In late October, Maryland football coach Michael Locksley said if you have a really talented freshman quarterback, the worst thing you can do is have him get beat up.
Terps quarterback Malik Washington has been sacked just twice. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t endured pressure.
Washington leads the Big Ten in passing attempts, has to compensate for a defense allowing nearly 30 points a game in conference play and boasts four rushing touchdowns — matching the rest of the team’s total. The freshman shoulders immense responsibilities for a struggling team.
Washington accounts for about 73.7 percent — or 2,319 — of the Terps’ combined 3,146 passing and rushing yards, the highest proportion among all starting quarterbacks in the Big Ten, according to a Diamondback analysis.
Locksley said it’s not just Washington. The entire offense is beaten up.
“To be quite honest, we haven’t put a lot on Malik,” Locksley said. “First and second down typically he’s under center, turning off, turning around, handing the ball off.”
The early rushes haven’t eased Washington, though. Through six Big Ten games, Maryland is averaging 3.4 yards a carry on nearly 70 runs on first down. Four of those rushes have gone for double-digit yardage, while five have resulted in negative plays. The early-down difficulties have left Washington in many third-and-long situations, where Locksley said a young quarterback is vulnerable.
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The Terps have converted just 10 of 40 attempts in scenarios with third downs on seven or greater yards in conference play. Their highest conversion rate came against UCLA at 50 percent and their lowest was at Rutgers, picking up a first down on one of eight attempts.
While Maryland racked up 403 yards against the Scarlet Knights, more than half its third downs were greater than seven yards — a key reason the Terps scored only three second-half points.
“The area that’s been the toughest has been, obviously, being able to be efficient at running the ball, especially when we need to run the football,” Locksley said. “We’ve been in second-and-10 quite a bit, and when that happens, those downs are advantageous to the defense.”
Washington missed throws throughout the 35-20 loss to Rutgers, tossing for only 98 yards. He previously became one of three Power Conference true freshman quarterbacks this century to throw for at least 200 yards in his first eight games.
Maryland’s receivers, whose 7.2 percent drop rate ranks second-worst in collegiate power conferences, continued their downturn with only 50 yards against the Scarlet Knights.
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Shaleak Knotts, who leads the Terps in receiving yards, ended with 13. In his last five games, the senior made one catch of more than 30 yards and hasn’t found the end zone. He recorded a 30-plus yard reception in all of Maryland’s first four games, scoring in each.
Senior Octavian Smith Jr. went over 100 yards in consecutive games earlier this season, but boasts just 134 across the past five games.
With senior Jalil Farooq third in receiving yards, uncertainty looms on Washington’s targets next season. If the Terps can’t bolster the receiver room, big plays may continue to be sparse. It could keep pressure on Washington to lead methodical drives with a run game that is among the Big Ten’s most inefficient this season.
“When you’re one dimensional, it makes it easy to defend,” Locksley said.
Maryland’s defense has endured its own woes. The Terps have conceded 72 fourth-quarter points through six conference games. That includes allowing UCLA to reach field goal range with a 35-second, 68-yard drive after Washington orchestrated a game-tying touchdown.
A mix of gut-wrenching and blowout losses raises the question of the mental toll on Washington, considering his high school success. He went 33-3 as Archbishop Spalding’s starter with no conference losses.
“In high school, we didn’t lose too much,” Washington said after Maryland’s loss to Indiana on Nov. 1. “Now I just have to learn how to deal with losses and be able to come back from it and come back stronger.”
Data editor Apurva Mahajan contributed data analysis to this report.
