Preview: Maryland football faces Illinois in final true road game in 2025

diggsreport
Nov 14
4 min read

Maryland (4-5, 1-5 B1G) at Illinois (6–3, 3–3 B1G)

When: Saturday, November 15 | 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT

Where: Gies Memorial Stadium

Watch: FS1 Noah Reed, Robert Smith

Listen: 105.7 FM (Balt) | 980 AM (DC) - Johnny Holliday, Steve Suter

Betting: Maryland +15.5 | O/U: 51.5 (DraftKings)

Maryland’s season is in free fall after losing its fifth game in a row and dropping to below .500 for the first time in 2025. Now with three games to go, Maryland needs to win two of three from Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State to get to bowl eligibility. Head coach Mike Locksley discussed the few opportunities left for the Terps in 2025.

“The young guys, as I told them in the locker room just now, don't understand that now we're running on limited opportunities for some veteran players that have done some good things around here the last four or five years, and that we're down to playing for pride and opportunities for these guys to extend. And so as I told them, it's my job to remain positive. It's going to be my job to keep showing up for these guys and coach them through this tough stretch,” said Locks following the Rutgers’ loss.

The two teams last faced off in 2023, with Illinois hitting a last-second field goal to pull off a 27-24 win. Saturday’s game could also be the Terps’ last chance to get the season back on track. It could be a tall task for a defense that has regressed over the last few weeks, particularly in the running game. During Tuesday’s press conference, Locksley mentioned the struggles the defense has had in stopping the run recently.

“Right now, I don't get up here and give the injury report, but if you do your research, which I'm sure you guys are capable of doing, we're banged up up front, in the front seven, and have been for about three or four games,” said Locks. “And I stand up here and we mask over that we're banged up because nobody cares. I care because I want to get these guys in position to win, and we've got to develop some of these guys that now are thrust into the role to stop the run. But prior to us being banged up, look at the stats of how we play the run compared to where we are now. My job is to fix it. That's what we're working on doing. We're going to have to do it this week against Illinois.”

Depth concerns going into the season are looking more justified as the defense has given up 623 yards in the last two weeks. The front seven has to find its footing again, especially against a quarterback like Luke Altmyer.

The senior signal caller is completing 70% of his passes and has not thrown an interception in the first six games of 2025. It helps that he has the receiver with the fourth-most receiving yards in the conference, with Hank Beatty. This game will be strength vs strength with Illinois’ passing game going up against the Maryland secondary.

“We’re motivated every game. As y’all know, we’re 0-5 right now, so we’re hungry for this next win,” safety Lavain Scruggs said. “We want to win.”

On the other hand, the only thing that went right for the Terps against Rutgers was their ability to finally run the ball effectively. The Terps rushed for 305 yards at over 10 yards a carry. Quarterback Malik Washington had 164 of those yards and a 73-yard touchdown that got the scoring started last week.

While the running game was working for Maryland, the passing game was a different story. Washington was held to 98 yards passing, the first time all season he didn’t hit at least 200 yards passing. After completing over 60% of his passes in four of the first six games, he hasn’t reached the 55% mark in the last three. Over that time, Washington has thrown three touchdowns to four interceptions, though it hasn’t stopped him from focusing on the bigger picture.

“All I really care about is people that are inside of our locker room, inside of our building, that are there with us every day, that put in the same amount of work that we’ve put in and they’re trying to grind,” said Washington.

The good news for him and the Terps is that Illinois has given up the most passing yards per game in the Big Ten with 247.2. The one player the Terps need to gameplan for is edge rusher Gabe Jacas, who is tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 6.5 sacks, two of which came in the last game, two weeks ago against Rutgers.

Last week’s game against Rutgers was considered a must-win by every measurement. Going into Saturday, it’s an S.O.S - Save Our Season - or the Terps.

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