Buck(Eyes) On The 2025 Maryland Terrapins

For the previous two weeks of my series on the 2025 Big Ten teams that Ohio State will not be facing, I reviewed the prospects for the Indiana Hoosiers and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Next up on the docket for this series are the Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland is coming off a 2024 season that saw them go 4-8 and eliminated from bowl game contention as they went 0-5 during the crucial November stretch run. Compounding this painful 2024 season was the fact that Maryland did not have to play their former Big Ten East foes Ohio State or Michigan, so that would seem even more difficult to endure.

Next Scheduled Regular Season Game Versus Ohio State:  Ohio State will welcome the Terrapins back to Ohio Stadium sometime during the 2026 season. The date and time of the game has not yet been announced.

Biggest Personnel Losses From 2024: Here is another aspect that will have to sting for Maryland: the Terrapins lost 6 players in the 2025 NFL Draft. The biggest position group losses came at wide receiver, as Tai Felton (3rd round, Minnesota) and Kaden Prather (7th round, Buffalo) were selected, and at defensive tackle, as Jordan Phillips (5th round, Miami) and Tommy Akingbesote (7th round, Dallas) were selected. Other crucial losses came as Chicago selected LB Ruben Hyppolite II in the 4th round and Miami selected S Dante Trader, Jr. in the 5th round.

Another significant loss was at the quarterback position. Starter Billy Edwards, Jr. entered the transfer portal, and is now projected to be the starting quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. Edwards and his new teammates in Madison will be welcoming Maryland to Camp Randall Stadium on September 20th.

Another crucial loss via the transfer portal was RB Roman Hemby. Hemby led the Terrapins in rushing last year with 607 yards and 6 touchdowns, while also adding 40 receptions. Hemby entered the transfer portal and is now at Indiana. The Maryland Terrapins will have a reunion of sorts with Hemby and Indiana on November 1st when the two teams square off in SECU Stadium.

Biggest Personnel Gains For 2025: Maryland added 16 new players via the transfer portal, and it all adds up to ongoing competition at the always-important quarterback position. Transfer portal QB Justyn Martin from UCLA, redshirt freshman Khristian Martin, and highly touted Malik Washington are all engaged in a battle heading into fall camp. Incoming offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will need to figure out which of these players will be best prepared to get Maryland back into playing winning football.

Most Challenging Portion Of The 2025 Schedule: Similar to what I wrote last week invoking Jim Tressel’s “September is for pretenders, November is for contenders”, the November slate is going to make or break the Terrapins’ 2025 season. If asked to make a selection, I will go with the vote of break.

Since Maryland joined The Big Ten in 2014, the Terrapins typically would get out to a good start in their non-conference schedule, and it certainly seems possible to do that with home games versus Florida Atlantic (August 30th), Northern Illinois (September 6th), and Towson (September 13th). But look at the November schedule: home versus Indiana on November 1st, at Rutgers on November 8th, at Illinois November 15th, home versus Michigan on November 22nd, and then home versus Michigan State on November 29th. Throw in the fact that Indiana, Rutgers, and Michigan State all beat Maryland in 2024 and you can see how there is strong potential for Maryland to go 0-5 in November for the second year in a row.

Possibility Of A Big Ten Championship Game Appearance In 2025? Tremendously unlikely. If Maryland were to be this year’s come-from-out-of-nowhere team like Indiana was a year ago, it would be among the leading stories in college football.

Throw in the added pressure of James E. Smith coming on board as the new athletic director, and it seems from the outside looking in that Mike Locksley and his staff could be on the hot seat in 2025. We will certainly get a better understanding on what Maryland has, or does not have, once the season gets underway.

Next week, the focus will shift to the 2025 Michigan State Spartans.

As always, let me know what you think.