QB Malik Washington, six takeaways propel Maryland football to blowout season-opening win vs. FAU

jmcconn3
Aug 30
3 min read

Maryland football started off its 2025 campaign on a strong note, handling business against FAU with a score of 39-7. The win extended their non-conference winning streak to 16 games and their season opener winning streak to 15 games.

The day started hours before kickoff after the program officially announced true freshman Malik Washington as the starting quarterback, becoming the first true freshman to start for Maryland in an opener since Perry Hills in 2012.

“It was an amazing blessing to be named starting for coach to trust me. Started off a little slow but as I felt myself get into the game, get the first couple hits out and after that I kind of got rolling,” Washington said as he finished 27-of-43 for 258 passing yards and three touchdowns to set a pair of true freshman program records.

The Terps defense started off their season opener with a shaky start, including five defensive penalties on their opening drive as the FAU Owls marched all the way down to the four-yard line before linebacker Daniel Wingate stood tall for a fourth-down goal line stand.

The penalties continued to pile up for the Terps, racking up 11 penalties in the first half alone, passing their single game record of 10 from last season. Head Coach Mike Locksley was contempt with the team’s defensive penalty performance and believes they will continue to improve throughout the season.

“You always see the biggest strides, usually between game one and game two,” Locksley said. “The things the need to get corrected I expect them to get corrected, and that’s the penalties, that’s the sideline organization things which are very atypical.”

The Terps ended up improving their penalty struggles out of halftime, finishing with only 14 total penalties throughout the game.

Sean O’Haire also impressed in his debut after finishing a perfect 3-for-3, including a pair of 40+ yard attempts, as the defense elevated through the course of the 60 minutes. There were plenty of bright spots from the defense despite the penalty trouble. The Terps were in an interception frenzy, causing six interceptions in a single game, the most in a single game since 1998 against Duke.

One of those interceptions ended up being a pick six from junior linebacker Daniel Wingate to get the team’s first points of the season and first career pick six. Wingate also dominated with a team high 10 total tackles, with a plan to set the tone for the season. La'Khi Roland and Braydon Lee also recorded their first interceptions in their second season with the program, while portal cornerback star Dontay Joyner reeled in his first interception of the game. Lavain Scruggs ended a driving Owls' drive with an interception in the endzone, while converted receiver-turned-cornerback Ricardo Cooper ended the day with a takeaway with just over two minutes left.

“Being able to set the tone from the jump, and you know having to put the league on notice about what we got around this school,” Wingate said. “The vibe is you got to get six more next week and you got to get seven now. So, you know, just trying to be able to work off of that and get more turnovers.”

Sidney Stewart, the Terps freshman defensive lineman, had the other defensive scoring highlight with a safety, claiming Maryland’s first safety since September of 2019. Having this be his first safety, Stewart was ready to celebrate.

“It felt amazing, I didn’t know what to do,” Stewart said regarding his safety. “I didn’t know if I should do a bull celly, the safety celly, so I just ended up doing both.”

The second half for the defense had the same story for the most part besides the penalty trouble, with more interceptions and fourth down stops, not letting their foot off the gas

Maryland’s defense ended the game with a strong finish, only allowing three fourth down conversions on nine attempts in week one.

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