_Saturday, the No. 18 Michigan football team will play its penultimate regular-season game against Maryland in College Park, Md. The Wolverines are 9-2 and still have their playoff hopes in front of them; the Terrapins are 4-6 and need to win out to secure a bowl game. Both teams start a talented freshman quarterback, and that’s about where the similarities end._
_Ahead of Saturday, The Michigan Daily spoke with Jake Kauderer, one of_ [_The Diamondback’s_](https://dbknews.com/) _football writers, to preview the game._
_The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity._
**After starting 4-0, Maryland hasn’t won a game since September. Is there something that connects those six losses?**
I would say just the inability to put together a complete performance. Either the offense or defense has been good, both have been bad. There’s been very few occasions where both have been good, if any, during this losing streak. It’s gone ugly at a lot of points, you saw both really struggle against Indiana, one of the best teams. The defense completely faltered at Rutgers, one of the poorer teams in the Big Ten.
So it’s interesting, because they looked really good in nonconference play. Maryland played a really good game against what is now, we understand, a very bad Wisconsin team. But since then, they just haven’t been able to put together a complete performance. Quarterback Malik Washington has been very up and down as a freshman, showing some really good signs, but also hasn’t really found that consistency, and the defense really hasn’t picked him up much. For example, at UCLA, Malik played a pretty poor game overall, but he did lead a game-tying drive, and then the defense just allowed UCLA to go right down the field with 35 seconds left for a game-winning field goal. So it’s just been an inability to play complimentary football that’s really led to this losing streak.
**Maryland, like Michigan, starts a talented freshman quarterback. What has Malik Washington done well and where has he struggled through 10 games?**
No doubt, very talented player. First of all, he’s shouldered a ton for this team, he’s been asked to do a lot for them. I actually did an [article](https://dbknews.com/2025/11/14/malik-washington-maryland-football-shoulders-responsibilities/) last week, a data analysis, and it showed that he accounts for the highest percentage of any Big Ten starting quarterback of his team’s total yards, when you factor in his rushing and passing. So that’s pretty crazy in its own right.
In terms of how his performance has actually been, he’s said throughout the year he wants to use his legs more, and he has started doing that. It culminated against Rutgers, he had 164 rushing yards. He’s really added an element to the offense with his legs, especially because the Terrapins are just so bad at running the ball with their running backs. It’s astonishing, outside of an outlier performance against Rutgers, this has been by far the worst run game in the Big Ten.
Passing-wise, it’s been more of a mixed bag for him. Some really good performances in there, some really good plays, especially extending plays when he gets outside the pocket. But he has missed some throws, no doubt. Turnovers haven’t been a huge issue, overall, he’s done a very good job with that. But just inaccuracy at times has plagued him. It’s been kind of a mixed bag in Big Ten play.
It’s tough to say how much is truly on him, right? Because he doesn’t exactly have elite skill players around him. His receivers have all struggled in conference play, but no doubt he’s very talented. I think for him, it’s just gaining confidence. That’s somewhat tough with how bad of a run game he has, with the receiver struggles. Sometimes he’s tried to do a little bit too much, maybe, he’s admitted that at points even. It’s been kind of a mixed bag, but definitely very talented.
**Can you evaluate the receivers, and what has and hasn’t worked in the Terrapins’ passing game?**
So Maryland’s three leading receivers are all seniors. Jalil Farooq, who was a transfer from Oklahoma, and then you’ve got Octavian Smith Jr. and Shaleak Knotts, who are both guys who have been with Maryland.
Knotts and Smith are the two leading guys. They both were getting a lot of big plays early in the season, and continued that against Wisconsin. That has basically entirely dissipated now during this losing streak, there’s been a very limited vertical passing game.
I think both are talented. Knotts is more of the deep threat, right, the guy who can beat you with his speed. Smith, more the guy who they’ll throw quick receiver screens to, work the middle of the field more. Honestly, at this point, tough to consider any of them a huge threat, especially against a very good Michigan defense, considering the struggles they’ve had.
But look, I mean, it’s senior day for Maryland. They’re both seniors, so I’m sure they’re very motivated. We talked to Smith in the presser Tuesday, he seems very excited for what will be his last home game as a Terp. So we’ll see. But I’m not gonna hype them up and say they’ve been great, because the truth is, the receiving and the passing game as a whole has taken a big downturn over the last month or so.
**On the other side of the ball, who are players on Maryland’s defense that can have an impact against Michigan?**
Maryland’s defense does have some really talented guys. Freshmen Zahir Mathis and Sidney Stewart, both on the defensive line, have been really good. Mathis missed some time with an injury that definitely hurt them, and led to the defense spiraling a little bit. But both those guys are impact players. They’re both still top 10 in the Big Ten in sacks. Stewart has slightly more than Mathis, he’s just played more. Those guys can be game-wreckers. We especially saw that early in the season. The secondary has been pretty solid most of the year, junior Jamare Glasker at cornerback has had a nice year.
Obviously, Michigan has a great run game, per usual. Can Maryland stop that? Gonna be tough. They’ve struggled to stop a lot of run games; Rutgers ran absolutely all over them, and that was by no means an elite ground game. So it’ll be interesting.
If Maryland can force them into passing situations, obviously, Bryce Underwood, freshman quarterback, if they can force him into passing situations and get pressure, that’s gonna be their best bet, their best recipe for success. But if Michigan just runs over them, that’s where you’ll see a lot of issues, and this thing could get ugly.
**Maryland just extended head coach Mike Locksley through next season. Does that change the vibe around this program? What is that vibe?**
Great question. So we talked with Locksley and two players Tuesday, obviously, a lot of questions around this after he was recently extended. They basically said they’re in a
‘play on’ mode. That they’re still playing for a lot because they have the opportunity, if they win both these games against Michigan and Michigan State, to make a bowl game.
But they also said that the vibe hasn’t changed, this locker room has been very united. They said that Locksley’s kept a very straight demeanor, it really hasn’t weighed on him. They said there was no difference in him on Monday versus Friday, it’s tough for me to say if that’s 100% true. That’s what the players are saying.
But in terms of the vibe, I do think it alleviates somewhat of an outside distraction for the team. Cam Rice, one of their defensive linemen, admitted that in the press conference yesterday. It’s the fact that they’re committed to the coach. It does say something going forward, that they don’t have to worry about, ‘Are we playing for Mike Locksley’s job?’ Stuff like that. The vibes, according to the team, have been very good, even amid this losing streak. We’ll see if that leads to any wins here in the last two games.
**Score prediction?**
27-17, Michigan wins.
Maryland’s played Michigan pretty tight over the past few seasons. Maryland’s coming off two embarrassing performances. The loss at Rutgers was bad. Maryland hasn’t scored a touchdown in six quarters, by the way. It’s pretty unbelievable. I think they’re going to be a little better actually, I do. I think they keep it within striking range, and maybe Michigan pulls away within the last six or seven minutes or so.