Maryland vs ucla Maryland football suffers third straight loss, 20-17, to UCLA on last-second field goal
PASADENA, California — For the third consecutive week, Maryland football needed a last-minute touchdown drive to avoid defeat on Saturday; this time to UCLA. Their offensive line had failed in their previous two attempts.
Malik Washington wasn’t about to let that happen again. Several powerful throws and a 28-yard run—the freshman’s longest of the season—helped Jalil Farooq score the offensive line’s first touchdown and Farooq’s first touchdown of the season. The game was tied with 40 seconds remaining.
The score remained that way for exactly 39 seconds. Quarterback Niko Iamalewa and running back Anthony Frias II led the Bruins down the field and made a game-winning chip-shot field goal.
The Terps’ 20-17 loss to UCLA on Saturday at the Rose Bowl Stadium was their third consecutive defeat, dropping their record to 4-3. What seemed like a promising season for the program three weeks ago has now become a shambolic campaign.
“I’m not going to ask what the problem is or why this is happening over and over again,” head coach Michael Locksley said. “‘Why’ is a victim’s question. I’m not a victim. I’m going to ask what we need to do, what I need to do so we can win this game. And to me, that’s the growth mindset of this team.”
The Terps’ defense was excellent for three and a half quarters. Jamare Glasker’s pick-six in the third quarter gave Maryland its first lead of the game, and the team behind him made consistent efforts to maintain that slim margin. Perhaps no play was more crucial than Sydney Stewart’s fourth-quarter strip sack, which gave the Terps the ball back.
It didn’t matter. Maryland’s offense repeatedly failed to capitalize on opportunities, scoring just three points in 59 minutes. Its defense, which struggled with multiple injuries during the game, finally faltered at the end of the final quarter. A touchdown pass from Niko Imaleva to Mikey Matthews gave the Bruins a 14-10 lead.
Locksley said, “Our defense was fantastic. They scored points, forced turnovers. They played so well that we won… They just didn’t perform well the other two periods.”
UCLA had one scoring drive in the first 54 minutes of the game and three in the last six minutes.
With the exception of the final drive, Malik Washington had his worst game as a Terp. He completed 23 of 48 passes for 210 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The interception came on the second play of the Terps’ first game-winning drive opportunity, after Matthews’ touchdown. It gave the Bruins a chance to extend their lead.
Whatever improvements Washington made as a runner—67 running yards, more than double his previous season’s highest—were undermined by a decline in his accuracy. Many of the throws to the starting receivers failed to make the catch.
“They were able to limit our offensive game with their explosiveness, and they played a great game,” Washington said.
It’s no secret that Imalewa’s running ability is a key part of UCLA’s offensive strategy. Maryland focused entirely on stopping him. Sidney Stewart was deployed as a quarterback spy on the Bruins’ first third down, mimicking Imalewa’s lateral movement at the line of scrimmage. He helped Trey Reddick bring him down to force a punt on UCLA’s first drive.
But as slow as UCLA’s offensive play was initially, Maryland’s was even slower. Only one of the Terps’ first four offensive drives resulted in a first down—a 17-play, 88-yard drive that lasted over eight minutes and resulted in only one field goal.
The Bruins responded with the game’s first big strike. Running back Anthony Frias II leaped from a hole on first down and easily outran Maryland’s defense for a 55-yard score. Frias had only 37 rushing yards this season, starting Saturday.
The Terps’ next first down came from DeJuan Williams, who gained 23 yards while dodging defenders on fourth-and-1. It was the team’s second run of at least 20 yards all season, and it took Maryland to UCLA’s 34-yard line.
On the very next play, Washington sent Williams back on a checkdown. Williams fumbled the ball, and the Bruins recovered it, ending a promising drive.
The Terps’ offensive situation worsened in the second half. They had only three first downs in the second half before their final drive, which is extremely disappointing considering Maryland’s situation. All three of these first downs came on big plays by Williams—two in the air and one on the ground.
One of them – a 41-yard wheel route down the right sideline – gave the Terps a first down and seven yards for a touchdown. Four plays later, their drive ended scoreless.
That’s when Jamare Glasker reminded everyone that touchdowns aren’t the only way an offensive team can score. He pounced on a short throw from Niko Iamalewa and ran just eight yards for a pick-six.
That gave Maryland its first lead. All it needed was a strong drive to extend the lead and secure the victory.
That never happened. Once again, Maryland lacked answers.
and Jalen Huskey, both of whom were ejected from the field for targeting on Saturday. Redick’s injury occurred late in the second quarter, and Huskey’s in the fourth. Huskey will miss the first half of Maryland’s next game.
Defensive lineman Dillon Fontes said, “These are our playmakers. These are our players who want to play, but we definitely play with a next-man mentality.”
Laki Roland, Bryce Jenkins, Daniel Wingate, and Dontae Joyner all suffered injuries late in the game, which was a major reason for UCLA’s late offensive failure. Joyner and Roland managed to come back.
- Same old Maryland. What more can I say?
Three consecutive losses. Three consecutive fourth-quarter leads. Three consecutive performances marred by undisciplined play and penalties. And another season under head coach Michael Locksley that crumbled in early October.
Locksley said after the game that the way to fix these problems is to figure out what the team can do to improve, not to ask why they keep happening. But it keeps happening because his teams, over his seven-season tenure, have repeatedly failed to figure out how to improve their shortcomings.
- Must-see TV for punting enthusiasts. It’s never a good thing for any team when its punter is its best-performing player. There’s a strong argument for this happening for both Maryland and UCLA on Saturday.
Bryce McPherson played brilliantly. His eight punts equaled his career-best in a single game, and five of them landed inside the 20-yard line. One of those that didn’t land was a 59-yard bomb from inside his own endzone. McPherson averaged 45.8 yards per attempt, including a long of 61 yards.
Such a performance would make McPherson the clear best punter in most games he’s played. UCLA’s Will Carroll won’t let that happen. The Australian native averaged 48.1 yards per punt on seven attempts, matching McPherson’s 61 yards.
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