Maryland heads into Columbus carrying the weight of a three-game losing streak, and Mike Locksley didn’t try to dress it up. After a loss at Nebraska that he said fell short of the program’s standard, the Maryland coach made it clear the Terps are spending the week on fixes, not excuses.
“The last three weeks isn’t good enough, but nobody’s hanging their heads. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’re going to keep working through it.”
Locksley said he took full responsibility for the slide, while also stressing that the response inside the building has been about correction. The problems from the Nebraska game, in his view, were less about effort than about execution - the kind of self-inflicted mistakes that keep turning competitive stretches into frustrating finishes.
Maryland had some encouraging moments on offense and looked better tackling in space on defense, but the performance never held together for four quarters. Locksley said the Terps played at a high level for only one half before an interception returned for a touchdown shifted the energy. On defense, he pointed to alignment errors, poor eye discipline on long runs and an inability to keep Nebraska’s athletic quarterback from creating explosive plays and changing field position.
Special teams had its own mix of good and bad. Maryland won the net punting battle, and Bryce McFerson was accurate placing kicks inside the 10. But the Terps also had a punt blocked because of an operational failure to trigger an automatic throw to an uncovered eligible receiver.
Third-down issues kept showing up, too, and Locksley tied that directly to the broader picture. Maryland’s offense has not been clean enough in key moments, and those self-inflicted breakdowns have repeatedly stalled drives.
The quarterback situation remains a major part of the conversation, especially after Maryland has endured three pick-sixes over the last two weeks. Locksley still gave a firm public vote of confidence to Malik Washington.
“He's our quarterback.”
Locksley said Washington is now 16 games into his starting career and is in the middle of his sophomore season. He also pointed to early-season injuries in the backfield, including to DeJuan Williams, as a reason Washington has had to shoulder a heavier passing load than planned. That, Locksley said, has accelerated the learning process against Big Ten defenses.
He described Washington’s recent interceptions as 400 level reads, saying opposing coordinators are using layered disguises to challenge the young passer. Against Nebraska, that included simulated pressure looks with seven defenders showing at the line before a defensive end dropped into coverage, along with bracket coverage that made the defense look like man underneath. Locksley said Washington usually does not repeat the same mistake once it has been corrected on film, and he added that getting Williams back should help restore balance to the offense and take pressure off the quarterback.
Now Maryland turns to No. 5 Ohio State, a road test against the Big Ten’s top team in total offense and passing yardage. Julian Sayin leads the Buckeyes at quarterback, with Jeremiah Smith among the explosive playmakers around him, and Locksley said Ohio State’s staff uses its NFL experience to create one-on-one problems all over the field.
For Maryland, the task is straightforward even if the challenge is enormous: clean up the details, stay disciplined and keep the game within reach into the fourth quarter. Locksley said the Terps have to “cup” Ohio State’s top weapons by staying deep, keeping their eyes right and tackling reliably to prevent explosive plays.
Up front, Maryland will need to win isolated matchups against an Ohio State defensive front built to test every blocker. On offense, Locksley stressed that turnovers have to disappear after giveaways helped dictate the flow in back-to-back losses. And on special teams, the Terps have to keep winning the field-position battle while handling every operation cleanly, especially the automatic adjustments that broke down against Nebraska.
To sharpen that response, Locksley said Maryland is changing how it practices. The Terps are using “good-on-good” periods and scripting second-and-10 into third-down situations so players have to execute under pressure.
He also tied all of that to the bigger picture around the sport. With roster caps and NIL regulations reshaping college football, Locksley sees a more level field, one that looks more like NFL parity than the old pecking order. He also pointed to Maryland’s place in the DMV talent pipeline, within a three-hour radius of campus, as a foundation he still believes in as the Terps keep their focus on going 1-and-0 against Ohio State.
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