Facing cold winds and a sparse crowd, Maryland football also began its game against Wisconsin in SECU Stadium without star quarterback Malik Washington.
In the sophomore’s absence, backup quarterback Cardell Williams delivered. The dual-threat redshirt senior managed the game through the air and tossed a program-record 19 straight completions to close out the game.
With the game tied at 21 and under two minutes remaining, linebacker Trey Reddick met Wisconsin quarterback Ryan Hopkins as he began to throw and popped the ball out. Eyan Thomas recovered the fumble on the Badgers’ 33-yard line, sending the remaining fans into a frenzy.
That set up Sean O’Haire to drill a game-winning 30-yard field goal with 29 seconds to go for Maryland to win its first home conference game in over two years, 24-21.
“I still don’t even know how to feel. It was happy beyond happiness. I’m happy,” Reddick said.
Maryland’s early play calling saw it avoid airing the ball out with Williams. The backup didn’t complete a pass ahead of the line of scrimmage until nine minutes into the game, as the Terps’ first two drives resulted in punts.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin startled the Terps early. It drove 57 yards in five plays and 130 seconds, capped off by a four-yard Darrion Dupree touchdown run. The Badgers’ running game posed Maryland problems, combining for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries.
But the Terps’ defense settled down, and Lavon Johnson recovered a botched handoff attempt on Wisconsin’s 37-yard line with 6:36 to go in the first quarter. However, the offense couldn’t capitalize.
A pair of false start penalties stymied the Terps’ momentum and pushed them out of field goal range. Maryland’s next drive also stalled out in enemy territory, forcing a missed 51-yard field goal from O’Haire that barely cleared the end zone.
The Badgers followed up O’Haire’s shank with a 37-yard field goal, extending the lead to 10 with just 8:08 remaining in the second quarter.
These struggles prompted Williams to take deeper shots later in the first half. The quarterback launched a 30-yard sideline bomb to tight end Preston Howard with 6:26 to go in the half before threading the needle to Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding for an 18-yard gain two plays later. The gains set up Williams to grab Maryland’s first points on a 1-yard touchdown keeper.
While the backup gained confidence using his arm, his accuracy rarely wavered. Williams completed 21 of his 23 passing attempts for a 91.3% completion rate, another school record. With a historic performance like that, increases in playing time may be in order for his final two games.
“If [Williams] gives us the best situation to play, then that’s what will happen,” head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim said. “We’ll just kind of take it at the beginning of the week, see where Malik is.”
This precision allowed Maryland’s shifty receivers to go to work in open space. The Terps racked up 120 combined yards after catch, accounting for 65.6% of Williams’ passing yards. Chris Durr Jr., leading the Big Ten in yards after catch, sprinted for 52 on his own Saturday.
His surge gave the Terps the energy they needed to storm down to the 1-yard line with 23 seconds left before halftime. They had a chance to take the lead, but a botched transfer to running back Iverson Howard squandered the opportunity.
The mistake didn’t hamper Maryland’s momentum, however, as it came out of the half hot.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Badgers’ first second-half drive, the Terps’ front seven got to work. In the sixth minute of the third quarter, linebacker Daniel Wingate freed the ball from Dupree’s grasp in the middle of a scrum and ran the ball toward the end zone. While he coughed the ball up himself, Maryland’s Ricardo Cooper Jr. cleaned up the mess on Wisconsin’s 12-yard line.
Four plays later, the Terps took their first lead of the game on another left-side stretch run by Williams.
Despite Maryland’s success on defense, its lack of discipline reared its ugly head. The Terps easily forced a three-and-out with 6:19 to go in the third quarter, but the Badgers retained possession after edge rusher Zion Elee rammed into the punter for his second unsportsmanlike penalty of the contest.
The officials then tossed another flag and gave Wisconsin another 15 yards after a Maryland assistant coach argued the call. These mental lapses seemingly nullified the Terps’ momentum as they allowed 10 unanswered points on a pair of explosive drives.
But following a clutch touchdown grab from Preston Howard with just over two minutes to go in the game and the forced fumble from Reddick, a game-winning field goal kept Maryland’s slim chances at bowl eligibility alive.
“I feel like just with Aazaar coming in, the energy just picked up a little bit,” Reddick said.
1. Improvements defending the pass. Power Four quarterbacks have decimated Maryland’s secondary this season, but head coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim’s former position group held up against Wisconsin. The Terps limited the Badgers to just 99 passing yards on the day to mark their best performance of Big Ten play.
2. Busy day for special teams. Maryland’s special teams haven’t been the strong point they were in 2025 this season, and it got tested Saturday. Along with O’Haire’s missed field goal and game-winner, Bryce McFerson punted seven times and averaged just 39 yards per attempt; the mark sits at the bottom of all Big Ten punters’ season averages.
3. Second half stall. While the Terps exploded on offense in the second quarter for 115 yards, their second half was a stark contrast. The Badgers stonewalled the offense from there —the Terps didn’t clear 40 yards in any second-half drives.
Source: www.testudotimes.com
