A five-game losing streak stands to crush Maryland’s bowl hopes as the Terrapins visit Illinois on Saturday.
Maryland (4-5, 1-5 in the Big Ten) needs to find success in a hurry with games at Champaign, Ill, home against No. 18 Michigan and at Ford Field against Michigan State.
Since surrendering a 20-0 second half lead against visiting Washington on Oct. 4 and losing 24-20, the Terrapins have been reeling. They suffered a 35-20 loss at Rutgers last Saturday.
“Despite a few challenging weeks here the last four or five weeks, our team keeps showing up and giving the type of effort we need to have,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “They’re coming in and they’re putting in the work.”
The losing skid fed public discourse about Locksley’s future. Now in his seventh season and sporting a 16-40 record against the Big Ten, Locksley said “no” when asked if he felt he was coaching for his job over the final three games. His contract runs through 2027.
Things are looking brighter for Bret Bielema at Illinois (6-3, 3-3). The Fighting Illini are coming off a bye with a trip to Wisconsin sandwiched between home games with Maryland and Northwestern.
Quarterback Luke Altmyer led Illinois to a 35-13 rout of Rutgers to snap a two-game skid before the open week. He threw for 235 yards and ran for 88. He had a career-high five touchdowns – four passing and one rushing and was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Wide receiver Hank Beatty had his third touchdown reception of the season. He has 49 catches for 730 yards for an Illinois offense that is averaging 33.1 points per game, which would be the highest total in school history ahead their 32.5 average in 2010.
“There’s just so many good things happening on the offensive side right now, it’s fun to see it play out,” Bielema said.
Illinois is postseason eligible in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2010-11. The team is 10-2 at home over the past two seasons.
“Illinois will obviously be a tough task on the road, but I know that our team is excited about the opportunity and being able to put the last four or five weeks behind us and getting back on the right side of the ledger,” Locksley said.
Locksley served as the offensive coordinator at Illinois from 2005-08.
Maryland trailed 21-17 at the half against Rutgers last Saturday but gained only 83 total yards in the second half, managing just a 44-yard field goal by Sean O’Haire.
A bright spot was Malik Washington, who had a career-high 164 rushing yards on just eight attempts (20.5 yards per rush), setting a school record for rushing yards by a freshman quarterback. That included a 73-yard first quarter touchdown run.
“It’s a 4-5 football team but … [they] came in last week against Rutgers, scored on the second play of the game with a quarterback run game, “Bielema said. “He’s very, very talented. Very opportunistic group, so a tremendous challenge coming here.”
Maryland leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally with 17 interceptions and has at least one pick in seven straight games.
The Terrapins lead the all-time series 2-1. The teams last met Oct. 14, 2023 at Maryland and Altmyer passed for two touchdowns in a 27-24 Illinois win.
