Maryland football opens as road underdogs in must-win game vs. Rutgers

Ahmed Ghafir
Nov 2
2 min read

The extra week of preparation didn’t end up making any difference for Maryland football as they opened the November slate with its worst loss of the season, falling 55-10 vs. second-ranked Indiana in the homecoming game. Maryland isn’t an outlier when it comes to blowout losses vs. Indiana with only Iowa falling to the Hoosiers in a one-score game, but the latest loss extended the losing streak to four with the Terps still winless since September.

Now, Maryland will look to end its losing streak as road underdogs.

Maryland opened as a 1.5-point underdog vs. Rutgers on Saturday. Maryland is 1-1 as road underdogs in 2025 and 3-12 since 2021. Since 2021, Maryland is 4-13 in November with three of those wins coming against Rutgers, though the Scarlet Knights snapped Maryland's three-game win streak after walking out of College Park with a 31-17 win in the midst of a 4-8 finish.

Rutgers is coming off a 35-13 loss vs. Illinois, their fifth loss in six weeks, to fall to 4-5 (1-5) in 2025.

It now marks a critical game for both teams, but arguably more for Maryland head coach Mike Locksley with bowl eligibility technically on the table and this upcoming weekend marking one of likely two toss-ups on the schedule with Michigan State 3-6 (0-6) serving as the regular season finale at Ford Field. But coming off a blowout loss with the student section voicing their displeasure for head coach Mike Locksley, Maryland enters near must-win category to keep the season – and program – on track.

“Can't hang our heads,” Locksley said after the 55-10 loss. “We got a big game next week on the road. We got to get this thing watched. I obviously didn't coach well enough. The players obviously didn't execute well enough. One of the things that I'll continue to say is that we're not going to be victims. We'll get this thing corrected. I'll get on the tape here the next couple of days here, get us back in here Monday with an opportunity to go to New Jersey against Rutgers and try to get this thing back on track.”

Kickoff is set for 2:30 PM on FS1.

Related Links