Maryland football hopes to close out season on a high note against Michigan State

Photo courtesy of Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Athletics

With one game left in Maryland football’s 2025 season, the Terps find themselves in a familiar position. 

For the second year in a row, Maryland sits at 4-7 and holds one win in conference play, placing it in the bottom three of the Big Ten standings. 

The Terps face Michigan State on Saturday night at Ford Field, the Detroit Lions’ home stadium. Maryland’s matchup with 3-8 Michigan State – who hasn’t won a conference game all year – is an opportunity for the Terps to end the season on a high note by snapping their seven-game skid. 

“This will be the last time the 2025 version of the Terps will be together,” head coach Michael Locksley said on Tuesday. “I know that our team is excited to finish the right way.”

Michigan State junior quarterback Aidan Chiles has a status of “hopeful” for Saturday’s game, according to Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith. The junior hasn’t played since Oct. 25, but was having a solid season, posting 1,392 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns, along with 227 yards on the ground and six rushing touchdowns in eight games. 

If Chiles can’t go, freshman Alessio Milivojevic would get his fourth straight start. Milivojevic is much more of a pocket passer than Chiles – he hasn’t finished a game as a starter with positive rushing yards. He’s been able to keep Michigan State competitive, with two of the Spartans’ last three games being settled by a single score. 

Freshman Malik Washington will remain under center for Maryland. After a red-hot start, the true freshman has cooled down as the Terps’ conference schedule has progressed. Washington has thrown for over 200 yards in all but one game, but has dealt with turnover issues as of late, with a 4:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio over Maryland’s last five games. 

“I think that he’s performed well,” Locksley said about Washington. “There’s still obviously room and growth for him as a player, that there’s no doubt. I think he’s shown us enough that there’s the elite potential there, and it’s a matter of him continuing to build that toolbox that we talked about.”

The Terps’ run defense has been a weak point. Maryland has struggled to win the line of scrimmage, tackle and generally stop opposing backs. Illinois’s 225 rushing yards against the Terps is their lowest mark allowed in their last four games, and Maryland’s 176.9 rushing yards allowed per game is the third highest in the conference. 

Saturday’s contest will be a chance for that unit to make a stand. Michigan State is only averaging a paltry 119.4 rushing yards per game, the third fewest in the Big Ten. The Terps are second-worst at 107. 

Both teams prefer to move the ball through the air. Shaleak Knotts and Octavian Smith Jr. have led Maryland’s receiving crew; and for the Spartans, Nick Marsh and Omari Kelly have dominated targets. All four receivers have at least 500 yards on the season. 

Closing out the season with a win is significant for the Terps in more ways than just ending the season on a high note. An improved record from last season demonstrates growth and could play a role in both keeping commitments and important players from Maryland’s young core with the program.