Maryland takes Illinois down to the wire, but falls 20-17 in front of 27,207 in College Park

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland's tuition raffle made one fan very happy.

Most of the others found out they didn't win late in the third quarter, and some headed toward the exits right then.

Such was the atmosphere as the Terrapins played their first game after coach Michael Locksley's departure — although on the field, there were some encouraging signs. Under interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, Maryland took Illinois down to the final play in a 20-17 loss Saturday.

“I thank them for the buy-in. This team could have went a lot of ways the last two weeks, with all the craziness that they had to deal with," Abdul-Rahim said. "I wanted to let them know how appreciative I am to be their head coach. I think they showed some of the new things that we talked about."

Locksley's exit became official two Wednesdays ago, with the Terrapins on an open date. Abdul-Rahim, who had been on the defensive staff, was promoted to interim coach. Perhaps it was no surprise that the Terps looked inspired on defense, never trailing until early in the fourth quarter.

Maryland has had its problems with penalties but committed only one against the Illini.

Locksley posted a supportive message to the team on social media, and the Terps were tied at the end before a field goal on the final play beat them. Still, the announced crowd was just 27,207, and that's an indication of the challenge this program faces going forward — beyond snapping its current six-game losing streak.

Maryland held a raffle, the prize being free in-state tuition for the spring of 2027. The winner was announced in the fourth quarter. That provided some incentive for fans to show up and stay for most of the game, but when the raffle's handful of finalists were announced late in the third, a small exodus began after that — even though the Terps led 14-10 at the time.

“Aazaar has got a good understanding of what his football team is. Those guys played extremely well,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. “I expect them to win some games down the stretch here.”

One moment when Abdul-Rahim could be second-guessed was at the end of the first half, when the Terps had 27 seconds and all their timeouts but chose to run the clock out from their own 25.

“I made a big deal out of that at half,” Bielema said. “I said, ‘Hey, they ain’t got nowhere to run anymore, right? They got to play us the next two quarters.'”

Abdul-Rahim pointed to the fact that Maryland was getting the ball first after halftime. The Terps did score a touchdown to begin the third quarter and took a 14-7 lead.

“I thought we were in a good place going into halftime,” Abdul-Rahim said. “Sometimes when you get too aggressive, and if you've watched our season previous weeks, sometimes those two minutes, we let the defense get on the field again. I wasn't going to do that.”

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