Maryland football came into Saturday’s matchup against Rutgers desperate for a win against another struggling team.
With a combined 2-9 conference record coming in, it looked to be anybody’s game.
But by the fourth quarter, that was not the case, as Maryland couldn’t get Rutgers’ offense off the field en route to its fifth straight loss, 35-20 at SHI Stadium.
Here are the takeaways from the game.
Is this the final straw?
The question surrounding head coach Michael Locksley’s job security is at an all-time high after the Terps’ loss to Rutgers on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are a program that Locksley has frequently compared his own to, but has now lost to them by multiple scores in back-to-back seasons.
The progress he wanted the team to make hasn’t been evident so far, as Maryland’s season continues to spiral out of control.
“I’m not going to evaluate us right now. At the end of the season, I’ll have an end-of-season review for you,” Locksley said. I’m not into evaluating us as a program with three games left to play.”
Throughout Maryland’s five-game losing streak, the inability to play complementary football has cost them multiple games. One game, it’s the inability to tackle. Next, it’s stopping explosive plays. On offense, it was the inability to run through nine weeks, then finally breaking through on the ground, only for the passing attack to have its worst game of the season.
Locksley continued to harp on the fact that this team isn’t the “same old Maryland.” But when the team has a different identity and fails to play up to that statement each week, it’s hard to believe that is the truth.
Fans are growing frustrated with the team’s lack of progress under the seventh-year head coach. He is tied with Rutgers for the worst record in the Big Ten since 2020, and the team has not defeated a top-ten conference opponent in his tenure.
When fans see programs like Indiana turning into national championship contenders within two years of hiring a new head coach and thrashing the Terps 55-10, they believe Maryland can make a similar turnaround with a new voice — whether that’s fair or not.
Run game showed life
Coach Locksley stressed the importance of helping his young quarterback with a run game after last week’s porous performance against Indiana.
For the first time all season, Maryland responded to the criticism. It took advantage of Rutgers’ poor defense on Saturday, rushing for 305 yards on the day and 10.5 per rush— and doubled its previous high in a game this season of 152 against Towson.
The Terps came in averaging 93 rush yards per game — among the ten lowest in the country — and hadn’t recorded a run over 28 yards all season long. That changed instantly as quarterback Malik Washington took a designed 73 yards all the way into the endzone on the second play from scrimmage on the first of three fifty-plus yard runs in the opening half.
“It’s something that we talked about being able to improve on,” Washington said. “Adding myself into that just helps the offense even more.”
The freshman quarterback added a 54-yard run in the second quarter and running backs joined in. DeJuan Williams and Nolan Ray added 97 yards of their own on 9.7 per carry in the opening half.
“We did get the run game going today. I thought Malik’s ability in the run game opened up the natural run game where our back started being able to get some positive yardage,” Locksley said. “And [it] was good to see Malik make that point of emphasis go for us.”
Defensive regression
Maryland posted one of the best defenses in the nation in all statistical categories through the first month of the season. Since entering conference play against tougher opponents, the defense has not been the same.
Playing another struggling team, the Terps had the chance to return to form. But they failed to do so. Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis threw for four touchdowns and 229 yards, including three to receiver Ian Strong.
For the second consecutive week, the Terps failed to stop the run game. Antwan Raymond ran for a career-high 242 rushing yards and a touchdown as the Scarlet Knights totaled 262 for the game.
“The last two games haven’t been enough on the defensive side to complement what we were able to do offensively,” Locksley said.
The Terps have now allowed 80 points in the past two weeks, and it took them five games to allow that many points this season.
