Maryland football is staring down another rough stretch, and the chatter around Mike Locksley has only gotten louder as the losses pile up.
The Terrapins have dropped into a winless Big Ten start, and the last two games have been especially ugly. Maryland has been outscored 102-26 over that span, putting Locksley squarely back on the college football hot seat watch list after the Week 3 loss to Virginia Tech.
Next comes an even steeper challenge: No. 5 Ohio State in Columbus, with Jeremiah Smith waiting after back-to-back games of 200 receiving yards.
Smith also topped 150 yards against Ball State and fourth-ranked Texas to open the season.
The league has already set Maryland’s homecoming game against Rutgers for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff on BTN, but the bigger story right now is the noise surrounding year eight of the Locksley era. Inside the program, the players say the focus has to stay on the work in front of them.
“It’s just staying in-house, staying in JHH, being where our feet are. Just being there for our coach.
He’s our leader. We always look to him to help us going into these games, going into practice.
I don’t want my coach to leave. I know we’re gonna do what we can to make sure he stays,” wide receiver Chris Durr Jr. said.
Safety Lavain Scruggs said he’s trying to help Maryland steady itself for the third straight season, while pushing back on the idea that the team has changed its daily approach. Asked about any shifts in the structure around the program, he answered IBG’s question by saying “our season isn’t over.”
“A loss, we learn from those. Like Nebraska, there was a lot of good things on film.
A lot of good things. And then we learn from those.
We looked at it all. Nothing has changed in the locker room.
We’re more hungry to play the next game.”
Locksley opened his press conference by saying that “obviously the last three weeks isn’t good enough,” leaving Maryland with the same question hanging over it now: can it turn things around before the situation gets any worse?
In Other News...
Maryland Lands In Another Big Ten Officiating Controversy
A week after the final whistle, Maryland still finds itself tied to the fallout from a Big Ten game that left Nebraska irritated and the conference explaining itself. The league acknowledged that an officiating crew incorrectly enforced a roughing-the-snapper penalty during the Terrapins game against the Cornhuskers, a call that altered how an extra-point try was handled and added another layer to an already messy night.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule said there was a miscommunication with officials about whether the kick had been good, and he voiced frustration with the officiating throughout the game. The crew at the center of the controversy also drew criticism earlier this season for mistakes in a Michigan-Western Michigan game, which only sharpened the spotlight on how this one was handled. [Read more 🡒]
Maryland Fans Get Another Frustrating Reminder From Nebraska Loss
Marylands loss to Nebraska came with one of those familiar after-the-fact reminders that only deepens the frustration. The Big Ten acknowledged this week that Nebraskas missed extra-point try should have been retaken because of a Maryland penalty, a rule application mistake that surfaced after the game and added another layer to a defeat the Terrapins already had to absorb.
The conference said it will emphasize more consistent enforcement going forward, but the result on the field will stand since the botched sequence did not alter the outcome. For Maryland, it is another entry in the long file of close-game grievances, a replay review of sorts that does little to soften the sting of a loss the program can only move past now. [Read more 🡒]
Malik Washington Has Become Marylands Biggest Early-Season Debate
Malik Washington entered the 2026 season as one of Marylands most closely watched players after a record-breaking freshman year set expectations unusually high for a sophomore quarterback. Through roughly a quarter of the schedule, he has kept the Terps offense moving with 1,288 passing yards and a 63% completion rate, but the early returns have been uneven, with seven touchdown passes against six interceptions and very little added on the ground.
The bigger issue for Maryland has been the way the games have looked against Big Ten competition, where Washingtons accuracy and decision-making have come under sharper scrutiny. He has shown enough arm talent to keep the conversation from getting simplistic, but the turnovers have made him the focal point of an early-season debate the Terps did not need, and one that still feels far from settled. [Read more 🡒]