Maryland football opens as home underdog vs. Virginia Tech

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After outscoring Hampton and UConn by a combined score of 100-14 through the first two weeks of the 2026 regular season, the non-conference finale and arguably biggest game in College Park in 15 years has finally arrived with Virginia Tech headed to campus this Saturday. Maryland will host the Hokies as slight underdogs at home with week three spreads officially released.

Maryland opens as a 1.5-point underdog against Virginia Tech, per DraftKings, with the over/under set at 54.5.

Maryland is 2-11 as home favorites since 2021, though they are also 20-16 in all home games during that span. Penn State was also 33-9 as road favorites under James Franklin.

Head coach Mike Locksley has also lost five of the six meetings against Franklin since 2019 as Maryland has been outscored 141-29 in the three games in College Park. Two of those losses also rank among the top 25 in attendance in program history, and with next Saturday already trending as a near sellout, Locksley enters a pivotal matchup against a regional foe with a chance to make a statement.

Though the team has not confirmed a timeline, Maryland is not expected to have running back DeJuan Williams available in week three after he did not travel with the team in week two as former wide receiver and current radio analyst Steve Suter noted during the pregame show the redshirt sophomore is expected to miss several weeks. Iverson Howard went down in the week two win vs. UConn, though Locksley noted postgame that the sophomore was available to return and will be available to play against Virginia Tech.

Maryland moved to 2-0 after Saturday's win vs. UConn, while Virginia Tech is set for its first road game of the James Franklin era after the Hokies outscored VMI and Old Dominion by a combined score of 117-24 through the first two weeks at home.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM.

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