Maryland football’s fourth-quarter woes continue in 20-17 loss to UCLA

Heading into the fourth quarter of Maryland’s game against UCLA on Saturday night, the Terps were in familiar territory. 

They led the Bruins 10-7, their fourth lead heading into the final quarter in as many conference games. Fourth quarters hadn’t been kind to Maryland in recent weeks – Washington and Nebraska outscored them 31-0 in the final 15 minutes of their matchups. 

The Terps finally scored in the fourth quarter of a game, but the end result was the same. Maryland (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) blew its third straight lead heading into the final quarter of play, and UCLA snuck away with a 20-17 win, its third straight victory. 

“I’m not gonna ask what is the issue or why this keeps happening. I’m not going to ask why. Why is a victim question, and I’m not a victim,” coach Michael Locksley said. “I’m going to ask what we need to do, what I need to do to get us to be able to finish these games, and to me, that’s a growth mindset that this team has, and I promise you, that’s where we are.”

Maryland’s offensive fourth-quarter struggles continued. The Terps only had five first downs and 102 total yards in the final 15 minutes of the game – most of which came on their final drive – putting pressure on the defense to hold the Bruins. 

UCLA eventually broke through. A long drive from Iamaleava finished with a 14-yard touchdown pass to wideout Mikey Matthews, and once again the Terps found themselves trailing late in the fourth. 

But unlike Maryland’s last two games, they had a response offensively. Malik Washington put together one of his most impressive drives as a Terp – 10 plays, 75 yards, finished off with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jalil Farooq in under a minute and thirty seconds to tie the game up with under a minute remaining. 

30 seconds was all the Bruins needed. Five plays and 68 yards later, UCLA had marched all the way down to Maryland’s five-yard line following a 35-yard run from Anthony Frias, and Mateen Bhaghani knocked in the chip-shot field goal to seal the Terps’ third straight loss. 

Maryland’s run game continued its season-long issues. The Terps’ running backs had 55 total rushing yards on 18 attempts, for an average of 3.1 yards per carry. 23 of those yards came on a breakout run by DeJuan Williams on fourth-and-one, but Williams lost a fumble on the following play. 

However, the freshman back found other ways to contribute – specifically in the passing game. He was Maryland’s leading receiver, with 7 receptions for 86 yards. 

The Terps’ defense, which has been excellent to start games, played a strong opening half. They held UCLA to seven first downs, 147 total yards, and seven points in the opening two quarters, along with an interception, sack and two tackles for loss. The interception – Jalen Huskey’s third of the season – ended a long Bruins drive deep into Maryland territory. 

The unit also came up with multiple game-changing plays. 

Jamare Glasker jumped a throw from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, picking off the pass and waltzing to the end zone for a pick-six to give the Terps the lead. When UCLA took the ball into Maryland territory early in the fourth, Sidney Stewart forced a fumble that the Terps recovered. 

“I thought our defense played lights out,” Locksley said. “They scored points, they got turnovers. They stopped the bleeding before the half with a turnover there, they played well enough for us to win it. They gave up the touchdown there at the end. But you know, the other two phases, we didn’t play complementary football.”

Maryland will have a bye week before taking on No. 3 Indiana back in College Park on Nov. 1.