Aazaar Abdul-Rahim’s rise at Maryland has happened fast enough to make your head spin. First he was elevated to defensive coordinator after Ted Monachino was fired. Then, last week, he was handed the interim head coaching job after Mike Locksley was dismissed in the middle of his eighth season.
Now the Terps are coming out of a bye week and Abdul-Rahim is set to make his head coaching debut Saturday against Illinois.
He did not wait long to make his case for the job long term, either.
"I don't see myself as the interim," he said. "I see myself as someone who's a program-builder and will allow it to take the next steps. Our first focus has been to wrap our arms around these young men.
"This is a five-game season for us and right now, we're zero and zero. The kids are excited to show you guys a better brand of football."
Maryland enters at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten after a 37-30 home loss to Rutgers on October 17. The numbers inside the conference have been rough: the Terps have been outscored 184-72 during their five-game skid, and they’re giving up 43.8 points per game over that stretch.
There has at least been one area where Maryland has protected itself well. The Terps have turned it over just five times this season, giving them one of the best turnover-free marks in the country. That total is tied for second-most in the FBS behind Kentucky, which has six.
Illinois comes in at 4-3 and 2-2, and the last two weeks have looked a lot more like the team the Fighting Illini wanted to be. They knocked off Oregon 21-10 at home last week, their best win of the season, and climbed back over .500 for the first time in more than a month.
That victory came with freshman quarterback Michael Clayton Jr. making his first start in place of Katin Houser, who has a broken hand. Clayton threw for 84 yards and two touchdowns, but the more important piece, according to offensive coordinator Barry Lunney, was how smoothly the offense functioned.
"We didn't have any real miscommunications," Lunney said. "We have a lot of terminology.
That's one thing you can take for granted. Getting the call in and getting it correctly communicated - and clearly - to the team, that's a big deal."
Illinois has also leaned heavily on wide receiver Collin Dixon, and the production has been loud enough to change the shape of its offense. Dixon is fourth in the nation with 10 touchdown catches, a total that ties the single-season Illinois record. Only Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, Oregon State’s Jesse Legree and Miami’s Malachi Toney have more touchdown receptions in 2026.
He has been just as productive in the volume game, too. Dixon ranks fifth nationally and first in the Big Ten with 54 catches, and he’s 14th in the country and fourth in the conference with 678 receiving yards.
That kind of efficiency has helped Illinois stay on schedule and control the football. The Fighting Illini have punted only 14 times all season, and before last week that number was just 10.
Bret Bielema will be with Illinois for the game at Maryland despite the death of his father, Arnie, on Sunday.
In Other News...
Illinois Suddenly Face Two Big Questions Before Maryland
Illinois wrapped up its final preseason tuneup with a 101-66 win over UIC, getting encouraging signs from freshmen and several key contributors even as the roster worked through some injury concerns. It was the kind of performance that leaves a program feeling good about where it is headed, especially with the regular season getting close and the rotation starting to take shape.
At the same time, the broader Big Ten picture is shifting in a way Illinois will be watching closely, with the conference putting an immediate $49 million cap on spending tied to third-party NIL agreements and revenue-sharing. For a program trying to build momentum on the floor, it adds another layer of intrigue to a week already shaped by uncertainty, and the ripple effects could matter well beyond Maryland. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Star Power Just Raised The Stakes For This Season
David Mirkovic keeps showing up on the sports biggest preseason lists, and for Illinois that is another sign the sophomore forward is already carrying national expectations into this season. After earning first-team All-America recognition from both the Associated Press and CBS Sports, plus a spot on the preseason All-Big Ten Team, Mirkovic has now landed on the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division I Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
It adds another layer to the pressure and the possibility around Illinois, where his profile is growing fast enough to put him in the conversation for an award voted on by Division I head coaches. The honor itself will be decided during the 2027 Mens Final Four, but for now the bigger point is clear enough: Mirkovic is no longer just one of the conferences names to know, he is becoming one of the national ones. [Read more 🡒]
Illinois Already Showing Up In The Earliest Big Recruiting Battles
Illinois is getting an early look at one of the newest names to know on the recruiting trail in Braylin Calhoun, a highly ranked eighth-grade guard from Milwaukee who recently made an unofficial visit to campus. The class is obviously years away from being settled, but the fact that Illinois is already involved says plenty about how aggressively the staff is approaching these first big battles for elite talent.
Calhoun has already made unofficial stops at Michigan and Wisconsin, and his first college offer came from Incarnate Word, but the bigger picture here is the company Illinois wants to keep. The Illini are in the mix for Calhoun and other high-profile recruits, which means these early evaluations are not just about future lists and rankings, but about establishing a foothold before the race really starts to heat up. [Read more 🡒]