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3 takeaways: DeJuan Williams gives Maryland’s running game some juice
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- 3 takeaways: DeJuan Williams gives Maryland’s running game some juice
(Kenneth K. Lam/Baltimore Sun/TNS)
Maryland didn't leave much room for suspense in its season opener.
The Terps overwhelmed Hampton, 62-0 , piling up 646 yards of offense while holding the Pirates to just 85. The running game looked rejuvenated, the defense looked fast and deep, and Maryland finally ended an eight-game losing streak with its most complete performance in a long time.
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Still, blowouts can hide as much as they reveal. Malik Washington was uneven, DeJuan Williams offered an early jolt and a rebuilt defense made a strong first impression.
Here are three takeaways from Maryland's season-opening rout.
Williams gave the running game something it lacked
The Terps seemingly made a glaring indictment of how they viewed the redshirt sophomore running back in January.
They brought in Old Dominion running back Trequan Jones, who appeared set for a starting role after ranking second nationally with 7.5 yards per carry in 2025.
Then, less than a month later, Jones decommitted. So Maryland turned back to Williams.
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Locksley spent the offseason saying Williams had finally regained the speed that once made him a target for schools like Ohio State and Michigan . Williams tore his ACL during his senior year at St. Frances, and Locksley has repeatedly said it takes "a true 18 months to get healthy enough off an ACL."
Saturday, Williams looked healthy.
On his first carry, he burst through a crease for a 94-yard touchdown, the second-longest rushing score in program history . One carry gave him a career high in rushing yards.
"He got his burst back," Washington said. "I think this is the first time the country kind of gets to see who DeJuan Williams really is."
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Williams added an 8-yard touchdown on Maryland's next possession before leaving in the second quarter. He finished with three carries for 116 yards and two catches for 35 yards.
"Everything OK," Williams said afterward, who finished 2025 with 927 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns. "I just got a little clicking going on in my knee."
Maryland's rushing success didn't stop there. Sophomore Iverson Howard added 66 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, while USC transfer Harry Dalton III rushed for 39 yards and a score on seven attempts.
That matters for an offense that ran for the fewest yards in the Big Ten last season, nearly 100 behind second-lowest Minnesota.
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Maryland won big, but Washington was uneven
It's fair to say that Washington didn't immediately offer much evidence that the sophomore breakout season teased all offseason is about to arrive.
Washington finished 19-for-31 for 186 yards and a touchdown, but he looked out of sync early and didn't throw his first touchdown pass until late in the first half. He completed just one of six passes 20 or more yards downfield and only three between 10 and 20, with most of Maryland's passing attack living underneath rather than threatening Hampton vertically.
Locksley saw it, too.
"I thought he forced some things and was pressing a little bit early," Locksley said, adding that Washington began to settle down during Maryland's two-minute drive before halftime.
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Not all of the unevenness belonged to Washington. Chris Durr Jr., who finished with six catches for 44 yards, lost a well-placed deep ball in the second quarter that could have gone for a touchdown. Kaleb Webb had two drops, while Durr, Harry Dalton III and tight end AJ Szymanski each had another.
Locksley pointed more toward Washington's decision-making than his chemistry with the receivers, saying he needed to get through his reads rather than force throws or drop his eyes toward the rush.
Washington didn't offer much of a defense afterward.
"Played decent," he said. "Took care of the ball, which was important."
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There's no reason to sound alarms after one game, especially a 62-point win in which Maryland's running game made throwing unnecessary for long stretches. Washington himself noted how much easier that makes his job: "It just makes us more difficult to stop as an offense."
Saturday didn't erase the belief in Washington's ceiling, but it didn't validate it yet, either.
The defense looked deeper than expected
Maryland lost plenty from a defense that already had questions entering this season.
Only one starter returned on the defensive line. Zahir Mathis was lost for the season . Sidney Stewart was coming off a breakout year, but the Terps needed others around him to emerge quickly.
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Against Hampton, they did.
Maryland allowed just 85 total yards, six first downs and 10 rushing yards while recording five sacks and three interceptions. Hampton crossed midfield only twice and never reached the red zone. It was Maryland's first time holding an opponent under 100 yards since 2019.
The encouraging part was where the production came from.
DD Holmes, who made just one start last season, recorded back-to-back sacks in the first quarter and finished with two. Eyan Thomas added two more. Stewart, Maryland's returning sack leader, didn't record one.
That balance is exactly what Maryland will need up front. The Terps don't need Stewart to carry the pass rush if Holmes, Thomas, Nahsir Taylor and the rest of the rotation can consistently create pressure around him.
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For sophomore safety Messiah Delhomme, that pressure made life easier on the back end.
"It's amazing," he said. "They help me, I help them. We're together."
The secondary produced, too. Delhomme intercepted two passes, becoming Maryland's first player with a multi-interception game since 2023, while sophomore Jayden Shipps added another.
"Our defense did a tremendous job tackling," Locksley said. "We had a shutout, created turnovers, and put pressure on the quarterbacks."
Yes, it was Hampton, an FCS team playing its first game against a Power Four opponent.
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But Maryland's defense did exactly what a good defense should do to that level of opponent: overwhelm it. And for a unit replacing plenty, that was a meaningful first impression.
Have a news tip? Contact Michael Howes at mhowes@baltsun.com , 410-332-6200 and x.com/Mikephowes .
