As part of Buckeye Sports Bulletin’s coverage of Big Ten Media Days (July 28-30), we are taking a look at several conference opponents Ohio State is scheduled to face during the 2026 season.
No 4-8 season is gratifying, but Maryland’s 2025 season was particularly disappointing. After starting out the year with four straight wins, including an emphatic 27-10 win over Wisconsin, the Terrapins suffered eight straight defeats.
It was the second straight 4-8 season for Maryland under head coach Mike Locksley, who has led the program since 2019.
At Big Ten Media Days, Locksley described the last two years as humbling, but also added he learned what it takes to lead a program composed of younger players.
“Sure, the last two years have been a lot of losses, but what I’ve learned when you build the team the way we’ve had to build our program through the high school player, I learned a lot about myself a year ago. I have to coach with urgency,” Locksley said. “But I also had to still have the patience to allow this young group of talented players to grow through their mistakes.”
The Terrapins had very little go right during Big Ten play and one of the bigger issues was the team’s inability to close out tight games. Maryland went 0-3 in games decided by four points or less. Maryland returned 14 starters from last year’s team, and Locksley hopes those returners will be able to learn from the heartbreak of last season and flip those results in 2026.
“Eight years as a head coach in this league, a total of 16 years as an assistant and head coach, I’ve learned a lot that the only way you win and have success in the Big Ten is in the trenches,” Locksley said. “We’ve had to build our trenches on both sides of the football. We feel really good about the depth we’ve been able to create. We feel that the tough times are behind us now. This inexperienced group now has gained experience and some really good experience for going through three games where we lost the game in the last drive of the game.”
The Terrapins weren’t great on either end of the ball in 2025, but scoring points was a particular issue. Maryland ranked just inside the top-100 in total offense, averaging just 23.5 points per game.
True freshman quarterback Malik Washington was a bright spot in his first collegiate season. The top-100 recruit finished the year with 2,963 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 57.7 percent of his passes.
So far in camp, Locksley has already seen his young starting quarterback step up as a leader.
“The biggest area I’ve seen him improve upon so far has been his leadership. When you come in as a young quarterback, playing with veteran receivers and players, you have to find a role for how you can have an impact,” Locksley said. “I saw something the other day for the first time where he wasn’t the freshman quarterback talking to a veteran receiver, because a guy dropped the ball and he basically said, ‘Hey, bro, you keep dropping the ball like that, you won’t have it coming to you.’
You need that from that position. A year ago he probably didn’t have the comfort level being a true freshman thrown into the deep end of the pool. Now I think he’s comfortable with the leadership he’s going to need to have at that position.”
Washington reiterated Locksley’s message about his growth as a leader, but added he’s also trying to improve his pre-snap abilities for year two.
“Understanding the pre-snap picture and what it can show me post-snap [has been important],” Washington said. “Being able to play the game before the game, if that makes sense, the game within the game.”
As Locksley mentioned, the Terrapins added linemen on both sides of the ball from the transfer portal to improve in the trenches in 2026, but their most important addition may have been out of high school.
Five-star defensive end Zion Elee was ranked among the best recruits in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports Composite, and based on the way Locksley described him at Big Ten Media Days, he may make an impact as a true freshman.
“He is as advertised,” Locksley said. “I think the thing that has surprised me most is how he’s been able to assimilate himself with [veteran players].”
No schedule in the Big Ten is easy, but the Terrapins caught a bit of a break with theirs. Maryland will have to face USC and Ohio State, each of whom are expected to compete for the Big Ten title in 2026, but will also face six Big Ten teams that finished last year with a sub .500 record in conference play.
With a manageable conference schedule and a more experienced group of players, Locksley is hopeful for an improved 2026 season.
“As I can tell you, being able to keep 71% of that production from a really talented young team has helped us have quite a bit of an expectation going into this year that we’ll be able to get this program back to where we all want it to be,” Locksley said. “We have a group of guys that know the system; they know how we like to do things. We played a ton of young players last year. I expect many of the things — the lessons that we learned from last season — I expect us to be better because of going through it.”
