Maryland Facing Huge Loss as Starting OL Aliou Bah Enters Transfer Portal
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With two days to go before the NCAA Football Transfer Portal closes for the year, it seemed like Maryland would avoid losing any more starters. The only one to enter the portal was DL Dillan Fontus, who announced his intent to do so before it opened.
But a second starter will now be joining Fontus in moving to another program - and this time, it's someone from the other side of the line of scrimmage.
Aliou Bah, who has been the Terps' starting right guard for the past two seasons, became the 16th Maryland player to enter the portal on Wednesday. Chris Hummer of CBS Sports made the report first, and his post was then retweeted by Bah.
According to PFF, Bah posted a 72.3 pass blocking grade in 2025 while allowing only two QB hurries and 13 pressures. He did not allow a sack and took only two penalties all season.
Originally a four-star prospect out of high school, Bah committed to the Georgia Bulldogs over other offers from Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, and more.
After redshirting in 2022 and appearing in three games as a reserve lineman in 2023, he made the move from Athens to College Park, immediately earning the starting right guard spot.
During the past two seasons, the Terps have generated the No. 3 and No. 4 passing offenses in the Big Ten, in large part due to strong offensive line play. Their nine sacks allowed in 2025 was tied for the third fewest among all FBS teams.
The group was already facing two departures - RT Alan Herron and LG Isaiah Wright - due to graduation, and now they'll have to make up for losing three of their four top pass-blockers.
A small consolation is that C
Michael Hershey, who led the unit with an 83.5 pass blocking grade, has signed back on with the Terps for 2026:
The work continues. @michaelhersh24 is back in College Park. pic.twitter.com/jhLHXNwtp5
— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) January 3, 2026
So while Malik Washington will have a mostly-different group in front of him next season, the rising sophomore QB will at least keep the same snapper.
For now, the most likely candidate to replace Bah would be former Rivals four-star prospect Ryan Howerton. The soon-to-be redshirt sophomore played 127 snaps at right guard last season, as well as 52 at left guard and four at right tackle.
Amory Hills, who was a true freshman in 2025, also saw some time at left guard, making him more likely to replace Wright than Bah.
So far, the Terps have not added any offensive linemen in the portal. You can view all the players Mike Locksley and staff have brought in with our transfer portal tracker, which will continue to be updated as more announcements are made.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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