Despite familiar loss, Maryland's improved efficiency shows adjustment under Aazaar Abdul-Rahim

3 hours ago

5 min read

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoG-3CbJ30o

Maryland football consistently ranked among the most penalized FBS teams since 2021, including ranked 89th or worse nationally in three of the last four seasons. 2026 marked the worst of all with Maryland averaging 63.6 penalty yards per game through the bye week. It's even worse in Big Ten play with Maryland averaging over 68 penalty yards per game and ranked 109th among FBS teams this season, a deflating trend for a program that fared better with a younger roster in 2025.

That's what made Saturday's performance under interim head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim different after Maryland amassed just one penalty for five yards. With the offense facing a 2nd-and-7 at the Illini 30 yard line midway through the first quarter, center Michael Hershey was called for a false start that quarterback Malik Washington made up on the next play after picking up 21 yards with his legs. Three plays later, Washington punched his second rushing touchdown of the season and sixth of his career to open the scoring with Maryland ahead.

The final 54 minutes and 20 seconds featured clean football. Not perfect, though, as Abdul-Rahim pointed to the 14 plays, including eight through the air, over 15 yards that the Illini amassed. Maryland's offense also fell stagnant in the second quarter after DeJuan Williams' three-yard rush on the last play proved to give the offense positive yards of offense -- a whopping two yards on eight plays and three drives.

Yet days after Abdul-Rahim highlighted the benefits of condensing the gameplan and day-to-day workload of the program, Saturday's much-cleaner performance proved notable. It marked the first time in 2026 that Illinois finished with both more penalties and penalty yards than its opponent. For Maryland, Saturday marked the first time since the 2022 loss vs. Michigan that they recorded just one penalty.

"I think that it's been stressed on both sides of the ball," Abdul-Rahim said of the improved efficiency. "I think if you want young men to play fast and carefree, you do have to condense what they have to think prior to the snap. So I think so. The other thing is when we did condense, we condensed practice. We kind of supplemented it with walkthroughs, so guys were able to see even more of the same pictures. We wanted to build our identity, so I think building our identity will, from an offensive perspective, shrink what you want to do in the run game and the passing game because you have to get good at something."

Maryland's offense was also able to avoid third-and-long situations after averaging 5.8 yards gained on first down, the first time since the Nebraska game that the offense eclipsed five yards on first down and third time against a Power Four team. Yet for the first time in 2026, the early down success paid dividends after Maryland averaged 6.7 yards to gain on third downs, yet converted 6-of-14 attempts, just the first time in Big Ten play that Maryland eclipsed a 40% third down conversion.

Ahead of Saturday, only three Power Four teams owned a worse third down conversion rate than Maryland's 33.7%, ranked 117th nationally.

"Execution of everything that we were doing," quarterback Malik Washington said. "The guys up front again, they were training to finish, something we talk about a lot. Training to finish your blocks on the perimeter, too. Finishing runs. They did a really good job of getting in between the tackles and some of those three, four yard runs may not seem like a lot, it may not blow up the stat sheet. But that's what gets us a 2nd-and-6, 2nd-and-5 and from there we get to 3rd-and-2, 3rd-and-3. It's a lot easier to get third downs when you possibly have a fourth down too, as well. It makes it easier as an offense when you start well on first down."

That's what made the opening play of the fourth quarter most disappointing after running back Javari Barnett broke loose for a 64 yard touchdown, the longest play by either team on Saturday. Safety Jayden Shipps badly missed the open field tackle that also slowed cornerback Jamare Glasker's pursuit, allowing the big play to materialize with Illinois grabbing its first lead.

Maryland was able to show poise on the ensuing drive that spanned nearly 50 yards across seven plays, enough to set up kicker Sean O'Haire with an attempt at a season long after his 46 yard field goal tied the game at 17. Faced with a 3rd-and-4 to begin the drive, quarterback Malik Washington found tight end Dorian Fleming for a 19 yard gain, making his first catch of the day an important one. Running back Iverson Howard then accounted for the final 22 yards on the drive between one carry and one rush, enough to put together an encouraging response after getting punched in the mouth.

Yet in the end, it set up for another familiar loss as the Illini's final drive spanned 13 plays and nearly six minutes, featuring ten runs and a kneel in the closing seconds to set up the game-winning 26 yard field goal.

Abdul-Rahim did also admit that while analytics factor into decision-making, so does feel for the game, which is why Maryland elected against a possible scoring chance before halftime.

"I thought we were in a good place going to halftime," Abdul-Rahim added. "The reality is we got the ball coming out, and sometimes when you can get too aggressive, and if you watched our season [in] previous weeks, sometimes those two minutes, we let the defense get on the field again, and I wasn't going to do that. I felt good about where we were at halftime, and again we were getting the ball coming out."

While Saturday narrowed the competitive gap between Maryland and the rest of the conference, Abdul-Rahim is still tasked with ending the 13-game conference losing streak that ranks longest among Power Four teams. Maryland will now look to do that when they face Purdue for a 12:30 PM kickoff next Saturday.

Maryland will look for its first win against Purdue since 2016 when David Blough, now in year one as the Washington Commanders' offensive coordinator, completed just 43.9% of his passes in a 50-7 finish in College Park. With the chance to snap a two-game slide in the series, Abdul-Rahim will now look to secure his first win on the road.

"I'm ready to go back to work right now, personally and start working on Purdue and go 1-1," he said following the Illinois loss. "But yeah definitely I encourage all fans to continue to support us. Support these young men. You understand what they deal what they deal with and what they have dealt with. And we appreciate all the fans. We appreciate the fans that came this week."

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