With some experience under his belt, Malik Washington is vowing to be much more of a vocal leader for the Maryland football team this season. The true sophomore is back as the starting quarterback and hoping to lead the Terrapins to a better record than their 4-8 mark a season ago, which started with four wins before eight straight losses.
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Washington is a key returning piece to a team that includes 16 transfer portal players and will look to compete in the tough Big Ten Conference, where last season the Terps posted a 1-8 record in conference play.
“It’s kind of easier when there’s less gray area about the team and your position,” Washington said last week. “We knew coming into the offseason, I was staying here… it just made it a lot easier to get guys along the same path I was on.”
Last season, Washington threw 473 pass attempts for 2,963 yards and 17 touchdowns as a true freshman, but he has almost an entirely new receiving corps this season. As one of the team leaders, it’s on him to help get everyone up to speed and clicking quickly.
The first test was Saturday’s season-opener against Hampton, which Maryland won convincingly, 62-0. Washington completed 19 of 31 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. It was Maryland’s first win since Sept. 20 of last year, before the eight-game losing streak.
After Saturday’s win, Washington made good on his vow to be more of a vocal leader and actually used his press conference to share about Jesus. Washington discussed Matthew 13, the Parable of the Sower, which he explained as a story about soil and setting the right foundation.
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“I think coming off the first week, it’s important to set a foundation, and we did that today,” Washington said. “It talks about the farmer who had four seeds and planted them on four different types of soil. One was the path, which gave no room for it to grow; there was no place for it to take root. It was stuck on rocks and had no place to sink into the ground. Second is the shallow soil. It sprouted, but there wasn’t enough place for it to grow some deep roots, so it couldn’t get to the sunlight the way it needed.
“The third is the soil with the thorns around it. You kind of want to stay away from that in this game. You don’t want to have a lot of thorns around you within your program because you may blossom for a little bit, but all the thorns are going to do is just choke you out and not allow you to get to the place that you want to go.”
The last is the fertile soil, which is where Washington said this year’s team has planted its seeds — especially in Saturday’s game.
“We showed who we are as a team — very well-rounded,” Washington said. “I’m just really proud of everybody and what we did today.”
Washington started making a habit of sharing a Bible verse or a message of faith during press conferences last season, and it appears that’s carrying over to this season. In a press conference following the team’s final game last year, it was on his heart to share that “God always has your back.”
“Jesus loves you, and no matter how far gone you think you may be, God’s always waiting for you,” he said. “All you have to do is take that first step toward Him and He’s ready to embrace you with open arms. No matter how far out there you may be, how many trials or tribulations you’re going through, as long as you turn toward Him, He’ll be able to carry it for you.”
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Washington also uses his own social media as an outlet to be vocal about his faith. His Instagram bio references Jeremiah 29:11, and after his debut win as a freshman, he posted on X, “All glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!”
Going forward, the schedule only picks up in difficulty for Maryland. The Terps are on the road this week to face UConn, then head back home for a game against Virginia Tech before starting Big Ten play on Sept. 26 at home against UCLA. Maryland is looking to reach a bowl game for the first time since a 2023 Music City Bowl win over Auburn.
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