Maryland finally got the breakthrough it had been hunting for, and it came in a wild 34-29 win over Purdue on Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Terrapins leaned on big plays, a fierce pass rush, and four total touchdowns from Malik Washington to snap a 13-game Big Ten losing streak and earn their first conference win of the 2026 season.
The result pushed Maryland to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in Big Ten play. Purdue fell to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in conference action.
Purdue controlled the early scoreboard through Jacobo Echeverria Lozano, who kept stacking points with field goals of 47, 26, 24, and 36 yards in the first half. That stretch gave the Boilermakers a 12-0 edge before Maryland’s offense finally found a rhythm late in the second quarter.
With 6:34 left before halftime, Washington put together a fast 3-play, 46-yard drive in just 36 seconds and finished it himself with a 15-yard touchdown run. Purdue added one more Lozano field goal before the break, but Maryland had trimmed the gap to 12-7 and had a foothold.
The third quarter belonged to the Terrapins. They opened the second half with a 9-play, 75-yard march that ended in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Washington to Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding, giving Maryland its first lead at 14-12. After linebacker Daniel Wingate recovered a Purdue fumble, Washington kept the pressure on with a 1-yard touchdown run from the 2-yard line to make it 21-12.
Purdue answered when Xavier Townsend scored on a 30-yard reverse, but Maryland punched right back on the next play from scrimmage. DeJuan Williams took a handoff and ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run down the left sideline, pushing the Terps ahead 28-19. Williams finished with 99 yards on 14 carries, a 7.1-yard average.
The Boilermakers made one more push in the fourth quarter, getting Lozano’s fifth field goal of the day - a 22-yarder - to cut it to 28-22 with 12:13 left. Maryland answered with the kind of strike that ends games.
On third down from its own 11, Washington hit Chris Durr Jr., who broke multiple tackles and turned it into an 87-yard touchdown to stretch the lead to 34-22. Durr finished with four catches for 127 yards.
Purdue kept fighting and scored again on a 2-yard run by Fame Ijeboi with 3:50 remaining, trimming the margin to 34-29. But Maryland’s defense held on from there and stopped the final Purdue drive to close it out.
The Terps’ front seven was the difference all afternoon. Maryland finished with seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss, with freshman linebacker Zion Elee leading the charge with 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
Nahsir Taylor posted a game-high 11 tackles, including a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Lavain Scruggs added eight tackles and a sack, and Trey Reddick chipped in seven tackles and two tackles for loss.
Washington completed 13 of 18 passes for 253 yards, two passing touchdowns, and one interception. He also ran for 32 yards and two scores, giving Maryland the kind of dual-threat performance it needed to finally break through in conference play.
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