Maryland football's woes continue in latest Senior Day loss

Chase King
4d
4 min read

Maryland football hosted the Michigan Wolverines for their Senior Night, where they lost 45-20, making their fourth straight home loss.

The Terps started the year winning their first four games, including three home games, and it appeared the program was moving in the right direction.

The Maryland program would take its growing momentum into their fifth game of the year, where they would build a 20-3 lead at home against the Washington Huskies, a game they would later let slip away.

Maryland’s loss to Washington would mark the start of a now seven-game slide that drained the energy of the program, reminding fans of the October and November struggles that the Terps have suffered under Head Coach Mike Locksley.

Maryland’s average margin of loss during its seven-game skid was over 16 points.

But going into the game against Michigan, it was the last time the Terps' seniors would play at SECU Stadium, and they would have a chance to extend their bowl-game chances against a ranked opponent.

“These guys have done a tremendous job the last couple of years of modeling what true leadership looks like, especially for a tough stretch here for us,” said Locksley on the impact of his seniors.

Michigan was only the second-ranked opponent the Terps faced this year, and the last one on the schedule for the Terps, meaning the Terps have now gone three straight seasons without a ranked win.

To start the game, however, the Terps would come out strong with a touchdown on their opening drive, only their second opening touchdown drive of the year.

Freshman QB Malik Washington threw the touchdown to redshirt sophomore TE Dorian Fleming on a fourth and goal from the one-yard line.

Entering the game, Maryland was tied with the fourth-fewest redzone touchdowns in the country with 11.

Maryland tried to keep their momentum going after a score on the opening drive and attempted an onside kick on the following kickoff.

“We wanted to be aggressive to generate explosive plays,” said Locksley, “We tried to steal a series.”

Locksley also added that they were without kicker Philip Noyes, who handles kickoffs, and that using kicker Ryan Capriotti on the kickoffs helped inspire the decision.

Michigan’s freshman DB Chase Taylor would grab the onside kick, giving Michigan a shorter field. The Wolverines would take advantage and score a touchdown, evening the score at 7-7.

Michigan would take the momentum and turn it into 21 unanswered points. The Wolverines would march down the field for an 82-yard drive after Maryland DB Lavain Scruggs dropped an interception in Wolverines territory.

When Maryland got the ball back, Washington would overthrow an underneath pass to senior WR Shaleak Knotts, which would result in a Wolverine's interception.

Michigan would start with the ball on the Maryland 23-yard line and would eventually score on a WR screen pass to Donaven McCulley to bring the Wolverines' lead to 21-7.

Maryland would have an offensive drive stall out in the red zone after a sack and a dropped ball by WR Jalil Farooq, but would tighten up the score to 21-10 before the half.

Michigan’s RB Bryson Kuzdzal ran in a 19-yard touchdown on the first drive of the second half after an illegal kick out of bounds gave the Wolverines the ball at the 40-yard line.

The Terps would kick a field goal on their next drive, but it wouldn’t be enough as Michigan pounded the run game and scored touchdowns on their next two drives, bringing the lead to 42-13 and burying the Terps.

The Terps would reach the endzone once before the end of the game on a pass from QB Khristian Martin to Farooq, who would recover his own fumble for a touchdown.

As is common with the Maryland offense, they were able to pass the ball with some success, but failed to get things going on the run.

Washington ended the game with 210 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Three Maryland senior WRs ended with over 60 receiving yards.

“Those senior guys, man, they just work hard. They’ve been working their butts off for so long,” said Washington, “I’m just so proud of those dudes.”

Entering the game, Michigan hadn’t scored over 31 points in a game against a Power Four opponent this season.

“At the end of the day, we still have to do our job no matter where the ball is lined up on the field. If they don’t score, they don’t win. So this game is on us as the defense,” said senior Jalen Huskey. “There were multiple times we could have held them to three points, and they scored touchdowns.”

Maryland would end the game with less than 100 yards rushing for the sixth time this year, while they would allow Michigan to end the game with over 200 yards on the ground.

“We didn’t set the edge of the defense well. The last few weeks have been a lot of interior runs. Today, the ball came off the edge of the table, which means that we got to get the force players down tighter,” said Locksley.

Following the loss to, the Terps will end the season 3-4 at home for the second straight season. Before the last two years, the Terps hadn’t had a losing home record since 2019.

The Terps will finish their season on the road against Michigan State at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday.

“We have one more opportunity next week in Detroit to send our seniors out with a win,” said Locksley.

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