Maryland football struggling to find rhythm to begin games in 2026

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Maryland football’s 54-3 loss to UCLA on Saturday was a thorough domination. It started with the Terps’ first drive — a consistent issue for the team through four games this season.

Maryland has combined for 50 yards in four opening drives, including a three-and-out in which the Terps gained five yards against the Bruins. Maryland has surpassed midfield just once in those possessions, against UConn when its 27-yard drive ended at the Huskies’ 48. The week two possession also marked the lone opening drive that spanned more than five plays, a concerning trend for an offense struggling to get comfortable early.

To coach Michael Locksley, one of the keys to remedying these struggles is “staying on schedule” at the start of new drives.

“It starts with getting into rhythm … on P and 10’s [the first play of a new possession],” Locksley said. “Staying on schedule with four more yards, we tend to have a productive drive.”

The Terps haven’t accomplished that on their first possessions. The first offensive play of Maryland’s four opening drives were an incomplete pass, a two-yard pass to Chris Durr Jr., a two-yard loss on the ground by Iverson Howard and a three-yard run from Howard.

Much of the inability to string together long, early drives has stemmed from a failure to establish the run. Since Maryland’s season opener, when top running back DeJuan Williams sustained a knee injury, the Terps’ remaining backs have carried the ball 66 times for 190 yards, an average of 2.88 yards an attempt.

Further injuries struck the unit ahead of the matchup with UCLA, which featured only three active Maryland running backs — including two playing in their first collegiate season.

“We need to be more efficient on first and second down,” junior center Michael Hershey said. “Making it easier on everybody by opening up a more efficient run game and just getting that first first down, then getting your second first down, and it goes from there.”

An ineffective ground game has made Maryland’s offense one-dimensional, and shifted the lion’s share of the offensive burden onto quarterback Malik Washington.

“We know that we’ve dealt with not a lot of depth at the running back position, and so we’ve put a lot on our quarterback the last couple of weeks,” Locksley said. “It kind of showed up on Saturday."

The Terps’ reliance on Washington to fuel their offense is nothing new. Washington led the Big Ten in attempts last season with 473, an average of 39.4 per game. This season, the sophomore has thrown 154 passes, setting him on a 12-game pace for 462 passes. The pressure to carry the offense seemed to rattle Washington on Saturday, when he threw a career-high four interceptions — including two returned for touchdowns — against the Bruins.

Locksley emphasized improving the run game this season, a goal that has been far from accomplished so far. Still, maybe the best course of action is taking responsibilities off quarterback Malik Washington's plate, which Locksley pointed to as an aspect to watch in week five.

"We'll take some of those things off his plate and it'll help to have some guys getting back healthy this week in the running game.”

Failing to establish the run game is one of a litany of issues Maryland needs to address if it wants to salvage its season. That starts with improving its opening drives.

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