Maryland left East Hartford with a clean 2-0 start, and it did it by turning Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field into a track meet. The Terrapins’ up-tempo offense kept stretching Connecticut until the Huskies finally broke, and the result was a 38-14 win in front of 34,494.
UConn got the first punch in early, but it didn’t hold. Late in the opening quarter, Kalieb Osborne found JD Willoughby on a 36-yard post route for the game’s first touchdown and a 7-0 lead.
Maryland answered on the next drive, and the response came fast: on third-and-8, Malik Washington hit Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding in the flat, and Gladding turned it into a 60-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-7. Washington and Gladding are quickly becoming a top offensive pairing.
From there, Maryland took over the middle of the game. The Terps scored on six of eight consecutive drives and started leaning on a defense that couldn’t keep up with the pace.
Iverson Howard put Maryland in front 14-7 with a four-yard touchdown run to finish a 92-yard drive, and Sean O’Haire added a 19-yard field goal just before halftime after a 15-play, 91-yard march. That gave Maryland a 17-7 lead at the break.
Michael Locksley had considered going for it from the two-yard line on fourth down, but chose the field goal instead to avoid risking momentum before halftime.
Maryland also got a jolt from the defense. True freshman Zion Elee recorded his first career strip sack, and DD Holmes recovered it to give the Terps the ball at midfield.
The pressure didn’t let up after halftime. Howard scored again to push the lead to 24-7, and even after UConn answered with a 39-yard touchdown from Osborne to Shamar Porter, Maryland came right back with another scoring drive. By the time the fourth quarter arrived, the Terps were up 31-14, and the final margin settled at 38-14.
Washington’s numbers tell the story of the night. He finished with 347 passing yards on 34-of-41 passing and a career-high 82.9% completion percentage, the fourth-highest mark in program history.
He also completed a program-record 18 straight passes. Gladding caught eight balls for 130 yards and a touchdown, while Chris Durr Jr. had 10 receptions for 103 yards and a score.
It was the first time since 2023 that Maryland had two players go over 100 receiving yards in the same game. The Terps also ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns.
Osborne finished 10-of-21 for 156 yards and two touchdowns for UConn. Maryland improved to 4-1 all-time against Connecticut.
Next up, Maryland returns home for another non-conference game against Virginia Tech in College Park next Saturday at 7:30 PM on either FOX or FS1.
In Other News...
Marylands Fast Start Just Changed The Big Ten Conversation
After two weeks of college football, ESPNs FPI has already started reshaping the Big Ten picture in ways that matter to Marylands long-term outlook. The models latest update came with a few eye-catching swings across the sport, from Oklahoma States big rise after upsetting Oregon to notable drops for Arkansas and Minnesota, while Ohio State and Washington moved in directions that didnt line up neatly with the scoreboard. For Maryland, that kind of early shuffle is part of the backdrop as the conference begins to sort out which teams look like real postseason threats and which ones might be fighting simply to stay in the mix.
Marylands own early surge is now feeding into a bigger conversation about how the Big Ten hierarchy might look once league play settles in. FPI is built to weigh more than just one Saturday, so the Terps fast start matters not only for the standings but for how the numbers view their playoff path and bowl odds over the rest of the season. The next few weeks will tell whether this is just an early boost or the start of something more durable, and thats where the intrigue really begins. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland's First Real Test Will Say A Lot About The Terps
Maryland has handled the first two weeks the way a program is supposed to, putting away Hampton and UConn and buying itself a little breathing room before the calendar gets serious. Now comes the kind of game that starts to reveal what a team really is, with Virginia Tech coming to College Park for a Week 3 matchup that should tell a lot more than those opening wins ever could.
The Terps will have to navigate it without running back DeJuan Williams for the next few weeks, while Iverson Howard is set to be available after dealing with a recent injury. Virginia Tech brings its own early-season curiosity into the matchup, too, making its first road trip under coach James Franklin in a game that oddsmakers see as close enough to make Maryland a slight underdog and keep the stakes feeling real. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Washington Just Gave Maryland A Reason To Believe Again
Saturday night offered Maryland a cleaner, sharper version of itself in a 38-14 win over UConn, and Malik Washington was at the center of it. The quarterback was efficient from the start, spreading the ball around and keeping the Terps on schedule as the passing game found a rhythm that had been missing at times earlier in the season.
Naeem Abdul-Rahim Gladding and Chris Durr Jr. did plenty of the heavy lifting in the receiving game, giving Maryland a pair of dependable targets when the offense needed a spark. On the other side of the ball, Zion Elee added his first career sack, a small but notable marker for a defense that helped turn a promising showing into a comfortable result, even as the Terps have another concern lurking beyond the box score. [Read more 🡒]