Maryland’s Halloween date with Illinois comes with a different look on the sideline, and the Terps are asking a lot from a few of their most important players as interim head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim makes his debut in College Park on Saturday at 12 p.m.
The timing is striking. Maryland is coming out of the bye week after a season that started with promise in non-conference play but unraveled once Big Ten action began.
The Terps are 2-5 and have lost five straight, a skid that cost Mike Locksley his job and also ended the run of former defensive coordinator Ted Monachino. Now the job is to steady the ship against an Illinois team that arrives at 4-3 after back-to-back wins over Michigan State and Oregon.
For Maryland, that means the spotlight falls heavily on the quarterback position. Washington has not produced the season he pictured in year two at College Park, but this matchup gives him a chance to reset under a coach he knows well.
The challenge is straightforward: keep his footing, stay composed in the pocket and avoid letting pressure throw off his timing. Ball security matters most, but so does getting the ball into the hands of the Terps’ playmakers.
One of those playmakers needs to be Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding. He burst out of the gate over the first three weeks, then disappeared from the offense.
He also missed the Rutgers game because of injury, which only adds to the pressure on Maryland’s passing game. With Chris Durr Jr. drawing attention, the Terps need another receiver who can separate and stretch the field, and Gladding is the one who has to fill that role.
On the other side of the ball, the name to watch is Elee. The five-star recruit has flashed big-time production in limited snaps, already posting 12 tackles, four-and-a-half tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 11 pressures and three forced fumbles. That kind of disruption in a small sample stands out, and it’s a big reason Maryland may want to lean on him more heavily now.
That should be especially true on third down. Illinois brings a balanced offense, ranked 68th nationally in total offense at 392.4 yards per game, so Maryland needs ways to speed up the quarterback and make the Illini uncomfortable. More Elee on passing downs could help the Terps create pressure, force mistakes and give the coverage behind him a better chance to hold up.
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 🡒]