Maryland Football Flashbacks: Last Season's Opener vs. Florida Atlantic

The Maryland Terrapins football team has officially entered week one of the 2026 regular season, with the home opener slated for 8 p.m. on Saturday evening against Hampton at SECU Stadium.

Preparation is well underway, but the time for predicting and talking is over, as the Terps hit the field looking to start off the season on a high note in front of the College Park faithful.

Heading into Saturday's contest, Maryland holds the country's longest non-conference win streak (18 straight wins) and will hope to extend it to 19 straight.

Let's take a look back at last season's opener and how the Terps fared.

Opponent: Florida Atlantic University

When: Saturday, August 30th, 2025

Outcome: 39-7 (Victory)

Star Performer: QB Malik Washington completed 27-of-43 passes (62.7%), 258 passing yards, and three passing touchdowns.

This was the long-anticipated debut of the then-freshman quarterback Malik Washington, a local DMV four-star prospect from Archbishop Spalding who elected to stay home despite national interest.

Funny enough, Washington was announced as the starter until a couple of hours before kickoff against FAU, after a battle for the starting position with fellow quarterbacks Khristian Martin and Justyn Martin over the summer and in fall camp.

On to the game, the Terps' defense put on a dominant display of football, kicking off with a huge stand at the two-yard line that stalled the Owls' opening drive and scoring the game's first points with a 20-yard pick-six by linebacker Daniel Wingate later in the first quarter.

Florida Atlantic would tie the game before the end of the first quarter with a touchdown of their own.

However, the rest of the game was all Maryland, as the defense picked off FAU's quarterback and forced a safety in the second quarter, leading to five early points and extending the lead to 12-7.

Washington and the offense would find its rhythm connecting on three touchdown passes before the end of the quarter: 29-yard TD pass to Shaleak Knotts (7:51), 29-yard TD pass to Kaleb Webb (3:17), and finally a 9-yard TD pass to Dorian Fleming (0:37).

9 days stand between us and Maryland football ⏳

Malik Washington finds Dorian Fleming for a 9-yard touchdown in last season’s win over FAU, marking Fleming’s first trip to the end zone as a Terp 🐢 pic.twitter.com/qhLTwnbyOb
— Inside Maryland Sports (@Terrapins247) August 27, 2026

This gave the Terps a commanding 33-7 lead into halftime, a lead that they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game while also keeping the Owls at seven points.

Two more field goals in the third quarter gave Maryland its 36 total points in the game, and both teams went scoreless in the fourth.

Despite Florida Atlantic converting more first downs than Maryland (23-22), finishing with more passing yards (277-268), and committing fewer penalties (7 to 14 by Maryland), it was still a one-sided affair.

The Owls couldn't total 100 rushing yards as a team and turned the ball over a whopping six times (six interceptions).

Ricardo Cooper Jr, La'khi Roland, Dontay Joyner, Braydon Lee, Lavain Scruggs, and Wingate all finished the contest with an interception.

Washington broke a record for most touchdown passes thrown by a true freshman in his debut in the Big Ten since 2009 (Michigan's Tate Forcier), the most by a true freshman in the Power Four since 2018 (Clemson's Trevor Lawrence), and the most by a true freshman in a debut against an FBS school since UCLA's Josh Rosen in 2015.

Now heading into this year's opener, the SECU crowd will hope for more fireworks out of the gate from the Terps and start the season out in the win column. The Terps will be highly favored to win the game; let's hope they take care of business.

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