Takeaways: Maryland dominates Hampton in season opener

Chase King
2 days ago
4 min read

Everybody contributes as the Maryland Terrapins (1-0) win their season opener 62-0 against the Hampton Pirates (1-1).

Maryland was heavily favored entering the game and handled business against a Hampton team that has never played a Power Four team in program history. The shutout win is Maryland’s biggest since 2021.

The Maryland football program entered the 2026 season with a lot of pressure after losing eight straight games to close 2025, and having just seven wins in the past two seasons.

“Excited again that we were able to get a win for the first time in a long time,” said head coach Mike Locksley. “Players are super excited to put this behind us.”

The Terrapins showcased offensive coordinator Clint Trickett’s new offense for the first time and finished with 646 total yards, the most since 2020 in a win against Minnesota.

Maryland’s run game looks rejuvenated.

Maryland ran the ball at the lowest rate in FBS in 2025. Why? Because they couldn’t rely on their run game against high-level opponents. They finished with just 4.1 yards per carry and had less than three yards per carry in four games last year.

Against Hampton? They had 365 total rushing yards and 6 rushing touchdowns on 9.1 yards per carry. The most rushing yards from a Maryland team since

The offensive line struggled to create gaps in runs between the tackles last season. That was different in the first game of the 2026 season. The running backs had it easy, with big gaps being created on almost every run play.

“They are making touchdown blocks; we call that,” said sophomore quarterback Malik Washington.

Redshirt sophomore DeJuan Williams led the way with 116 yards in just three attempts. He broke free for the second-longest touchdown run in Maryland football history to get the Terps on the board. He would score again before being taken out of the game in the second quarter.

“He did get nicked late in the second quarter,” said Locksley. “Hopefully it’s not a big deal because he was one of those guys heading into our first game that I thought would be able to add some explosiveness to the run game.”

Sophomore running back Iverson Howard also had a big day, scoring two touchdowns and setting a career high in rushing yards.

“Everybody in the running back room, we can all run the ball, we can make a guy miss and we can score big runs,” said Williams.

Malik Washington started slow in Maryland’s new offense.

Despite the offensive success, Washington showed some rust in his first action in Trickett’s offense.

The offense relied more on quick, short throws that required good reads and timing. Washington was just missing open receivers or forcing throws and allowing contests.

“I think you start to see things slow down for him again in that two-minute drive before the half,” said Locksley.

Washington went 7-of-10 with 64 passing yards in a two-minute drill before the half. He finished the game 19-of-31 with 186 passing yards and a touchdown.

He was also playing with a new receiver core who were shaking off their rust as well. He was throwing to two new primary receivers, Chris Durr Jr. and Na'eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding.

Washington had Durr open on a deep ball late in the second quarter, but Durr couldn’t track the ball. Kaleb Webb was Maryland’s lone returning starting receiver, and he dropped two passes from Washington.

No other quarterback in the country threw as many dropped passes as Washington in 2025. His 39 dropped throws were eight more than the second-place quarterback.

Washington was one of the most positive pieces of Maryland’s 2025 season, so a slow start isn’t a reason to panic as much as it's something to monitor.

Maryland’s front seven overpowered Hampton.

Hampton finished with just 10 rushing yards on 0.3 yards per carry as Maryland's front seven took over the game. They finished with 5 sacks for 35 yards and 8 tackles for loss for 40 yards.

Redshirt sophomore edge rusher DD Holmes was stoodout with back-to-back sacks to halt a drive in the first quarter. Those were his first two career sacks.

“When you lose a Zahir Mathis, we’ve talked about the next man up mentality,” said Locksley. “I’ve said from the start the depth that we’ve created for the outside backers, Nashir Taylor, DD Holmes and Sidney Stewart, are all very capable.”

Redshirt junior Eyan Thomas also finished with two sacks. The former St. Francis (PA) transfer had just 1.5 sacks in 2025.

Redshirt junior transfer defensive tackle Derrick LeBlanc also stood out with a dominant drive, where he swallowed up a run and batted a pass, leading to a three-and-out.

Five-star true freshman Zion Elee also got snaps from the edge position, where he showed encouraging efforts on pass rush attempts. He finished with just one tackle but recorded a few QB pressures.

Maryland's secondary continues to force turnovers.

Maryland’s defense under defensive coordinator Ted Monachino had the fifth-highest interceptions per game in the country in 2025.

The secondary continued to get after the ball, catching three interceptions. Sophomore safety Messiah Delhomme caught two interceptions, cutting off deep passes to the sideline.

Fellow sophomore safety Jayden Shipps caught his first career interception in the first quarter after Nasir Taylor got heavy pressure on Hampton’s quarterback Jaden Woods.

Outside of the turnovers, the secondary did a great job limiting completions. Hampton finished with just 10 completions for 75 passing yards. Hampton went 11 straight drives without recording a first down.

“Everybody from each position group showed up and did their part,” said Delhomme. “We wanted to show the world what Maryland’s about, best backing in the country.”

Maryland now looks to week two on the road against the UConn Huskies. Their week two game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, September 12.

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