Eyes on Maryland: Wolverines Must Stay Locked In Before Ohio State Showdown
Eyes on Maryland: Ah, who doesn’t love the smell of a trap game? If you’re a Michigan fan, you’re hoping nothing’s simmering in College Park, because the Terrapins would love nothing more than to spoil the week before Ohio State. The Wolverines enter at 8–2 with everything still on the table, but they can’t afford a slip here. All it takes is one moment of looking ahead, and a season with Playoff dreams can go sideways fast.
Saturday’s matchup has “handle your business” written all over it. Maryland sits at 4-6 and needs to win out to reach bowl eligibility, which means they’ll be desperate. Michigan? They’re one win away from setting up a top-five, season-defining clash against undefeated, No. 1 Ohio State. The stakes are obvious, and everyone in Ann Arbor knows it.
📊 STAT CAPSULE
🔵 Michigan Wolverines (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten)
🏈 Last Game: 24-22 win over Northwestern
🎯 QB Bryce Underwood: 1,951 passing yards
🏃♂️ Jordan Marshall: 871 yards, 10 TD (day-to-day)
🩹 Players Injured This Season: 25
🔴 Maryland Terrapins (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten)
🏈 Last Game: Loss to [opponent last week]
🎯 QB Malik Washington: Freshman starter
📉 Current Streak: Lost 6 straight
🏟 Fighting for bowl eligibility
One Game at a Time
Inside Schembechler Hall, the message hasn’t changed: respect the opponent, stick to the process, and play Michigan football. Defensive lineman Tre Williams made it clear this week — nobody in that locker room is looking ahead to the Buckeyes. Maryland may be struggling, but a team with nothing to lose is still dangerous.
Wide receiver Donaven McCulley echoed it, calling every remaining game “a playoff game.” Records? Irrelevant. Rankings? Irrelevant. Michigan has survived an injury-plagued season, leaned on its leadership, and found ways to grind out wins when things got messy. This week will test their maturity more than their talent.
Battle of the Freshmen Phenoms
Saturday also brings one of the more intriguing quarterback duels of the Big Ten season: Michigan’s Bryce Underwood vs. Maryland’s Malik Washington — two freshmen, two big arms, two very different situations.
Underwood has thrown for 1,951 yards, showing electric upside mixed with the understandable growing pains of a first-year starter. Against Northwestern, he flashed everything — the touch, the mobility, the guts — but he also made mistakes that nearly flipped the game. Michigan needs the composed version of Underwood this week.
Maryland counters with Washington, a talented but raw freshman who has been thrown into the fire during a six-game losing streak. He’s athletic, can extend plays, and has nothing to lose, which often makes these late-season matchups chaotic if a defense isn’t disciplined.
McCulley also shouted out freshman receiver Andrew Marsh, who was massive in the win over Northwestern — 12 catches, 179 yards, and about as clutch as it gets in a tight game. Underwood finding Marsh early and often will be a point of emphasis.
The Walking Wounded
Injuries have defined Michigan’s season as much as anything. Twenty-five different Wolverines have missed time — a staggering number — and nowhere has that hurt more than the running back room.
Justice Haynes is likely done for the regular season with a foot injury, though he could return if Michigan punches its ticket to the Playoff.
The big question this week is Jordan Marshall. After grinding out 871 yards and 10 touchdowns, he left the Northwestern game with a shoulder injury. X-rays were clean, and Sherrone Moore called him “day-to-day,” but Michigan may be cautious with their star back.
If Marshall sits or plays limited snaps, that shifts more responsibility to Bryson Kuzdzal — the walk-on-turned-workhorse who runs as hard as anyone on the roster. Moore has praised his physicality and explosiveness, and he may be asked to carry a heavy load.
Keys to Victory
For Michigan to survive the trap and head into Ohio State week with everything intact, they must:
• Win the line of scrimmage — no shortcuts, no surprises.
• Establish the run game, regardless of who’s carrying the ball.
• Keep Bryce Underwood clean and confident.
• Bottle up Malik Washington, especially outside the pocket.
• Play through the noise, not the narrative.
This game will be won above the shoulders. Michigan owns the talent advantage — that’s not in question. But on the road, late in the season, against a team fighting for survival? Strange things happen. The Wolverines must stay committed to the week, not the one after it.
Handle Maryland, and The Game becomes a championship-level collision for everything they’ve worked for.
Do you think Maryland has a snowball’s chance in hell to win this game? Drop a comment below, or join the conversation in the Wolverine Wire — where fans break down every game, every angle.
Info gathered from team reports, pressers & trusted media outlets — the way we always do it at Mitten Sports Talk.
