What we're watching for in Maryland football's nonconference finale vs. Towson

Ahmed Ghafir
Sep 10
3 min read

Maryland football is set to close out the nonconference portion of the 2025 schedule when they host Towson for a 12 PM ET kickoff on Saturday, the first meeting between the two teams in two seasons. Maryland will get a chance to extend its non-conference win streak to 18 games, longest in the nation, but it also marks a chance for the young and revamped 2025 team one last game to iron out the kinks ahead of the start of Big Ten play. We take a look for three things we’re watching for on Saturday:

Limit WR drops

Drops proved to be an issue for Maryland in week two with five players responsible for one each in the 20-9 win. The most notable were early and late in the game, the first being from RB DeJuan Williams on third down for what would’ve been the offense’s first first-down. Then came arguably the most notable in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter when TE Dorian Fleming and WR Octavian Smith crossed paths in the endzone, leading to a touchdown drop by Fleming and the second of two failed fourth-down attempts. The fourth down drop is a byproduct of early season kinks as head coach Mike Locksley, Fleming and QB Malik Washington all pointed to as small communication tweaks that will be adjusted in time. While Saturday gives the passing attack a chance to gain confidence as Malik Washington looks for his first 300-yard passing performance, Saturday marks an opportunity for growth on offense by limiting drops, similar to the team’s cut down from 14 to three penalties from week one to week two.

Final tune-up for the OL

Maryland’s offensive line has a chance to open the season without allowing a sack in three consecutive games, marking the first time since 2006 the unit has done so. There’s been signs of optimism with QB Malik Washington only hit twice through two games, both on plays outside of the pocket, with week three marking the final chance to tweak the starting five ahead of Big Ten play. The biggest emphasis will be on the ground game where run blocking and RB production have been inconsistent. Arguably Maryland’s most impressive drive of the season came when the ground game picked up steam with five consecutive runs to set up the play action TD pass from Washington to TE Dorian Fleming. While we all know Maryland can find success through the air in Mike Locksley’s offense, Maryland will get a chance to replicate drives like that and build confidence heading into Wisconsin.

Saturday also gives a chance for the rotation to get critical game reps with OG Ryan Howerton and versatile lineman Anthony Robsock, both of whom have played in each of the first two games, a chance to get additional reps to develop the two-deep while OT Davon Watkins looks to build on his season debut vs. NIU.

Big play ability on the ground

Maryland is one of 11 Power Four schools who has yet to break off a run over 20 yards, while ranking 120^th nationally with just five ten-yard runs in two games. The offensive line plays as big a role in the rushing attack as the running backs themselves, though head coach Mike Locksley noted the unit is “going to have one guy that they have to make miss.”

Nolan Ray and DeJuan Williams have split starts to open the season with the complementary duo looking to create the big play ability with Saturday marking a chance for the unit to do so, similar to Ray’s 48-yard touchdown against UConn in 2024.

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