, Washington opted to take a shot to the endzone to cut the deficit to three. It was the wrong choice.

Washington’s pass to Shaleak Knotts fell to the ground and Michigan State responded with a minute on the clock and went down the field for 75 yards and scored a touchdown.

The Terps entered halftime in a 17-point hole after making the wrong decision on fourth down — a field goal would’ve brought the game to one score.

Maryland had another questionable fourth-down decision later on. On fourth-and-long with just over three minutes remaining and all three timeouts, the Terps opted to go for it. It failed again. Washington gets sacked at Maryland’s 35-yard line.

The Terps shot themselves in the foot again in the game-sealing drive. Trey Reddick was called for unsportsmanlike conduct after ripping Omari Kelly’s helmet off and put the Spartans into the red zone. 

Kelly got the last laugh on fourth down. He caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to seal the Spartans’ win — leaving the offense on the field instead of taking a chip-shot field goal.

The Spartans scored first and ballooned to a 17-point lead, while the Terps punted three times. A game that Maryland looked to have a chance in was over before it started. 

That said, unlike most of this season, the Terps didn’t go away. Despite some questionable mistakes in the process, the Terps stayed competitive.

But after the Terps fell into a deep hole, they started the second half better than any half all season. Maryland punched back with back-to-back touchdowns. But as soon as the Terps had momentum, they lost it. 

Alante Brown took the ensuing kickoff to the house, but the Terps answered with another touchdown. 

Despite some clear miscues, Washington had a relatively good performance — especially in the second half — to finish his freshman season. He was 38-of-61 for 459 yards and three touchdowns. Washington threw for the second-most yards by a Maryland quarterback in program history.

“Just continuing to take what the defense gives me,” Washington said. “I was pushing, we wanted to hit some more shots and more explosives.”

Washington was Maryland’s motor in its comeback effort, with a record-breaking freshman performance.

But Maryland’s night ended with his lone interception, capping off an eight-game losing streak. 

Jalil Farooq was a standout in the final game of his senior season. He had 110 receiving yards and two touchdown receptions. 

But Michigan State’s offense had a first-half explosion, but cooled down in the second half. 

Michigan State backup quarterback Alessio Milivojevic started for the Spartans on Saturday for the fourth straight game in the absence of Aidan Chiles. He had a career game in the first half, but stalled out. Milivojevic was 27-of-39 for 292 yards and four touchdowns. 

Nick Marsh — who broke out for a 194-yard performance against Maryland last season — had another big game against Maryland. He had 85 receiving yards and one touchdown. 

A season that started with so much hope ended worse than anyone in College Park could’ve imagined. After starting 4-0, the Terps experienced their worst possible outcome. 

“I want to start off by thanking my seniors. This year wasn’t good enough. Let’s start with that did not meet expectation that any of us that inside of Jones Hill House, not good enough, not coached good enough, not played well enough,” Locksley said. “That starts with me, and it’s my job to quality control this season and make any and every necessary change for us to get this program back to where we all needed to be.”

Since 2019, Maryland has had the worst winning percentage in November in the Big Ten. It only got worse for this year’s team, falling to 0-5 this season and 0-9 over the last two seasons. 

Locksley was confirmed to return next season two weeks ago. Since that announcement, the Terps have lost two games embarrassingly. It’s two consecutive seasons where Maryland had a 4-8 record and didn’t qualify for a bowl game. But this one seemed worse. 

“Obviously there is no progress in terms of wins and losses, but if you peel back the layers of the program, we played a lot cleaner,” Locksley said. “We created turnovers. We got some young players, valuable experience that will lay a foundation that I think we’ll be able to build upon. But the end results are, we didn’t win enough games. So no, we did not meet the expectation.”