Maryland football’s first road trip of 2026 comes with a familiar label: favorite.
After opening the season Saturday night with a 62-0 rout of Hampton, Maryland is set to take that momentum to UConn, where the Terrapins opened as 12.5-point favorites before the line moved to 11.5. That fits Maryland’s recent track record away from home, too, with the Terps having won six of their seven games since 2021 as the road favorite.
The matchup also carries some history. Maryland has taken three of the four meetings between the schools, including a convincing 50-7 win two years ago in the Tai Felton breakout game in 2024. But this version of UConn looks different, and the challenge Maryland faces in Week 2 comes with a new coaching staff, a reshaped roster and a few transfer additions who already made noise in the opener.
Jason Candle is in his first season at UConn after spending 10 years at Toledo, where he went 81-44 with seven bowl appearances, two MAC titles and two MAC Coach of the Year awards. He brought several players from that Toledo program with him, and the Huskies have also added 87 new players, including 60 transfers. UConn rolled past Lafayette, 56-7, to start the year, and three names stand out heading into Saturday.
Kalieb Osborne is the obvious one at quarterback. The Toledo transfer looked sharp in his UConn debut, completing more than 73% of his passes while throwing for 265 yards, rushing for 90 more and producing four total touchdowns.
He gives UConn a true dual-threat edge and forces defenses to stay disciplined in the front seven. For Maryland, that means the interior line and outside linebackers - with DD Holmes standing out on the edge - will be asked to keep contain and avoid losing gap control.
Osborne had three touchdowns in seven games at Toledo in 2025.
Up front, defensive tackle Esean Carter is another transfer worth watching. Carter was at the center of an offseason eligibility wrinkle after transferring to UConn, then being ruled ineligible when the NCAA determined he had an invalid redshirt year.
That ruling was later overturned, and he made his debut last weekend, keeping him available for this game. Carter earned third team All-MAC honors last season after posting 36 tackles and three sacks, and the 6-foot-3 tackle has a reputation for being disruptive at the line of scrimmage.
Maryland’s interior offensive line had some shaky moments against Hampton, so Carter will be a good barometer for whether that unit can take a step forward. The wrinkle is that he was kept out of team activities while the eligibility issue played out and did not practice through August, so his readiness for Saturday remains a question.
Then there’s linebacker K’Von Sherman, another former Toledo player who has become a major part of the defense. Sherman broke out in 2025, earning first team All-MAC honors after leading Toledo with 94 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. At 6-foot-2, he was a fixture on preseason watch lists thanks to his quickness and instincts, and he opened the year with five tackles in UConn’s win over Lafayette.
In Other News...
Maryland Has A New Team In The State Top 25
Guilford Park has forced its way into the latest High School On SI Maryland Top 25, giving the state rankings a fresh name after a strong start to the 2026 season. The Panthers opened with a 35-6 win over Frederick, a result that helped them crack the list at No. 25 and added another early-season data point for a rankings race that already features the usual heavyweights near the top.
Saint Frances Academy still sits at No. 1, with DeMatha Catholic, Archbishop Spalding, Our Lady of Good Counsel and McDonogh School rounding out the top five. The rest of the board continues to shift with recent results and a handful of ranked matchups on deck, which means Guilford Park will have to back up its first impression quickly if it wants to stay in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Marylands Opener Eased Two Early Concerns In A Big Way
Marylands 2026 opener did more than put Hampton away in a 62-0 rout, it quickly answered two of the biggest early questions facing the Terrapins. The running game looked as explosive as advertised, with Dejuan Williams and Iverson Howard helping fuel a six-touchdown ground effort, while the defense spent the afternoon living in the backfield and making life miserable for an FCS opponent.
The pass rush was a major reason the game never felt competitive, with Derrick LeBlanc and Trey Reddick among the defenders setting the tone. For Maryland, the larger significance is less about the scoreboard than the way it won, because a dominant opener against a weaker opponent can still tell you plenty about how ready a team is to lean on its front lines once the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]