Maryland is hoping to see strides in its young quarterback while Hampton is gearing up for its first Power Four matchup as the teams clash Saturday in College Park, Md.
The Terrapins started last season with four wins but ended the year with eight straight losses for a second straight 4-8 campaign. Maryland head coach Mike Locksley will hope to avoid the same issues coming into this year, and a lot of that will hinge on quarterback Malik Washington.
A true freshman a year ago, Washington was thrown into the fire immediately and started every game. He finished the year with 2,963 passing yards with 17 touchdowns to nine interceptions but faltered during that losing stretch. Washington had at least one interception in each of the last six games.
During the Terps’ media day Locksley stressed the importance of letting Washington loose more now that he has one year of experience under his belt.
“A year ago because we knew we were throwing him in there inexperienced, we probably were a little more conservative,” Locksley said. “But I can tell you that the way he was taught and the things that he learned a year ago will benefit him now that he’s in a system that fits his skill set including his ability to use his feet to make plays.”
He’ll have plenty of offensive weapons to help including the team’s leading rusher from last season DeJuan Williams (501 yards) along with wideouts Kaleb Webb and trasnfer Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding.
Hampton (1-0) comes in off of a 45-0 win over Virginia University-Lynchburg. It was the first game for new coach Van Malone, and he got a huge boost from freshman Amari Pryear, who came off the bench to rush for 132 yards on just eight carries.
The Pirates are coming off a high with their first shutout since 2017, but Malone isn’t getting ahead of himself with a tough Terps team on tap.
“For us, it’s about playing mistake-free football because Maryland can make you pay,” Malone said Monday. “As we roll into practicing for this game, what I want to tell our players is we don’t have to be perfect, but we have to be better than we were last week.”
