On a night where Maryland football’s offense had no momentum, Malik Washington marched the Terps down the field for their first offensive touchdown on Saturday.

The pass found Jalil Farooq in the end zone with under a minute remaining in regulation, putting the Terps in a prime position for a chance in overtime. 

But that chance in overtime never came.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who had seemingly suffered an injury, galloped on the field with 40 seconds remaining. That was enough time for the Bruins.

UCLA went 68 yards down to Maryland’s 5-yard line and kicker Mateen Bhaghani nailed a chip-shot 23-yard field goal to claim victory, 20-17. 

For the third consecutive contest, the Terps held a lead in the fourth quarter and proceeded to lose the game. 

“I’m not gonna ask, what is the issue or why this keeps happening? I’m not gonna ask, why, why is a victim question. I am not a victim,” head coach Michael Locksley said.

In a night where offense was hard to come by, 20 of the game’s 37 points came with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. 

For most of the game, Saturday was considered a punt-fest — the two teams combined for 15 punts, but none in the final seven minutes.

Maryland led for most of the second half as its defense was first to find the end zone.\

The offense found itself inside of UCLA’s 3-yard line on multiple occasions on Saturday. Yet, the Terps couldn’t find the end zone and scored three points on those opportunities. 

After failing to score on fourth down, Jamare Glasker gave the Terps life. He intercepted Iamaleava and strolled into the endzone for the lead. 

That lead held until late in the fourth quarter, Iamaleava darted to Mikey Matthews in the endzone for a 14-yard strike. It seemed as though Maryland would have one chance to go down the field and score. That was far from the case.

Washington targeted Kaleb Webb on the next play, and he tipped the ball and Scooter Jackson intercepted the pass. The Terps held UCLA to a field goal, and the Terps tied the game because of it. 

It was still not enough. 

Maryland’s defense made a statement on Saturday, forcing three turnovers. Jalen Huskey picked off Nico Iamaleava for his third interception on the season and improved on Maryland’s nation-leading interception total, along with Glasker’s pick-six.

Huskey was called for targeting in the fourth quarter and was disqualified from the game and will miss the first half against Indiana after Maryland’s bye. Trey Reddick III was also called for targeting, but in the first half. 

The Terps’ defense would force another turnover to prevent any UCLA offensive momentum. Sidney Steart forced Iamaleava to fumble and DD Holmes recovered. The Terps took over, but would punt again as they did all night. 

Washington struggled. He was 23-of-48 for 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception. For most of the game, he failed to drive Maryland down the field. The Terps punted eight times. Redshirt junior punter Bryce McFerson was active. 

Despite Maryland’s struggles, UCLA wasn’t much better. Iamaleava was 21-of-35 for 221 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

After a three-and-out on its opening drive, Malik Washington marched the Terps down the field, but couldn’t find the endzone and settled for a field goal.  That would be the only offensive momentum Maryland would see until late.

The Terps struggled to move the ball and when they did, it ended in a turnover or time expired on them. That said, Maryland’s defense, as it has all season, kept its end of the bargain. But it made one key mistake. 

The defense completely collapsed against UCLA’s run game on its third drive. After forcing two punts, Anthony Frias II exploded for a 55-yard touchdown run. Frias came into Saturday with a total of 37 yards on the season — he beat that total on one touch against Maryland. 

DeJaun Williams had quite the first half for Maryland. His longest run was for 23 yards, yet he had 22 yards on nine carries. After his longest run, he fumbled the ball away on a reception. Washington led the Terps in the first half, running the ball for 24 yards on the ground. 

Despite Maryland holding one of the largest turnover margins in the nation, it hasn’t correlated to conference wins. 

The Terps fell to 1-3 in Big Ten play, losing three consecutive games by a total of 10 points. In those losses, Maryland was outscored 44-7 in the fourth quarter.

“Obviously disappointed, but continue, not discouraged. We’ve lost three Big Ten games by a combined, I guess, 10 points the last three weeks,” Locksley said.