Washington’s poise, performance earn him Big Ten honors ahead of Maryland’s game with NIU

Poise, maturity and calmness aren’t words typically associated with college freshmen, but Malik Washington’s Maryland debut has drawn that level of praise from inside and outside of the program.

“With Malik, there’s no doubt in my mind that to get off to a fast start is igniting, and we had to start,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said Tuesday. “To elevate, you have to at least hit the button to start where you want to go. And we’ve pushed the button now, and now what we’ve got to do is try to create a little momentum this week.”

The freshman quarterback’s 27-of-43, 258 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday against Florida Atlantic earned him Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors ahead of a short turnaround to a Friday night home game with Northern Illinois.

“As far as how proud I am of myself, I would say decently,” Washington said. “It wasn’t a performance, like, the start that I wanted, but we finished up pretty strong, and there’s always room for improvement.”

Playing on a Friday as they have in six of the last seven seasons gives Glen Burnie native a chance to channel some of Maryland’s recent success in those games.

“Super excited,” Washington said. “I came, I think it was maybe two years ago when they played UVA at night, and we had a kick return to the house. And that game was so fun and so electric. So I’m really excited to get out there on Friday.”

Washington’s three TD passes were the most by a true freshman in a power conference game since Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence’s debut for Clemson in 2018.

“It’s honestly surprised me, him coming in and just being so comfortable and being able to play so freely,” said receiver Kaleb Webb, a Tennessee transfer who caught the second of those TDs. “Usually, freshmen go through a learning curve, and they have to get adjusted to the college speed.”

Washington’s 27 completions were the most ever by a Maryland true freshman, surprising himself by the rate at which he was throwing.

“I didn’t even realize it, to be honest, til the end of the game, and they pulled up the stat sheet, and I was, ‘Oh, I did throw the ball 40 times,’” Washington said “I mean, [offensive coordinator] Pep [Hamilton] is a great football mind, and I trust everything that he does.”

Locksley would like to get more of an offensive balance established against a stingy NIU defense that, like Maryland, had a safety and a defensive touchdown in a win over Holy Cross.

“They’re very sound in gaps,” Locksley said. “Defensive football is about the structure of maintaining and having gap assignments. These guys play with great discipline and great gap control and consistency. And so, for us, this is where our best players are going to have to make a guy miss maybe in the box or break a tackle.”

The Terrapins’ (1-0) running backs rushed the ball 27 times for 99 yards versus FAU, with 60 of those yards coming in the first half.

“We had some short yardage situations that I didn’t feel like we played with the right mentality,” Locksley said, “and as a group that’s starting to jell and come together, that O-line, and having seen what we did during training camp, that’s one of the areas [for improvement].”

Another place to improve is penalties, which have been a semi-frequent issue in Locksley’s seven-year tenure. The Terrapins were flagged 14 times versus FAU, the most since 15 in a 2022 game with SMU. 

“We had eight in the first quarter, so that means we improved as the game went along,” Locksley said. “And that’s kind of what I expect when you have a team of guys that are playing in their first game.”

He was also quick to dismiss any characterization that his roster is undisciplined.

“The pre-snap ones are the ones that kind of, as a coach, gets under my skin, because those are focus issues,” Locksley said. “I always use this word discipline, but guys, let’s not misconstrue — it’s a focus issue. Because when you say discipline, there’s very few parts of my program that players aren’t disciplined.”

Note: Freshman offensive lineman Jaylen Gilchrist and UCLA transfer quarterback Justyn Martin will both be out for Friday’s game with NIU. Locksley said more tests will be done this week to determine if those injuries are long-term after both players were carted off on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter.