BTN analysts talk "really impressive" Maryland football QB Malik Washington

Ahmed Ghafir
Sep 3
3 min read

True freshman quarterback Malik Washington has been known as the future face of the program ever since Maryland prioritized him out of Archbishop Spalding, but his college debut marked the first change for him to drawn national headlines. Washington enters week two leading the country in passing yards among true freshman quarterback, narrowly beating out Michigan QB Bryce Underwood by seven yards, while being named Big Ten Player of the Week.

Yogi Roth, an analyst on BTN and Elite 11 coach, was already familiar with the rising Maryland star from his high school days as he pointed to Washington’s rebound after his slow start as most impressive from his debut.

“Well, I think when I looked at him, number one, let's just start with he's an amazing human being. I got to meet him at the Elite 11 two summers ago. Just an awesome, infectious personality, it factor in that regard,” Roth said on BTN. “Then you go watch him play. And there was just a feeling, right? You guys were there in camp when he was banged up, but there was always this feeling of inertia that he was going to be the guy. Prove that. I love how he started, just 1-of-8. And to me as a quarterback, you got to have pace, which is plays after critical errors. He didn't have any critical errors in his first few snaps, but it wasn't perfect, and he did not flinch. This is a guy who grew up nearby. Wanted to play there. Went there, clearly, after they had a challenging season a year ago. He and Mike Locksley tied at the hip. Pep Hamilton, how about the game plan? Then you watch him play. He's under center. Talked about that a little earlier. Bryce Underwood, he's under center, deep play action. He's from the gun. It's RPO, it's down the field. I mean, just didn't flinch. He threw plays with not only horsepower, but conviction. He threw passes in that regard. So he - flying colors in my estimation. And I love that it didn't start well, because that's exactly what Big Ten plays going to be for Maryland moving forward. And I think that will resonate in that locker room. I'm sure they've talked about it, whether it was 3-of-11, 1-of-8, however, you want to spin like how we started the game. He did in flinch, completing 24 of his final two for 239 and three touchdowns. I mean, come on, man. It doesn't get much better than that in your debut after you struggle.”

While Dave Revsine noted Washington’s “really impressive interpersonally,” BTN analyst Jake Butt added to Washington’s praises, calling him “physically gifted” despite not watching the true freshman suit up in practice during the Big Ten’s fall camp bus tour.

“To respond that way, 24 [completions] of your last 32 [attempts. No turnovers either. So they completely dominated the turnover battle. But it's the arm talent that jumps off and the ball location. At the college level, the hashes are much wider. So usually, if you're on one far hash, a lot of quarterbacks and offenses don't even try to throw to the far side of the field. Malik had a number of big time explosive throws from far hash to far field. He also hit [Kaleb] Webb with great ball location on a back shoulder type play down the field, jumped off the tape to me, and I love his answer in the post game. Obviously an exciting performance. And they're like, Malik, how do you feel about it? And he really downplayed it as a quarterback should. He said, everyone feels good about their first one, but there's certainly things to build upon. And I'm like, that's a mature leader type answer.”

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