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Best and worst from U-M's win over Maryland

michigan-icon-fullby: The Wolverine Staff11/23/25thewolverineon3

By Clayton Sayfie

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Michigan Wolverines football dismembered Maryland, 45-20, Saturday evening at SECU Stadium. Here are the best and worst from the game.

Finally, a blowout

Week after week, Michigan has won games, but not by wide margins. The Wolverines have had one true blowout, and it was a 63-3 win over CMU Sept. 13. Saturday was much different, though.

The Maize and Blue led by 11 at halftime, scored right away in the third quarter, and took a 45-13 advantage in the fourth, even after beginning to empty the bench. The deep reserves received valuable playing time, the starters got to rest and the vibes are high heading into the biggest game of the season, next week’s regular-season finale clash against Ohio State.

This was Michigan’s largest margin of victory against a Power Four team since the 50-6 win over Northwestern Nov. 23, 2024, which was also one week before taking on the Buckeyes.

Peaking at the right time

Michigan’s offense put up 496 yards against Northwestern, but it resulted in only 24 points. There was progress that wasn’t totally reflected on the scoreboard, but it all came together this week.

The Wolverines carved up Maryland, with 443 total yards (215 passing, 228 rushing), 27 first downs, 6 touchdowns on as many red-zone trips and no turnovers.

The offense has struggled to get going all season, but it hasn’t played as well as it has the last couple weeks, minus the alarming turnovers against the Wildcats. A much tougher challenge awaits next week, though, against the vaunted Buckeye defense.

Best streak

Michigan rushed for 228 yards, marking the fourth straight game with 200-plus yards. The Wolverines haven’t done that since 2022 (Penn State, 418; Michigan State, 276; Rutgers, 282; Nebraska, 264).

Next man up

Sophomore running back Jordan Marshall was available for emergency use only, and it never got to that point. Junior Bryson Kuzdzal stepped in again, this time notching his first career start.

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Grand Rapids, Mich., native rushed 20 times for 100 yards and 3 touchdowns, with one of his scores coming at the goal line and the others on explosive runs of 18 and 19 yards.

The Michigan offensive line has continually opened up holes for whichever back is in the game, and the rushing production, despite the injuries, is extremely impressive.

Best pitch and catch

Michigan got Maryland to jump offsides on third-and-8, and freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood hit classmate Andrew Marsh for a 12-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.

The Wolverines haven’t hit many fade route touchdowns over the years, but this one was a beauty.

Solid trend

Michigan’s last two opponents have completed less than 50 percent of their passes — Northwestern at 48.1 percent and Maryland at 49.

Maryland quarterback Malik Washington connected on 19 of his 39 throws for 210 yards and 1 touchdown with 1 interception on a deflected pass that fell into the hands of sophomore safety Mason Curtis.

While his 5.4 yards per attempt figure is low, and speaks to the pass defense Michigan played, there were some dropped passes and open receivers he missed. The Wolverines probably played him much differently than they will Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy, but the Buckeyes will see on film some ways they can attack.

Worst trend

Michigan senior linebacker Jaishawn Barham jumped offside on a third-and-10 on Maryland’s first drive, giving the Terrapins a free play on which they connected for a 29-yard pass completion. Last week, Northwestern had two drives extended by offsides penalties on third downs, and Barham was the culprit on one of them.

Best freshman

This has to go to Underwood for his performance against Maryland. The 6-foot-4, 228-pounder completed 16 of his 23 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns, while rushing 8 times for 20 yards, picking up 2 first downs with his legs.

Underwood nearly threw an interception that was dropped to start Michigan’s second drive, which was reminiscent of some of his mistakes against Northwestern. Outside of that one near disaster, though, he played one of his best games of the season and tied his career high with 2 touchdown passes.

Marsh, meanwhile, continues to play incredible football, and we saw a number of other freshmen continue to contribute. A shout-out goes to left tackle Ty Haywood, who had some nice blocks on run plays once the game got out of hand late.

Most impressive stat

Michigan converted on 12 of its 14 third-down opportunities, thanks in part to early-down success. The Wolverines averaged only 3.7 yards to go on third down and didn’t face any of 9-plus yards.

Michigan averaged 6.7 yards per play on first down, and stayed balanced with 23 runs (6.7 per carry) and 9 passes (5 completions, 65 yards).

Double and triple

Washington gets the ball out quickly, typically has good pass protection and is mobile. He had been sacked only 3 times all season entering Saturday, but Michigan got to him a number of times.

The Wolverines laid numerous hits that impacted him, and downed him for 3 sacks — doubling Washington’s season total from 3 to 6. All 3 sacks came from DMV natives making homecomings to the area — Barham, senior EDGE Derrick Moore and graduate defensive tackle Tré Williams.

All 3 sacks came on big downs, too — Barham and Williams ending drives with third-down takedowns, and Moore stopping Washington for a loss on a fourth down late in the third quarter.

Additionally, Kuzdzal’s best scoring game had been 1 touchdown, the only score in his career entering the game. He tripled that single-game best with a trio of TDs against the Terrapins.

Warm welcome

From our estimate, Michigan fans outnumbered Maryland’s, just like the last time the two teams met in College Park in 2023. The Maryland faithful slowly trickled out throughout the second half, marking another Michigan takeover. This is the second-straight road game the Wolverines have had the crowd advantage.

Quickest turn of the page

It’s Saturday, but Saturday can’t come soon enough. That’s how it goes on the week before ‘The Game.’ Once the penultimate regular-season clash ends, all eyes are on the Buckeyes for a rivalry that Michigan has dominated in recent years.

The Wolverines haven’t won five straight games against Ohio State since the 1920s, but they have a chance to with a victory Saturday on the corner of Stadium and Main.