Maryland men's football falls to Illinois 20-17 on last-second field goal

Illinois kicked a 26-yard field goal with two seconds left Saturday to beat Maryland 20-17 at SECU Stadium, handing the Terrapins their sixth loss of the season.

Maryland falls to 2-6 overall, 1-4 at home and 0-5 in conference play. Illinois improved to 5-3 and 3-2 in conference play.

How it unfolded

Maryland took the early lead when Malik Washington ran in from 8 yards out with 7:05 left in the first quarter. Illinois answered with 27 seconds left in the second quarter, Katin Houser finding Brayden Trimble for a 16-yard touchdown, and the game was tied 7-7 at halftime.

DeJuan Williams put Maryland back in front 14-7 with an 18-yard touchdown run at 11:10 of the third quarter. Illinois' Ethan Moczulski hit a 45-yard field goal at 7:49 to cut it to 14-10.

Javari Barnett then broke a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter's scoring, at 14:50, to put Illinois up 17-14. Maryland tied it at 17-17 on a 46-yard field goal by Sean O'Haire with 10:16 left.

The final drive

After Maryland punted with the game tied, Illinois took over and ran 13 plays for 69 yards over 5:45. Jordan Anderson carried the ball on several of the late plays, including a 12-yard run to the Maryland 2. Maryland used three timeouts during the march. Illinois lost 3 yards on a first-and-goal run, Houser took a knee, and Moczulski's 26-yard kick as time expired won it.

Numbers

Illinois outgained Maryland 407 yards to 288 and ran for 184 yards to Maryland's 98, averaging 5.6 yards per carry to the Terrapins' 3.4. Barnett finished with 80 yards on six carries. Collin Dixon caught six passes for 103 yards for the Illini, and Houser went 18 of 32 for 223 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Washington was 19 of 29 for 190 yards with one interception, and added 25 rushing yards and a score. Williams carried 19 times for 57 yards and a touchdown, but also lost a fumble. Chris Durr Jr. led Maryland with six catches for 58 yards.

Maryland converted 6 of 14 third downs and its only fourth-down try. Illinois was 4 of 11 on third down. Messiah Delhomme intercepted a pass and returned it 43 yards. Lavain Scruggs led the Terrapins with 10 tackles. Bryce McFerson punted five times, three of them inside the 20.

Maryland committed two turnovers to Illinois' one and was flagged once for 5 yards.

Next up

Maryland visits Purdue on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at 12:30 p.m. ET.