Maryland falls on senior day to Michigan, officially drops out of bowl contention

jmcconn3
4 days ago
5 min read

The downward spiral continues for Maryland football as they drop their seventh straight loss (4-7, 1-7 BIG 10), this time to 18^th ranked Michigan Wolverines 45-20. Maryland officially falls out of contention for bowl eligibility, failing to reach the six-win mark needed for a bowl game appearance.

The Terps’ fail to reach a bowl game for the second straight season, and their fourth time missing under head coach Mike Locksley’s tenure. A team that would’ve needed to win out the rest of their season, falls shy of the mark.

Quarterback Malik Washington and company started off dealing, both on the ground and the passing game. First play of the game running back DeJuan Williams flew out the gate for a 20-yard rush to get momentum rolling for Maryland. Washington then took matter into his own hands, including a 29-yard completion and a 13-yard rush, eventually marching them down to a fourth and goal less than a yard away. The Terps’ would finally convert for a touchdown inside 10-yards with a completion to tight end Dorian Fleming to get on the board first.

“We had our openers list, stuff that we felt good about going into the week. We came out there, ran our openers and things that we've seen looks, favorable looks for,” quarterback Malik Washington said postgame. “We were able to get the ball down the field, guys making plays. And of course, teams adjust. They started playing a little more drop coverage, making us take underneath things.“

Maryland immediately after their opening scoring drive threw the kitchen sink to Michigan. They got too aggressive and failed an onside kick recovery attempt, putting Michigan in great field position, to which they ended up scoring three straight unanswered touchdowns, extending their margin to 21-7 early.

"We wanted to be aggressive, to generate explosive plays," Locksley said. "We started trying to steal a possession, generate some momentum, generate explosive, we wanted to be aggressive."

The Terps' offense had some misfires to keep this game competitive as well that cost them, including a dropped interception from defensive back Lavain Scruggs that would have set them up in great field position, and a dropped ball from wide receiver Jalil Farooq wide open in the end zone.

"I missed Jalil, I kept it too high. I should’ve kept it in his body frame,” Washington added.

A game that started out competitive, got derailed quickly.

Not much luck for the Terps’ carried into the second half, giving up an opening drive touchdown to Michigan, which stretched the deficit even larger.

Dropped passes and missed throws continued to hurt the Maryland offense, as Washington slightly overthrew wide receiver Kaleb Webb on a streak route on which would have been a potential touchdown.

The Terps' were only able to muster up a field goal and a late touchdown in the second half, while the Wolverines were able to dominate on the ground game, putting up four rushing touchdowns, three of those coming from Bryson Kuzdzal.

Third downs were an issue for the Maryland defense as Michigan went 12-14, nearly converting every third down they needed.

"I think our defense when they played a short field all game long, obviously the kicking game and the dry starts for them was not advantageous, but we do have to be able to get off the field on what we call 'money downs', and didn't do that today," Locksley said.

"I think they did a good job of they mixed up some stuff, and third and four getting the ball," safety Jalen Huskey said. "It's hard to stop QB sneak with all that weight and all their guys up front."

Maryland hasn’t gotten a win against Michigan since 2014, when they won 23-16 on the road. All time the Terps’ are 1-12 against the Wolverines.

Maryland has the opportunity against Michigan State next week to get their first win since September, and finish with five wins, one more than last season.

Missed opportunities…

With the game tied at seven, Maryland had a chance to steal momentum in the closing minutes of the first quarter after an errant pass from QB Bryce Underwood sailed into Lavain Scruggs’ hands, but after running before securing the ball, the possible takeaway vanished with a drop.

Michigan would make the Terps offense pay for it after ultimately driving 11 more plays and 83 yards to find the endzone, giving them their first lead of the day.

Michigan’s third touchdown was made possible by Malik Washington’s eighth interception of the season. The freshman quarterback overthrew WR Shaleak Knotts – and looks like might’ve intended to hit TE Dorian Fleming in the next level – but Knotts tipped the pass just enough for an easy Michigan interception and giving the Wolverine offense a short field. Three plays and 23 yards later, Maryland faced its first double-digit deficit of the game.

That proved to loom large after Maryland was outscored, 28-6, through the second and third quarters to put the game to bed by the start of the fourth quarter.

Despite entering Saturday ranked T-112^th nationally in third down defense during conference play, there was no worse showing this season than Saturday’s showing after allowing Michigan to convert all but two of its 14 third-down attempts.

Takeaways

Kicker cements himself among the nation’s best

In a season filled with highs and lows, one of the consistent bright spots has been the addition of Richmond kicker Sean O’Haire. The redshirt freshman shined once again on Saturday after drilling his pair of field goal attempts, one from 29 yards out and another from 34 yards, to move to 21-of-23 in 2025.

O’Haire’s 21 made field goals mark the most by any freshman in the country this season, in addition to the most by any freshman in the Big Ten since at least 2000. O’Haire now enters the regular season finale a perfect 5-of-5 on FGs between 40 and 49 yards.

Late season woes continue

Maryland will now look to avoid an eight-game losing streak against a Michigan State team still searching for their first conference win of the season, but the latest loss extends the troubling statistics.

Since 2021, Maryland now drops to 4-15 in November under head coach Mike Locksley and 2-11 as home underdogs with just one win on Senior Day – a 37-0 blowout vs. Rutgers to close the 2022 season. Add in a 2-14 record in conference play since the start of the 2024 season, Maryland football will need a major haul in the portal this upcoming offseason to cement a turnaround in a make-or-break season.

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