Maryland football’s defense shines in decisive 27-10 win over Wisconsin

Coming into Big Ten play, there were questions about how Maryland’s defense would hold up. 

Last season, the Terps defense was gashed in conference play – in nine games against Big Ten opponents, Maryland never gave up less than 25 points, and big early deficits were common. 

There was no early deficit in the Terps’ 2025 Big Ten opener against Wisconsin. In fact, there was no deficit at any point. Maryland (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) jumped ahead to a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back, beating the Badgers 27-10. 

“Big Ten road wins are not easy to come by,” head coach Michael Locksley said postgame. “Really like the physicality that we played with on defense, made just enough plays on offense and took advantage of some of the things that they gave us.”

The Billy Edwards Jr. revenge game was an early storyline for Wisconsin, but it didn’t last long. Edwards was trying to play through a knee injury that had sidelined him for the Badgers’ previous two games, but he clearly wasn’t healthy – he limped off the field on Wisconsin’s second drive of the game after being forced to leave the pocket and never returned. 

Maryland’s defensive line forced the Badgers’ quarterbacks out of the pocket often. The Terps had three sacks and four QB hits in the first half, along with five tackles for a loss. Edwards’ replacement, Danny O’Neil, struggled to sustain drives in the face of the Maryland pass rush – Wisconsin was 3-17 on third down. 

On the other side, Maryland’s offensive line had another strong showing. Freshman QB Malik Washington took his first sack of the season, but he had plenty of clean pockets, with Wisconsin only getting credited with one QB hurry. Clean blocking up front led to Washington’s second rushing touchdown of the season – a one-yard punch in to give the Terps a 7-0 lead. 

Maryland’s special teams made a big difference early in the game. After a strong opening drive from the Badgers that stalled out in the red zone, freshman defensive lineman Zahir Mathis blocked the field goal attempt to keep Wisconsin off the board. 

A blocked punt late in the first quarter gave the Terps great field position, then Washington would connect with Shaleak Knotts for a nine-yard touchdown a few minutes later to make it a two-score game. 

“The special teams the last three weeks have come up big for us,” Locksley said. “You add Andre Powell and Chili Davis to your coaching staff – when talking about the elevation of all parts of our program, both those guys spending all their time focused on, ‘how do we affect the game on special teams?’ The last three weeks, we’ve been able to do that.”

Two field goals from Maryland before the half ended gave the Terps a 20-0 lead, but the momentum didn’t carry over to start the second. Three straight Maryland punts on offense kept Wisconsin in the game, but the Badgers’ offensive struggles continued, only getting a field goal in the first 20 minutes of the second half despite multiple drives into Maryland territory. 

Then Washington put the game away for good. With around nine minutes left in the fourth on the Maryland 38-yard line, he launched a 62-yard bomb to Knotts, who had gotten behind the defense, giving the senior receiver his second touchdown of the game and fifth of the season. 

“He stayed down and trusted the process,” Washington said on Knotts. “He’s worked his butt off, he’s sitting there doing extra meeting time and stuff like that, just to really understand the concepts and why we do what we do and when it’s one on one and his chance to make a play, he’s always going to make that play.”

Wisconsin would score a touchdown in the final minute to make it 27-10 – just the second team to hit double digits this season against the Terps. 

With the win, Maryland matches its total amount of conference wins – and overall wins – from last year. The Terps have the week off before taking on Washington at home on Oct. 4.