COLLEGE PARK — Whether Maryland football’s Big Ten and road opener against Wisconsin represents a barometer of the team’s progress through three games depends on who you ask.
In a rare and very unserious display of disagreement, coach Michael Locksley and a couple players did not see eye-to-eye on the test the Terps (3-0) will face when they visit the Badgers (2-1) at Camp Randall Stadium in Wisconsin for a noon kickoff.
“As I told our team yesterday, they’ll be a great measuring stick for us and what kind of team we have and what kind of team we can be,” Locksley said Tuesday afternoon during his weekly media availability. “But I’m excited for what this game creates for us as we enter the Big Ten season. Opportunity for us to learn who we are together on the road for the first time, opportunity to face adversity in a tough environment which we’re looking forward to seeing, and also an opportunity to test ourselves against a really good opponent.”
That sentiment differed from those shared by freshman defensive end Sidney Stewart and junior left tackle Rahtrel Perry.
“I really don’t because we’re not really going in there to prove anything to anybody,” Stewart said when asked if Saturday’s game was a barometer. “We’ve been playing together for a minute. We kind of understand who we are. We’re a championship-level team, and we already know and understand that. So going against somebody else doesn’t affect that whatsoever because no outside factors affect our play. It’s really us versus us at the end of the day.”
Added Perry: “I don’t see it as a measuring game, but I do see it as an important game for us.”
Maryland would be wise to take this matchup seriously. The program is just 2-4 in its past six Big Ten openers and is winless in four meetings with Wisconsin, including a three-game losing skid in Madison.
Returning to relevancy has long been an objective for Locksley since he took over the team in 2019. With Illinois moving into the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Sept. 7, the Terps own the longest top-10 drought among Big Ten teams. But the recent emergence of Indiana under Curt Cignetti and the Fighting Illini under Bret Bielema have provided some inspiration.
“I do think it gives a lot of us in the Big Ten the hope that as long as we are able to get the right guys on the field and we do a great job as coaches of putting them in the best position,” Locksley said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for Bret at Illinois as a coach, obviously, and Curt over at Indiana. We’re from the same family tree, and it’s good to see that in college football.”
The game will serve as a road debut for quarterback Malik Washington, defensive ends Zahir Mathis and Stewart and several other freshman classmates. But Washington sounded unintimidated about playing on the biggest stage of his college career.
“I just kind of like to minimize the moment,” he said. “No matter what the situation is or what stage we’re playing on, at the end of the day, it’s first-and-10, and we’ve done it a thousand times, and we’ll do it a thousand more. Whether I’m just throwing the slant, I’ve done it so many times in my life to where no matter what that stage is, the moment, it’s not bigger than me.”
Saturday’s matchup will be a chance for Washington to meet his predecessor. It will mark the first meeting between the Terps and quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. since the latter left Maryland and transferred to Wisconsin.
Edwards transferred from Wake Forest to College Park and was the top backup to Taulia Tagovailoa for two years. In his first full season as the starter in 2024, Edwards ranked third in the Big Ten in total passing yards (2,881) and passing yards per game (261.9) and eighth in completion percentage (.650).
Edwards sprained his left knee in the Badgers’ season-opening 17-0 shutout of Miami (Ohio) on Aug. 29. Despite sitting out the team’s past two games, he said that his knee is improving. Edwards reportedly took some first-team reps in practice this week.
“It’s continued in that upward trajectory,” he said Monday during his weekly radio appearance on WTSO 1070 The Game in Madison, Wisconsin. “So we’ll see. I did some stuff yesterday and we’ll see how the rest goes, but obviously I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure I give myself the best chance to be available on Saturday, and we’ll kind of see where it all unfolds as the week goes on.”
Whether the chance to face his former team will accelerate the healing process remains to be seen. But Edwards acknowledged spending what he described as his “formative years” with the Terps.
“I formed a lot of good relationships there,” the redshirt senior said on the radio. “So it’ll be good to see everyone and whatnot. It’ll kind of have a little bit of a bittersweet feeling, but for the next — what are we on, Monday? — five, 5 1/2 days, it’s college football. This is the business aspect of it. So I know whether I’m out there or not, I’m doing everything I can to beat Maryland this week, and then after the game, it’ll be good to see everybody and say hello and see some familiar faces, and then we’ll get on to the next one.”
Former Maryland teammates such as senior wide receiver Shaleak Knotts and sophomore cornerback La’khi Roland did not offer much about Saturday’s reunion, and Stewart said that he was “indifferent” about facing Edwards. They might have been copying Locksley, who remained neutral.
“We’re not preparing any different because Billy’s on that sideline,” he said. “I guess that’s the point I’m trying to make. Our team has a standard for what we’ve got to do to prepare to win a game like this. For me, the goal is for me to meet that standard today, Wednesday, Thursday, how we travel Friday, and then go out Saturday. A lot of these questions will be answered after the game.”
At least one player, senior wide receiver Octavian Smith Jr., said he looked forward to reacquainting himself with Edwards.
“When we’re between the lines, until that clock says zero in the fourth quarter, we’re going against each other,” Smith Jr. said. “But after the game, he and I know it’s all love. He’s going to forever be my brother even after college no matter where life takes us. That’s always going to be someone I consider a brother for life.”