Maryland had Nebraska right where it wanted for a stretch in Lincoln, then watched the whole thing come apart in a hurry.
The Terrapins led 23-14 and had the ball at the Nebraska 25-yard line with just under three minutes left in the second quarter of their Big Ten road opener. From there, sophomore quarterback Malik Washington made the kind of mistake that flipped the game.
He never saw safety Dwayne McDougle III crashing down on a comeback route and fired it straight to him. McDougle took it 81 yards the other way for a pick-six, trimming Maryland’s lead to 23-21.
Nebraska never looked back, rolling to a 48-23 win and outscoring Maryland 27-0 from that point on.
For Maryland, it was another brutal second-half fade in a season that already has a familiar feel. The Terrapins are now 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play, and the latest collapse added to a stretch that has become all too common. They have dropped three straight in 2026, lost their final eight games in 2025, and went down in seven of their last eight to close 2024.
Washington’s night followed a strange and ugly pattern. After he was one of the top freshman quarterbacks in the country and Maryland’s clear star last season, he had the worst outing of his college career the week before against UCLA, finishing 18-for-38 for 142 yards with four interceptions, including two pick-sixes.
His PFF grade was 27.7, the lowest of his career. Against Nebraska, he opened like a different player, throwing for 177 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter.
Then the wheels came off again.
He was picked off on his first drive of the second quarter when he tried to hit a slant and a linebacker dropped into coverage for the interception. Later in the quarter came the back-breaking pick-six. Washington didn’t complete a pass in the second quarter after that and never fully recovered.
“I can tell you on the one they jumped, you want to make sure you go to the other side where we have more advantageous matchups,” said head coach Mike Locksley. “I still think he made the right decision on one of the interceptions, we just got to get there a little quicker.”
Washington finished the second half 12-for-20 for 77 yards, but the numbers only tell part of the story. He missed throws he usually makes and became more cautious, leaning on short passes after the interceptions.
His running game didn’t provide much help, either. He finished with 10 carries for 16 yards, including a 10-yard sack that was more on the offensive line than on him.
The larger issue for Maryland’s offense was impossible to miss. The Terps couldn’t string together drives.
Over the final three quarters against Nebraska, they had only one possession that lasted more than six plays. They were 1-for-14 on third down.
That looked a lot like the UCLA loss, when they managed just two drives longer than six plays and went 1-for-15 on third down.
“We didn’t get the execution done,” said Locksley, “Whether the play call, whether it was the blocking, whether it was the playmakers making the plays on the perimeter.”
The defense didn’t do Maryland any favors, either. Against Power Four competition, the Terps have now given up 134 points across three games, and 21 of those points came while the offense was on the field. They’ve allowed 253.6 passing yards per game against Power Four opponents and 237.5 rushing yards per game in their two Big Ten games.
Nebraska had plenty of success on the ground, with Anthony Colandrea rushing for 108 yards on 10 carries, including a 51-yard scramble. Tackling continued to be a problem for Maryland, too.
Redshirt senior safety Lavain Scruggs missed a tackle on Mekhi Nelson’s 19-yard rushing touchdown. The Terps missed 23 tackles against Virginia Tech and eight against UCLA.
Third down has also been a mess; Nebraska went 6-for-13, and Virginia Tech went 10-for-16 two weeks ago.
Maryland’s schedule isn’t easing up. Next up is No. 5 Ohio State, along with the possible No. 1 overall pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, Jeremiah Smith.
There were at least a few encouraging signs on offense. DeJuan Williams gave the run game a jolt after missing three and a half games with an injury.
He had run just three times against Hampton before the injury, but those carries went for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Against Nebraska, he carried 10 times for 78 yards and a touchdown, including a 56-yard burst.
Backup Iverson Howard also flashed in a limited role, running three times for 34 yards, with every carry going for at least 10 yards.
Still, Maryland barely leaned on the run game. Williams and Howard combined for just 13 carries, while Washington threw it 44 times.
It was a reminder of the high-pass approach Maryland used under Pep Hamilton last season. Going forward, the Terps would seem to need more first-down runs with Williams to stay ahead of the chains and keep Washington out of obvious passing situations.
The one player consistently producing was Chris Durr Jr. The junior Wyoming transfer has been Maryland’s best weapon through five games, and he came into the night eighth in the Big Ten with 312 receiving yards. He left with a career-high 149 more after a huge performance against Nebraska.
Durr helped Maryland get rolling early with a 36-yard catch, a 20-yard grab, and a 65-yard slant for a touchdown. He finished with 105 yards after the catch and looked every bit like the Terps’ most dangerous player with the ball in his hands.
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Mike Locksley didnt hide from the film after Marylands 48-23 loss to Nebraska, and he also didnt sound ready to blow up everything around it. The head coach pointed to effort as a positive, but said the Terrapins beat themselves too often with self-inflicted mistakes and execution breakdowns, the kind of issues that can turn a competitive afternoon into a lopsided final score before long.
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Nebraskas pivotal interception return for a touchdown changed the entire feel of the game, and Maryland never found its footing after that. The Terrapins were undone by third-down struggles and penalties, and the second-half slide was severe enough to turn a competitive game into a 48-23 loss. [Read more 🡒]
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Maryland had enough offense early to make Saturday in Lincoln feel like the kind of Big Ten road game it could hang around in. For a while, the Terps moved the ball well and looked capable of turning a winnable conference game into something useful, but the first half also carried the familiar warning signs that can undo a team on the road: turnovers, penalties and the little mistakes that keep giving an opponent extra chances.
Nebraska took advantage after halftime and steadily pulled away, turning a competitive start into a 48-23 loss for Maryland. The frustrating part for the Terps was not just the final margin, but how quickly a game that felt manageable slipped out of reach once the cleaner, more consistent team began to separate itself in the second half. [Read more 🡒]