Maryland football fails its biggest opportunity vs. No. 2 Indiana

Chase King
1 day ago
3 min read

Coming off their second bye of the season the Maryland Terrapins got routed by their hardest opponent of the year, losing 55-10 to the Indiana Hoosiers.

Before the bye Maryland lost three straight games by a combined total of 10 points, the most recent being a last-second loss at UCLA. Indiana is coming off a 56-6 win vs UCLA and entered the game against the Terps as 22-point favorites.

The Terps had a lot to address in the bye week, but two big topics were the fourth-quarter performances and their lack of a rush game on offense.

The Terps would finish the first half with only five rush attempts– on four designed rushes and a QB scramble. By the end of the game they had ran the ball 17 times for 37 rushing yards.

That is the lowest total rushing yards since 2023 vs Penn State when the Terps finished with -49 rushing yards.

“We weren’t very efficient when we tried to run the ball,” Locksley said “They offed us a devensive style that we saw on tape where we thoguht Malik would have to be able to get the ball out, because the run game against Indiana’s defense wasn’t something that they’ve given up.”

On the other end of the field, Indiana was able to run all over the Terps' defense. The Hoosiers ended the game with 367 rushing yards for the first time the Terps allowed over 300 yards on the ground since 2021 vs Minnesota.

“We just got to stay gap sound, reset the line of scrimmage, and make tackles,” said senior defenisve lineman Cam Rice.

In the fourth quarter the Terps would be outscored 14-0 despite starting the fourth quarter down 41-10.

Following the loss Head Coach Mike Locksley entered the game 0-11 in games following bye weeks in his tenure at Maryland.

To start the game, however, the Terps would come out of the gate steaming hot after Jamare Glasker got an interception on the first drive of the game. The Terps would score a field goal off of Glasker’s turnover.

The Terps' defense would have a big second drive that ended in a three-and-out after an Eyan Thomas sack and a Daniel Wingate TFL.

The offense would not be able to take advantage of their early opportunities. They started in Indiana territory in their first two drives and only came away with three points.

“We need to find ways to turn those type of opportunties into touchdowns, not just field goals or points,” said Locksley, “I thought we started really fast on defense the last few weeks, and we’ve been really inefficient on offense.”

Indiana’s offense, led by star QB and NFL prospect Fernado Mendoza, began to gain steam after that, where they scored in four straight possessions, all while the Terps' freshman QB Malik Washington threw two interceptions.

Indiana would lead 20-3 at the end of the first half after outscoring the Terps 13-0 in the second quarter.

The Terps offense would score a 55-yard receiving touchdown to start the second half, but it would be followed by a quick Indiana touchdown drive.

With the Terps down 27-10, they would fumble on two straight drives, and Indiana would finish the third quarter with a 41-10 lead and the game out of reach for the Terps.

“For the first time the turnover bug hit us,” said Locksley, “For a team thats number one in the country in turnover margin. We had three straight turnovers, a turnover on down there in the third quarter, and then the wheels kind of fell off.”

Against the best opponent he has faced in his collegiate career, Washington struggled. He went 16-for-31 for 242 passing yards and 1 TD. He added two interceptions and a fumble that was returned for a touchdown.

Now, Maryland will look to end a four-game slide while dropping to 4-13 in November since 2021 - with three of those wins coming against Rutgers.

“Sometimes that’s the way the cards fell. We couldn’t really get into a rhythm offensively,” said Washington, “and we aren’t helping our defense out by having short drives.”

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